JR-Chiisai: Helix

[railsquid]

Wow! Very busy, but also very cool. I myself ,don't recall seeing a 4 track helix before

 

Here's one: http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=26280.msg364592#msg364592

[Martijn Meerts]

Here's one: http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=26280.msg364592#msg364592

 

And people say I'm building crazy things ;)

[kvp]

Not really. There was an example of a japanese made layout last year with a 4 track half helix, but that was made intentionally visible. I have a similar oppinion about storage yards: if it can be designed to look like a real yard, then it can also be made to look like one and displayed as part of the layout. (a yard with shared tracks between shinkansen and cape gauge trains isn't one of these though)

[Martijn Meerts]

Well.. I will have a visible steam locomotive servicing/storage bit, and possibly a partially visible tram yard or something along those line. The thing with hidden yards which I personally like, is that it makes the visible layout seem bigger than it really is, because there's a much greater variation in trains than you would have without a yard.

[Martijn Meerts]

Well.. Little update.

 

Didn't get all that much done on the helix itself, but I've added legs to the helix and yard sections. They're just very simple bits of wood (4.4x4.4 cm give or take a few), but I did add levelling feet to all of them so I can easily adjust minor height differences, up to about 3cm.

 

Next step is to connect the sections, finish the last bit of helix and then build a (temporary) section base to put a temporary loop on to test helix and yard. Of course, the yard isn't 100% wired up yet either, since I don't have all the required hardware just yet.

 

 

Also started looking at a couple of different computer control packages. My father's temporary layout (or well, we built it 4 years ago, so I guess it's not quite that temporary) runs on a Dutch program, but since the developer of that stopped adding new features, I've been looking at other options. Since I'm a Mac person for the most part, I've looked mainly at RocRail and iTrain. So, I entered my father's layout in RocRail, and started test running, and found out all sort of stuff was going wrong. Whenever a turnout was set, there was like a 50% chance some completely unrelated occupancy detectors were set off, which caused all sorts of issues. Tried a new turnout decoder, same results, messed about with occupancy detectors, same result...

 

In the end, I just ended up rewiring everything 1 by 1, and eventually figured out there was a faulty bus cable which caused it. So that was 2 weeks' worth of trial and error. Now there's still a turnout causing a short circuit on some trains, so need to figure that out at some point :)

[Densha]

Lately I've also been looking into RocRail for automating a yet-to-be-build layout of mine, so it's good to hear hands-on experiences about it!

[Martijn Meerts]

Well, I don't like RocRail that much. It has a TON of features, but the UI is pretty terrible, as is most documentation. Also, setting up a switchboard and assigning all the components takes far longer than it should. However, once set up, the trains do drive really well.

 

iTrain has fewer features, but it's much more pleasant to work with. I've only spent like an hour with it so far, so haven't configured everything yet, but I'll likely give it a test run this weekend.

 

Of course, RocRail is (for the most part) free, while iTrain is a commercial product.

[Martijn Meerts]

Another update... Managed to spend a few hours on the helix last weekend and got about a third of it wired up and tested. Next step is to build 2 more occupancy detectors for the other end of the helix and start wiring those up.

 

Since the track on the upper loop isn't finalised yet (need to experiment with the main station design a bit first), I can't completely finish the helix, but I'll be able to get the lower 4 loops all wired up at least.

 

 

Also ended up getting a license for iTrain. RocRail was just too much of a pain to set up, and my father didn't understand the program at all, so he couldn't even run trains, which pretty much defeats the purpose of having a layout ;)

[Martijn Meerts]

Right.. So.. Most of the occupancy detectors are now wired, minus a few in the upper loop. I won't wire those until I know how the main station will be looking. Turnouts are not wired yet, but those are relatively straight forward to do.

 

Most importantly though, a train has been running on the helix, and everything so far is wired up correct :D

[Densha]

That calls for a mandatory video!

[Martijn Meerts]

I'll shoot one (or try to anyway) once the turnouts are wired up as well :)

[Kb4iuj]

What's the radius of your curves ? Better make sure a E6 can take that curve as one hiccup in the flex track and that thing will jump the track. (As I've been there).

[cteno4]

Take a look at the beginning of this thread and you will see that this is the Cadillac of helixes! Only. 2% grade and he has tested with the e5/6.

 

Jeff

[Martijn Meerts]

What's the radius of your curves ? Better make sure a E6 can take that curve as one hiccup in the flex track and that thing will jump the track. (As I've been there).

 

I've already tested the E5/E6 combo, and it works just fine. Also tested some cars that tend to be difficult, such as a crane car and heavy transport, also no issues. Curves are 317mm, 354mm, 391mm and 428mm. Basically what I did was draw a curve using Tomix Finetrack sectional track in a layout design software, and then print it 1:1. I used those printed curves as templates for the flex track. Also, the helix is designed such that the 317mm is going down to the yard, so that sharpest curve going up towards the station is the 354mm one.

 

 

 

Anyway, just wired up and tested 4 of the 6 turnouts, and they all work. So, only 2 turnouts left, and then a bunch more testing. After that I still need to install a couple of occupancy detectors on the yard and then that will also be finished. The start of the actual visible parts of the layouts is in sight :)

[Martijn Meerts]

So, apart from the top loop, the helix is pretty much done and tested. Top loop needs the main station design to be somewhat finalised, so can't quite finish that. I'll be getting the wood for the frame of the main station sections sometime in the coming days most likely, already made a schematic so the hardware store knows how to cut the sheets. 

 

I've ran a couple of trains through the helix, and it's pretty smooth. A few days ago I installed decoders in the Tomix 0 series shinkansen with the lighted nose cone. The set has 2 motor cars, and even without any sort of speed matching, it went through the helix without issues. That train actually runs really smooth, and during installation I noticed Tomix have added several pieces of rubber around the motor and the worm gears, which isolates the moving parts from the body shell. Really helps a lot with dampening the motor noise.

 

Before I can make a decent video, I need to do a temporary set up of the helix and yard combined, something which I've started on. Of course, the train room is a bit of a mess so I really needed to do a bit of cleaning first :D  (not to mention, clean all the track ... )

[Martijn Meerts]

Terrible video, but oh well ;)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYRjPZb9ONo