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impossible to be a lone wolf these days...

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  • Member since
    August 2003
  • From: northeast corridor
  • 39 posts
impossible to be a lone wolf these days...
Posted by daniel1967 on Saturday, March 27, 2004 10:35 AM
god bless tech... cause no matter what you fancied yourself being (myself included), if your reading this, odds are you're not what you think you are...anymore...
for instance- i'm building 2 helix's at either end of layout , 12" and 16" respectively. bought necessary supplies ( several ft. of rods) cause i have pretty much everything else laying around- any suggestions for a smooth project with top performance objectives?

see what i mean?[:0]
dan
  • Member since
    February 2004
  • From: Out on the Briny Ocean Tossed
  • 4,236 posts
Posted by Fergmiester on Saturday, March 27, 2004 11:08 AM
Find yourself a "buddy" and work on it together! Why do I say this? Today I went to the local spring train show and talked with some old aquaintances. The normal chit chat kind of stuff. Asked how I was doing and I replied "Ehhh". I've been off for a couple of months and will be going back to work next week . As I said to "Mike" "you'ld think with all this time off I'd get alot done". Nope! A bit of this a bit of that, most of my time was spent visuallizing, wondering what to do next and correcting old mistakes. The Big Boy almost got turned ino a Jumbo Jet but common sense prevailed. Like everything else in life it goes better when you have some guidance or timely assistance. This can be a hard commodity to find but if you can find it, take it. And then you can give some of it back. One thing I've learned over the years. You can't get full day's work from one man, but two together can achieve what five can't all working in different directions.

Just my two cents

http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=5959

If one could roll back the hands of time... They would be waiting for the next train into the future. A. H. Francey 1921-2007  

  • Member since
    December 2003
  • From: St Paul, MN
  • 6,218 posts
Posted by Big_Boy_4005 on Saturday, March 27, 2004 5:12 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by Fergmiester

....The Big Boy almost got turned ino a Jumbo Jet but common sense prevailed.....

Boy turn your back on them for a few days, and look what happens. [:p][;)][(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D][swg] Sorry Fergie, couldn't resist.

The truth is Dan, that thanks to things like this forum, you really aren't alone. You may only have two hands, but you have hundreds of brains behind you.

Given those curve radii, I would guess that you are in N. There are a lot of things to consider when building a helix. The number one thing is to keep the grade down as much as possible. The larger the diameter, the lower the grade can be, and the easier the trains will make it up.

Let's do some quick math on the 12". [code]The formula is 2 π r[/code]
So 3.14 x 24" = ~75.5". In N you will want about 3" height gain per turn 3 / 75.5 comes to just under 4% which is acceptable but steep. This means that your 16" will be better for grade, as the trains will have a longer distance to gain the same height.

I do O gauge, this is a 60" radius or 10' diameter helix, gaining 8" per turn figures out to about 2%.

  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, March 27, 2004 5:17 PM
I know this'll sound pretty dumb, but what's a Helix?
  • Member since
    December 2003
  • From: St Paul, MN
  • 6,218 posts
Posted by Big_Boy_4005 on Saturday, March 27, 2004 5:19 PM
It is a spiral stack of track that takes trains up or down between levels, check the photo.
  • Member since
    February 2004
  • From: Out on the Briny Ocean Tossed
  • 4,236 posts
Posted by Fergmiester on Saturday, March 27, 2004 5:41 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by 4884bigboy

I know this'll sound pretty dumb, but what's a Helix?


Member of the odd couple, just mispeld

http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=5959

If one could roll back the hands of time... They would be waiting for the next train into the future. A. H. Francey 1921-2007  

  • Member since
    October 2003
  • From: United States of America, Tennessee, Cookeville
  • 408 posts
Posted by Allen Jenkins on Saturday, March 27, 2004 6:47 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by daniel1967

god bless tech... cause no matter what you fancied yourself being (myself included), if your reading this, odds are you're not what you think you are...anymore...
for instance- i'm building 2 helix's at either end of layout , 12" and 16" respectively. bought necessary supplies ( several ft. of rods) cause i have pretty much everything else laying around- any suggestions for a smooth project with top performance objectives?

see what i mean?[:0]
dan
Allen/Backyard
  • Member since
    October 2003
  • From: United States of America, Tennessee, Cookeville
  • 408 posts
Posted by Allen Jenkins on Saturday, March 27, 2004 7:01 PM
Originally posted by daniel1967

god bless tech... cause no matter what you fancied yourself being (myself included), if your reading this, odds are you're not what you think you are...anymore...



Been looking for this Window! In the bible, The book of Proverbs, in praise of wisdom, chapter 8, verse 12, the KJV reads, (Prov. 8:12) I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out the knowledge of witty inventions. (NOT to be confused with idolatry). Acj\Backyard.
Allen/Backyard

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