02-18-2009, 11:08 AM
Loren, I have read through this thread to this point, and you may have moved beyond the plan you posted at the very beginning, but it would appear that your original plan was to have the turn back curve in the lower left corner a grade transitioning between the lower level and the upper level, is that right? I'm also thinking that the yellow line that appears to be some sort of divider is actually marking the edge of the upper level bench work, is that correct? If I am right so far, you will need to start your climb just past the switch going into the turn back curve at the bottom. Because of all of the switching on the upper level, you will need to complete your climb before the first switch on the lower left corner of the top and level out so that your switches and sidings will be on level tracks, correct? Doing some very rough calculations, with the emphasis on "very rough", I come up with a distance of approximately 168 inches of run to gain 7 inches elevation. You will also need to transition into and out of the grade to keep trains from uncoupling at the top or bottom of the grade. Those transitions will take away some of the linear run you would have available for the actual climb. I get a 4.16% grade by dividing 168 into 7. I'm not sure how much space to allow for the transitions, but I suspect you are looking at needing somewhere around a 4.5% or even a 5% grade to get the full 7 inches. If you move the crossover track from the main to the sidings on the beginning of the upper level from where it is shown coming right out of the curve to a spot between the trailing & facing point switches at about the 8 foot mark (I think, it is so light it is hard to read the foot marks on the bottom and side) then you can continue the climb to just before that switch. I think that would give you an additional 60 inches to gain elevation and reduce the grade. That would shorten the run around track, but I'm not sure you need one that long if you are aiming to operate a branch line in Washington or Oregon.
Another option for your layout instead of an interchange track would be to simply change what railroad you are modeling by changing locomotives and cabooses. Any bridges or structures that would have the railroad's name could be either so heavily weathered that the name/logo is invisible, or simply left off. If you do enough detail on the scenes to distract the eye, probably no one would notice that a station had the name of a town on it, but no railroad logo.
Another option for your layout instead of an interchange track would be to simply change what railroad you are modeling by changing locomotives and cabooses. Any bridges or structures that would have the railroad's name could be either so heavily weathered that the name/logo is invisible, or simply left off. If you do enough detail on the scenes to distract the eye, probably no one would notice that a station had the name of a town on it, but no railroad logo.