Michael, thanks for the great informative video and loved watching the construction process! I read in the comments about the outer and inner radii, but what was the width of each ring? Looking to do the single threaded rod in the center of the ring on my helix. Sounds like it runs without any hiccups. Thanks again!
Superb video, Ive built a small helix for my own model railway and I'm in the process of completing the second one. Interesting construction technique you've used. I know all about the nuts and rods being awkward, I did curse quite a lot when I made a mistake and had to take a section to pieces. All the best Regards Paul
What is the track radius, inner and outer for the hilux? What kind of trains are you able to run up it? Have you run into any issues with needing helpers/extra motive power to bring trains up?
28 inner, 30 outer. My only regret is not adding a shim or two to the perimeter when we wrapped it in fascia board. Would have been nice to have more clearance. As it is, the longer cars, autoracks, Boeing 737 carriers, we run them on the inside rails. No issues with traction.
Great job. I have a question though: why did you put the tracks so close to the inner and outer edge of your boards? When something happens, the risk of trains falling of is high. I always maintain (N-gauge) an 2,5 cm free space next to the track in curves and 1,5 cm of free space next to straight tracks.
Outside track protected by fascia on all 6 levels of track. Inside tracks use down grade movement only, so any momentum would be toward inner half of helix in event of derail. We've never had an issue.
Good question Madhu, we had a finite outer dimension we had to account for as a main aisleway goes around the helix. In order to assure track spacing, using one rod in the center ended up a better solution than two.
Thanks for this video Michael. One of my viewers was asking me about a helix and I found this one. Wow, that's a lot of work. Did you say how many panels you cut from your 3 sheets of plywood?
Thanks Tom. I cut way more panels than was necessary. Used 3 full sheets of plywood, really need only 2. We used one sheet for the top pieces, another for the bottom. This ensured a consistency of dimensional thickness throughout.
You got me going on my project again and I appreciate your efforts! Rather than washers and nuts for each lift, why not use pipe/tube spacers, copper or emt, cut to length, slide the rod through and fasten at top and bottom? the spacer pipes will hold the grade and eliminate the juggling for each level. Now I think about a bare rod that is threaded at the ends is less expensive than all thread, no? provided one has the tap to cut threads.
I would be concerned that you've cut the spacer, put it in place, tightened it all down and then decide you want to tweak the grade. Then you have to take it apart to replace the spacer. The nut/washer combo allows you to tweak the grade anytime, any direction (up or down) you want. Threaded rod was cheap so I can't answer the second question.
Well, what about plain rod and collars with set screws. Avoids threading nuts the full length of the rod AND gives one the option to adjust grade at any point along the trackway.
Depends on which type of set screw is used, some are better for permanent or temporary installations. They are more expensive than a nut, though it seems to be faster to build. Will be trying this for mine, next year. Cheers!
A very repetitive and tedious process. I have never seen this "tile system" process before...what is the thinking behind it that you decided to not go with the "normal" method of using a series of curved 1/4 or 1/2 circle strips of plywood?
great question, at the time I decided based on a couple of factors, 1) wanted it very rigid 2) as thin as possible. 1/4" by itself is anything but rigid and 1/2" ply is not actually 1/2", which meant we'd probably have to settle for 5/8", which I felt would be too thick. also felt the amount of waste cutting circles out of ply wasn't worth the cost. In the end I used only 2 full sheets of ply and the true 1/2" thickness, combined with glue and screws gave us a helix you could walk on. entire build process took 2-1/2 hours. We laid cork & track following work session and added the rod a week later in one evening.
Awesome. I am retired off UP in Seattle and operated over the MILW/UP Main between Black River and Fife.
Michael, thanks for the great informative video and loved watching the construction process! I read in the comments about the outer and inner radii, but what was the width of each ring? Looking to do the single threaded rod in the center of the ring on my helix. Sounds like it runs without any hiccups. Thanks again!
Very cool helix, there’s nothing a great team of people can’t do. Good job!
Thank you Scott, I do have a very good crew, craftsman and very inventive, makes it a lot of fun.
Clever!
Ideally, all should be mounted when it has been finely finished.
Superb video, Ive built a small helix for my own model railway and I'm in the process of completing the second one. Interesting construction technique you've used. I know all about the nuts and rods being awkward, I did curse quite a lot when I made a mistake and had to take a section to pieces.
