Multi Deck or no?


S

sgttoe

New Member
Hi. Just joined forum today. I have a standard sized bedroom, about 12x10 to use. I have to accomidate table in the middle of the room to allow family to play board games and my wife to scrap book. I want to use kato unitrack to make a layout that will allow:

  1. continual train running on a dual line main.
  2. a yard to do switching and some local business to run a local to.
  3. based on modern BNSF equip, maybe 10-15 car long trains.
  4. kinda based on the area around Flagstaff, AZ
With that in mind I am trying to figure out what I should do for a layout. The first question is how much do I want to build. So my first question is:

What layout type should I do?
  1. Ideas I have had is a shelf around the entire room about 12"-18" deep and a staging area in the closet. Wife has poor helath and needs to get in the room easyly, so then would need to have a section that was hinged or could be lifted out.
  2. an L along two walls about 3' deep that would rise about 2-4" on the back to create a layout that basicly was two 18" shelves. Staging in closet that would almost turn it into a "C" instead of an "L".
  3. Do two deck shelves connected by a helix rise about 15"-18". (I think I am leaning away from this as the helix would be expensive and I hear that a 3' diameter helix is pushing it and might cause derailments on the downhill run.
  4. S simple oval that spans two walls L shape, one level. can still use closet for stageing.
Thanks in advance for input and thoughts.

SgtToe
 
sgttoe

If you use a helix the approx specs would be
Grade - 1.92
rings - 4.14"
gap between rings 4.35"
Rise 18"

You could reduce the number of rings by increasing the grade but around 2 is most efficient.
or change the rise to 12" you would need about 2.75 rings

Hope this helps
 
cmaceeepc said:
If you use a helix the approx specs would be
Grade - 1.92
rings - 4.14"
gap between rings 4.35"
Rise 18"
Click to expand...

That seems to assume a 36" _radius_ helix. That's a circle 6 feet wide, which would take up at least one quarter of the OPs floor space. How is that a viable idea?
 
Wow wish I had room for a 3' radius, but it is 3' diameter. I know that would not work on an ho scale, I run N scale though. not HO.:)

That is why I am leaning away from using a big helix.
 
sgttoe said:
Wow wish I had room for a 3' radius, but it is 3' diameter. I know that would not work on an ho scale, I run N scale though. not HO.:)
Click to expand...
That would have been helpful to add in your first post. In N scale, an 18" radius helix works fine, since you need much less rise per turn. But you need _lots_ more turns to climb 18", so a good portion of your layout run will be hidden.
 
GenSet said:
That would have been helpful to add in your first post. In N scale, an 18" radius helix works fine, since you need much less rise per turn. But you need _lots_ more turns to climb 18", so a good portion of your layout run will be hidden.
Click to expand...

I thought I was posting in the N Scale portion of this Forum. If I posted this in a general section then my bad.
 
Just a thought, in N scale your shelf probably doesn't need to be 18" deep most places. Just thinking you could free up more floor space with narrower shelves except where you need them. Yet another of the compromises we all have to sort out for ourselves: space for layout (scenery, buildings, roads) versus aisle or floor space.

Chris
 
sgttoe said:
I thought I was posting in the N Scale portion of this Forum. If I posted this in a general section then my bad.
Click to expand...
Nope, it was my bad -- I was looking at "new posts" and didn't realize that you had posted in "N scale".

For those scoring at home, E me
 
Thats a good idea, my first idea was to buld it and then because I'm using uni-track I could pull apart and add switches as I can afford and put in industries as I go. However, I learned about SCRAM last night and downloaded it. I think that will allow me to model the future state so that I can see where I can narrow the shelf. Thanks for the input!
 
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