I saw a couple YouTube videos of mountains made of Fastrack that spiral up from a large circle to a small circle at the top. I’ve been fooling around with it in XtrkCad, but I’m not getting it. It looks so lopsided and deformed. I was wondering if there was a trick to it.
If there is a parts list somewhere, that would also be a great help.
Here's a scheme that might work, starting at the top of the mountain:
O36 270 degreesStraight 6 inchesO36 90 degreesO48 270 degreesStraight 6 inchesO48 90 degreesO60 270 degreesStraight 6 inchesO60 90 degreesO72 270 degreesStraight 6 inchesO72 90 degreesO84 270 degreesStraight 6 inchesO84 90 degrees
All the turns are in the same direction of course.
Bob Nelson
Oh wow, this is great!
Thanks Bob. I'm going to give it a try in XtrackCad.
Here's another one, with a loop at the top:
O36 360 degreesStraight 10 inchesO36 90 degreesO48 90 degreesStraight 4 inchesO48 180 degreesStraight 10 inchesO48 90 degreesO60 90 degreesStraight 4 inchesO60 180 degreesStraight 10 inchesO60 90 degreesO72 90 degreesStraight 4 inchesO72 180 degreesStraight 10 inchesO72 90 degreesO84 90 degreesStraight 4 inchesO84 180 degreesStraight 10 inchesO84 90 degrees
Thanks that’s pretty big. I drew both up in XtrkCad to see how they look and I think the second one looks the best, but it’s a little too big.
I am now trying to figure out the clearance for a bridge to crossover at the top for a return loop. I thought I saw Fastrack Figure 8 add on bridge kits using 036 curves, but I can’t find one right now. I might be confusing it with another track.
Of course, you wouldn't have to use all five turns.
An escape is possible at the top, but just barely. I think you would have to use a through-truss or through-girder bridge, with the rails at the absolute bottom of the bridge, at least right where it crosses over the lower track, to maintain 5-inch clearance with a 4-percent grade.
I have 3 of those through-truss bridges with the flat sheet metal bottoms. One is 24” which would probably work the best, but I’m using it for something else unless I buy another newer bridge. I also have two 18” bridges that I might be able to use if I put a section of the lower loops in a tunnel on one side so that I can have something to support the other end of the bridge.
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