Id like to attempt a double deck around the room shelf layout and have some questions: 1st is what is a good height between decks and 2 best way to reach the 2nd shelf minus the helix? Also any other tips or ideas will help. Thanks
Harry:
This is where modelling becomes a compromise or an art.
A minimum distance between levels involves enough room to get your hand around cars that need to be moved/re-railed. In HO, probably 6" to the bottom of the second layer (then add woodwork, trackbed, scenery...)
I worked with one fellow who added a second shelf a couple of feet above the first. He had a long room and a couple of trips along the peninsula to get up there. At the other end he built a helix that took up more space than some of my layouts. (Then he decided to reverse it -- imagine turning a helix inside out through itself.)
If you want visible scenery, I think at least a foot between levels. At 2%, that's roughly 4 feet per inch or 48 feet of run. a 36" radius helix gives almost 19 feet of run per layer, so nearly 3 layers. and 5" rise per turn. 36" radius will take probably a 6 1/2 foot square.
It depends on how long the shelves will be. If they are long enough and close enough to each other could you have a grade that starts at one end and ends at the other running against the wall?
the main base is just over 9ft by 9ft and 2ft wide shelfs if this helps
How do you feel about switchbacks?
Here are a few pics of local layouts......
An example of spacing for a couple of shelves; about 2 times the height of a locomotive on a track with roadbed.
[
attachment=20411]
Then there's the staggered shelf idea... Plenty of airspace for scenery and reaching derailed trains.
[
attachment=20410]
Switch back sounds good to me. If you look at my idea it is basically the same. You could make it what ever grade you desire with nine feet to work with.
I don't mind switch backs and helper locos ither
railroader9731 Wrote:Id like to attempt a double deck around the room shelf layout and have some questions: 1st is what is a good height between decks and 2 best way to reach the 2nd shelf minus the helix? Also any other tips or ideas will help. Thanks
Measure your sight lines starting with your selected height for the top deck. You sightlines should allow unencumbered sight of the lower deck from that point.
If you are not using a helix, you have two basic choices:
1. a gradual round-the-room climb to the upper level, or
2. an elevator. Several articles on this approach have shown up over the years in the modeling mags, but essentially you use a "cassette" system with allowance for vertical movement. Seems awfully awkward if not impossible during normal ops.
And that's pretty much it. My money is one No. 1.
I think that there was an article in MR a couple of years ago where a club had made an elevator/storage rack for use on their layout.
If you are considering an elevator you need to assess your woodworking/metal working skills as well as your mechanical and electronic/electrical skills.
There is usually an ad in MR for an elevator/storage cassette 4' long for about $400 or 6' long for @ an extra $150.
It is an achievable means to transfer your trains between levels, but you may find it draws more attention than the rest of the layout. A bit like the toy parking garage with the elevator, all the fun is in lifting the cars to park them.
Mark
railroader9731 Wrote:Id like to attempt a double deck around the room shelf layout and have some questions: 1st is what is a good height between decks and 2 best way to reach the 2nd shelf minus the helix? Also any other tips or ideas will help. Thanks
What kind of layout are you going to build? Is it going to be point to point or just an oval/circle of track? What do you mean by "double deck" & what is your reason for having two decks? Are the decks going to be connected? What kind of trains are you going to be running: freight, passenger or both? Is your MR going to start at point A & climb around the wall over itself to point B? Can you provide us a sketch of how you envision MR?