Hi folks,

I'm still in the drawing/tinkering phase of layout design and wanted to pose a couple of questions (I'll try hard to explain things clearly).

In designing my N-Scale dream layout (21' x 24'), I'm using one 36" x 24' shelf for a "nolix" depicting a modest canyon and rolling hills scene on the lowest level (40" or so). Since I'm also considering a steam/transition era, I want to keep grades to a reasonable level, so the total rise will only be 3~4" (at the point of return, at which point the tracks duck into a tunnel and helix and rise 3-turns to the upper deck 12" above the entrance to the helix).

However, I've run into a slight design stumbling block. My original plan was to hide the tracks exiting the top-portion of the helix, run it along the backside of the upper shelf, and then pop-out of a tunnel and continue again along the upper shelf - basically, a reverse of the lower level nolix (but narrower at 30"). I then thought that instead of physically hiding the track, it could run along the front edge, enter the tunnel, and then pop-out as before before continuing on. This keeps more track accessible for maintenance and cleaning, but might look silly having two scenes (upper and lower) with tracks going to a fro.

My question(s): If the track following the upper front edge are slightly blocked by a rise in the scenery (such as from a 3" berm, so that the closer trackage isn't immediately viewable unless you stand right up to the shelf), would this be an acceptable compromise so that the rest of the plan falls into place? Does anyone else here have semi-hidden trackage on their own layouts that can share their experiences on its visual/operational impact? I don't particularly like having any helices, but they do ease grades and help separate scenes.

The following image should help illustrate what I'm after:

Lastly, my original design has the upper shelf climb to 63", and the lower shelf is at 40". If I raise the upper end of the layout by 2", and lower the lower level by 2", I would then have enough space for an additional shelf just below at 53". Thus the three shelves would then be at 38", 53" and 65", and the aisle width in this location would be slightly greater than 48". This last shelf, while not required by my original design, will nevertheless add a ton of operating potential. While I don't foresee any visual oddities by adding the third shelf, it will, however, make construction of the behind-the scenes areas (aka staging and helices) a bit tricky to pull off.

In all instances above, nothing is added or subtracted from the all-important aisleways (overall at least 36" with one 30" pinch point), and that grades are not over 2.25%. Train lengths will be around 10'.

Cheers!
Marc