All the best
Regards
Paul
Thanks Paul, it was a fun build but not without challenges. In the end we've been really pleased with the results. Thx for the comments. M
Dunge Wood Model Railway u
What is the track radius, inner and outer for the hilux? What kind of trains are you able to run up it? Have you run into any issues with needing helpers/extra motive power to bring trains up?
28 inner, 30 outer. My only regret is not adding a shim or two to the perimeter when we wrapped it in fascia board. Would have been nice to have more clearance. As it is, the longer cars, autoracks, Boeing 737 carriers, we run them on the inside rails. No issues with traction.
Great job. I have a question though: why did you put the tracks so close to the inner and outer edge of your boards? When something happens, the risk of trains falling of is high. I always maintain (N-gauge) an 2,5 cm free space next to the track in curves and 1,5 cm of free space next to straight tracks.
Outside track protected by fascia on all 6 levels of track. Inside tracks use down grade movement only, so any momentum would be toward inner half of helix in event of derail. We've never had an issue.
Excellent work. I have a query. Why not use two threaded rods as opposed to one at the center as it would have been easy to adjust the banking?
Good question Madhu, we had a finite outer dimension we had to account for as a main aisleway goes around the helix. In order to assure track spacing, using one rod in the center ended up a better solution than two.
Thanks for this video Michael. One of my viewers was asking me about a helix and I found this one. Wow, that's a lot of work. Did you say how many panels you cut from your 3 sheets of plywood?
Thanks Tom. I cut way more panels than was necessary. Used 3 full sheets of plywood, really need only 2. We used one sheet for the top pieces, another for the bottom. This ensured a consistency of dimensional thickness throughout.
Thanks for responding so quickly.
just as I was getting comfortable with the idea of helixes this one is extremely intimidating. nice project and good commeradery.
The thumbnail pic looks like a guy about to drop the people's elbow down on the track. Lol
amazing well done
Thank you very much, we appreciate your interest.
You got me going on my project again and I appreciate your efforts!
Rather than washers and nuts for each lift, why not use pipe/tube spacers, copper or emt, cut to length, slide the rod through and fasten at top and bottom? the spacer pipes will hold the grade and eliminate the juggling for each level. Now I think about a bare rod that is threaded at the ends is less expensive than all thread, no? provided one has the tap to cut threads.
I would be concerned that you've cut the spacer, put it in place, tightened it all down and then decide you want to tweak the grade. Then you have to take it apart to replace the spacer. The nut/washer combo allows you to tweak the grade anytime, any direction (up or down) you want. Threaded rod was cheap so I can't answer the second question.
Well, what about plain rod and collars with set screws. Avoids threading nuts the full length of the rod AND gives one the option to adjust grade at any point along the trackway.
Interesting, my only concern there would be the set screw working loose over time, but that's a heck of an idea.
Depends on which type of set screw is used, some are better for permanent or temporary installations. They are more expensive than a nut, though it seems to be faster to build. Will be trying this for mine, next year.
Cheers!
Here is a graphic to demonstrate the different set screws and how to best use them.
Nice job! Can it be seen anywhere with trains running on it?
hntrains search my video list for the RGW tour. The helix run is very early in the video.
Thank you!
Id love to see this im in Bremerton Wa.
Larry Monske check out our construction blog on Trainboard.com in the HO scale thread.
Did that on my Helix. I bee hived it a little so the helix is a little wider at the bottom than at the top, Ooops.
Yeah that adds some unwanted considerations, especially if you used risers. Hopefully it still worked out ok for you. M
A very repetitive and tedious process. I have never seen this "tile system" process before...what is the thinking behind it that you decided to not go with the "normal" method of using a series of curved 1/4 or 1/2 circle strips of plywood?
great question, at the time I decided based on a couple of factors, 1) wanted it very rigid 2) as thin as possible. 1/4" by itself is anything but rigid and 1/2" ply is not actually 1/2", which meant we'd probably have to settle for 5/8", which I felt would be too thick. also felt the amount of waste cutting circles out of ply wasn't worth the cost. In the end I used only 2 full sheets of ply and the true 1/2" thickness, combined with glue and screws gave us a helix you could walk on. entire build process took 2-1/2 hours. We laid cork & track following work session and added the rod a week later in one evening.