Hello all,
I am in the planning stages of my layout building. The layout will be a folded dogbone style, in a 10.5' x 19' room with 30" minimum radius curves. I think I am getting close to settling on a track plan, which is pretty hard as I keep changing my mind.
One thing that keeps coming up is staging/yard. I would rather have my layout be about scenery and industries than having a yard gobble up half of it, but I still need a place for storing trains. I would like to build a 2nd deck below the layout for staging.
For this, I will need a helix. I would be looking at a curves for it somewhere between 30-34" radius. I'm concerned about getting trains up this hill. I dont plan to run more than 2 units in a consist ever. Will be a mix of steam/early (2 axle) diesels for power.
What kind of grade would I be looking at? Any tips on how to build one of these? How much space should I allow between decks?
I am in the planning stages of my layout building. The layout will be a folded dogbone style, in a 10.5' x 19' room with 30" minimum radius curves. I think I am getting close to settling on a track plan, which is pretty hard as I keep changing my mind.
One thing that keeps coming up is staging/yard. I would rather have my layout be about scenery and industries than having a yard gobble up half of it, but I still need a place for storing trains. I would like to build a 2nd deck below the layout for staging.
For this, I will need a helix. I would be looking at a curves for it somewhere between 30-34" radius. I'm concerned about getting trains up this hill. I dont plan to run more than 2 units in a consist ever. Will be a mix of steam/early (2 axle) diesels for power.
What kind of grade would I be looking at? Any tips on how to build one of these? How much space should I allow between decks?