Superior & Seattle Railroad Build

S&S RR · August 27, 2016, 09:04:09 AM

Quote from: MartyO on August 26, 2016, 11:20:08 PM
Amen!

Thanks for stopping by the thread Marty.

S&S RR · August 27, 2016, 09:51:19 PM

Well, today I made lots of progress. And the day started with a design change. I was having problems with the grade required to get around all of the structural supports holding up the mountain for the last loop of the helix. It was going to take more than the 4 % maximum down grade so I decided to finish the down grade in the straight sections between the mountains. This solution required a lot of cutting but in nonstructural areas. This first helix is the HOn3 return loop and the locomotives will generally be running in one direction so this helix will be the down helix after the train has made a complete run on the top level of the layout. The train will then go down this helix and underneath the bench work to the other side of the layout where it will go up another helix which will have a 2% grade (this helix will actually be used by both the HO and HOn3 trains). This system eliminates the need for hidden hard to reach turnouts which I know would be an issue during open houses. The train sizes will be limited because it is a Narrow Gauge Line so I don't expect to have trouble running either direction. When I got the call for dinner, I was just starting to install the last two sections - so pictures will wait until tomorrow.

Twist67 · August 28, 2016, 07:36:27 AM

Hi,

John, nice work on the helix... I have to crawl under the benchwork but could stand into the helix for now...It´s always a lot of work to make changes to the benchwork later.

The bins looking great,too.

I always enjoy the progress photos on other layouts. Thanks for sharing.

Regards,Chris

S&S RR · August 28, 2016, 09:03:41 PM

Quote from: Twist67 on August 28, 2016, 07:36:27 AM
Hi,

John, nice work on the helix... I have to crawl under the benchwork but could stand into the helix for now...It´s always a lot of work to make changes to the benchwork later.

The bins looking great,too.

I always enjoy the progress photos on other layouts. Thanks for sharing.

Regards,Chris

Chris

Thanks for stopping by. Yes - adding a helix to the layout after the benchwork and mountain were complete is a lot of work but I think it will be worth it in the end. I couldn't have done this before the mountains because the track would have been destroyed during the plaster work phase. Any way I'm almost done with this inside the mountain helix. The helix on the other side of the layout will be under a city so I will be able to stand in the center and build it the traditional way.

S&S RR · August 28, 2016, 09:08:50 PM

I'm out in the gazebo this evening catching up on the forum and celebrating the completion of the intermountain helix. I took a few pictures so I will attempt to explain what I have been up to the past couple of months. My layout has 4 levels - but the scenery is continuous so you can't really tell which level a particular scene is on. The upper most level is HOn3 and was originally a point to point design. The reversing loops required turnouts that were way out of reach and would require a crawl under the layout if anything went wrong. So I decided to add two helixes at each end of the Narrow Gauge Line that allow the train to go down below the layout and return to the other side.

S&S RR · August 28, 2016, 09:18:41 PM

After two months of cutting and fitting and assembling and reassembling we have about 6 feet of visible track. The holes will be filled and that old portal will be covered. The portal is actually one of the few things that are still visible from my old layout. Not for long though.

S&S RR · August 28, 2016, 09:20:50 PM

The second picture is what I hope this area will look like when the scenery is complete. I planted a few poplar trees here as a color check and hundreds more poplar and pine trees will be added to complete this area. The back side of this mountain is about 90 % complete and I plan on putting the final touches on it as soon as the trains are running. In this area most of the rock work will fade into the background. I have a few structures planned for the foreground.

S&S RR · August 28, 2016, 09:35:08 PM

At this point the HOn3 line has dropped 4 inches by going through a loop of helix that is inside the mountain we are looking at. I couldn't find a way to get a picture of this loop. After leaving this level the helix is a series of 5 loops. The helix is actually an oval that is 72 inches long and 48 inches wide (that's what fit inside the mountain). This gives us 200 inches of running for each loop so 3.5 percent grade allows us to drop 7 inches per loop. The grade is not constant because there was a lot of internal bracing for the mountains that I had to work around. This helix will generally be the down grade helix so I allowed for a maximum grade of 4 percent but most of it is at 2.5 percent grade. Here is a picture inside the mountain as the track leaves this level and starts on it's way down.

S&S RR · August 28, 2016, 09:38:39 PM

The cork you see in the picture above is left over from my old layout. You can also see the plaster spills from the mountain construction that would have destroyed any track work installed before the completion of the mountains. As described earlier in the thread, each section of track work was assembled on my workbench and then the ends were joined - where I could get at them. Code 55 HOn3 track is hard to work with on the work bench - it is extremely difficult standing on your head inside a mountain. I have a few soldier iron burns to prove it. The black artist board was nailed and glued to the edges of the plywood strips that hold the track to keep any derailments contained. It's a long drop to the floor in this area.

The plywood benchwork in this area was actually inside a mountain on my old layout and now just serves as a base for the new layout and new mountains.

S&S RR · August 28, 2016, 09:51:03 PM

The next few pictures show the view as you look inside the mountain through this top hatch.

If you look closely you can see a little bit of 5 of the loops. You will notice that I have staggered them for two reasons. First, I need to be able to reach all the track for cleaning, and second I need to work my way around all the braces that are holding up the plaster mountains.