Pacific Railway & Navigation

[MDW]

I’ve spent a fair amount of time in Oregon, but the layout lives in another part of the world.  I agree that the scenery opportunities are great and I can’t wait to get to that phase of modeling.

Michel

[MDW]

Spent the last couple of weeks attacking the next (and last!) 2 helices - ran the second of 4 power district bus lines to power the lower helix,  aligned & attached something like 160 2” metal angles to the helix supports, set the supports, and assembled & wired the first two turns of track. 





Waiting on an order of unitrack to finish up........
Michel

[Vince P]

Getting it done.

Looks great.

[Specter3]

That is a really neat solution to a helix. Are the tracks attached to helix at all?

[LIRR]

Agreed. Good idea....but a derailment won’t be pretty

[pdx1955]

While  Kato  track is pretty  good at keeping  derailments  at bay, train handling and train makeup will be critical  to not invite issues. This is important  with the proto operations  of multiple steam engines on the  point with lightweight  skeleton  log flats and other open top cars. Anything that  comes off the top in a stringline  derailment   may go clear to the floor. I'd consider  adding some thick foam rubber cushions on the floor to break any falls. That won't  stop anything  off the outside though. You can be careful  but I don't think you'll  be able to get away always of letting  something  just run without  keeping  an eye on it.

Are you tacking the track down on the brackets with some silicone  or other adhesive  to keep things from shifting?

[MDW]

Thanks Peter

I have the same worries and after a half year of operating the first helix, this is what i’ve noticed:
1.  Mid-helix derailments are almost non existent BUT operators need to check every set of wheels heading in or out of the helix to make sure nothing is dragging.
2.  I haven’t string-lined yet despite running a variety of rolling stock with different wheels, couplers, weights.  I’ll start standardizing soon to improve the odds of this not happening.
3.  Speed needs to be carefully controlled - despite the desire to speed up and get through the off layout trackage more quickly, the trains perform more reliably at more modest speeds.

All the helices are visible (the peninsula helix is open on 3 sides & the other two under construction are accessible from the back of the layout) and I agree with you that I’ll need to keep a constant eye on the trains through the entire run just to be safe.   The big hole you see in the latest set of pictures has a roll in drawing cabinet and it’s a great idea to pad that just in case.  Otherwise their is enough benchwork to keep things off the floor - I hope!

Finally, yes - I glue the unitrack to each angle after I get two or three turns in place, wired & tested.  Adjusting the unitrack ensures alignment and keeps all the track joints centered on each angle.  Fixing the track to the angles also provides rigidity to the lightweight structure and lessens the tiny bit of deflection between angles.

Thanks for the feedback.
Michel

[pdx1955]

Cutting in an Atlas rerailer section at the top and bottom could help keep anything on the rails. I have those in my hidden staging yard to prevent issues.

[MDW]

Yep - nice idea.   Hadn’t considered that.
Thanks!

Michel

[MDW]

Specter3 & LIRR

Guys, Sorry I missed your comments.....
Yes, the track is glued to the angles & Yes, derailments will be ugly.   I guess like the prototype, I’ll  have to be on my toes the entire way up & back down the mountain - both on the visible layout and in the helices!

Michel

[Philip H]

Yes, the track is glued to the angles & Yes, derailments will be ugly.   I guess like the prototype, I’ll  have to be on my toes the entire way up & back down the mountain - both on the visible layout and in the helices!

Michel

Back in the day, we stapled folded over fabric screen in long strips about 2-3 inches high on each side of @wm3798's hidden trackage so that dragging equipment wouldn't take any plunges.  Not sure how to do that in your helix, but it would likely stop the long plunge of death while being flexible enough to allow rerailing etc.

[MDW]

Thanks for the suggestion, Philip
That’s actually a great, simple solution - would love the extra protection but need to keep the accessibility.  This could take care of both. 

Michel

[MDW]

Didn’t get as much done in July as I had hoped - work got in the way - but I did get the lower helix installed, wired, & tested.   Wrapped it up today and will jump into the Enright track work at the bottom of the helix tomorrow.   The goal is to finish Enright, install 2 bridges, & fix a bit of squirrelly track in Wheeler by the end of August.  We’ll see how that goes..........



Michel

[C855B]

Can't decide if this is going to be a medieval torture device or a Tokamak-class fusion reactor. Most likely the former.

   

[eric220]

Can't decide if this is going to be a medieval torture device or a Tokamak-class fusion reactor. Most likely the former.

   

Torquemada-class fusion reactor?