Thinkin of building a loop over


CbarM

CbarM

HO all the way!
Im thinkin thats what its called, something where the track makes a turn n loops over itself. I am in the mental planning stage of my half basement layout in a room approx 12x35 and I thought of having a peninsula on one end for extra mainline run and doing a loop over to avoid 3 tighter curves and just having the one maybe. For a 2% incline, how much distance would I need to be safe to make a double stack car fit with scenery and roadbed etc. Im guessing that a scale 20' clearance is enough, but not sure, and if it was then that would be 1000 scale feet roughly.
 
Scale is HO, all the way, just like it says next to my handle here...

I will check that out, thanks for the link.
 
You need an absolute minimum of about 2.75" from the top of the rails below and the bottom of whatever is supporting your rails above. That's for boxcars and tank cars and most cabooses. Some older cabooses had taller stacks, and so did the MOW wrecker cranes, and of course modern double-stacks will need about 3.5", maybe a bit more. So, using the rise-over-run formula, if you want a rise of about 3" , which the actual rail tops need to rise to be safe, and you want a certain grade [which you haven't specified], then plug it all in and get your climbing distance. Don't forget that you need a vertical curve, or transition curve, into the grade from level, and again at the top, but in reverse....from grade back to level. Both those curves eat into your climing grade.
 
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