Somewhere I got the notion that having a turnout on a grade was bad for reliability. Is that so? Assuming the grade is constant through the turnout, so the turnout is flat, just not level with respect to the floor. 

In my track planning, I'm looking at a choice between:

a) shortening a grade so it lies between turnouts, resulting in a 2.5% grade when I was trying to stick to 2% or less,

b) moving a turnout, resulting in shortening my yard,

Based on the prior thread, I've been convinced that I should get my welding for benchwork done off-site by a professional welder. My current idea is to get 'slices' of benchwork support welded together out of 1" square steel tube, and bring them home, and then screw or bolt the slices together using 1" x 1" 90-degree angle bar once I get them into the room.

The benchwork has to be free-standing, I don't want to drill holes in my cement walls to attach the benchwork to the walls. 

I have a question for the welders. Having given a lot of thought to the idea of learning to weld, I've decided it just makes sense for me to hire that work done and have it done off-site, then screw or bolt together pieces once I have them home. But this means I'm going to have to ask a few questions here because if I learned how to weld I'd learn what's feasible along the way, but if I don't learn I'll have to ask instead.

I'm still planning, trying to nail down minimums. This thread's about aisle widths.

I am doing some track planning, at this point I'm just layout out the benchwork edges. I have a protrusion to deal with. It's a solid concrete post, probably rebar reinforced, load bearing, and definitely not modifiable. Don't even think about cutting into it. I need to narrow the layout width at the point that it squeezes past this protrusion, and I want the layout wide enough for a pair of parallel tracks. 

I closed on my condo purchase yesterday, what an ordeal!

But it's done, I paid, and I have a key.  It's a 3 bedroom place, a lot of space for just one guy. I've been renting in this same building for 3 1/2 years, so I know the annoyances and risks and I was pretty comfortable with the building. 

I don't know if in today's covid world I'd risk buying, but the deal was made and committed to back in January. The closing got held up for about a month from the original plan of April 20 due to covid shutdowns.

For various reasons, including the climate, I would like to build my benchwork from 1" square steel tubing. I have found a couple local suppliers. I'm confident I can find a way to get the stuff delivered. 

The first obstacle will be getting it up to my apartment. The web site I saw says the stock comes in 6 meter lengths. That's not going to fit in the elevator! I might be able to have it all cut in half at the "steel shop" where I buy it. 3 meters might fit in the elevator, diagonally. I'll have to measure.

I've seen some people who build a helix that contains multiple tracks (more than 2), and use them for staging. It seems like a great way to conserve space if you are already going to have a helix, and don't want a separate deck for staging.

I've got a condo under contract, scheduled to close on April 20th. I will be devoting almost all of the main living/dining room to a layout, and using a spare bedroom as a small TV/living room. Got my priorities, see?

I'll comment on the diagram in the next post to keep the main post small.