I'm with Russ - ditch the helix

A Nolix in HO scale can be done in 5-by-10 feet or less as demonstrated in this mid-1960s layout under  construction.

looks like a fair amount of hidden trackage in that though, Mark. Was this a free standing unit?

My reaction and this is after having attempted a couple of these sorts of layouts is that  you have a lot more going on than you will get back operationally.  To say it another way, what you will get out of the countless hours constructing this particular plan will not yield grand dividends in the end.  To put it another way, I see a lot of frustration due to trying to fit a whole lot into a really small space.

Having tried this out myself, I'd suggest keeping it simple.  Isolate those scenes you most direly want to model, and stick with just that.  If you want to model more, you might go with two decks, isolated, and that will give you more building opportunities.  That helix sounds like a bad idea, to me, given your total square footage.  If you get 2' of rise for every 100' of track [that's a 2% grade] than you will be putting 33.3 sections of flex track in that helix just to get one level; add another 33.3 sections to get to the second level to that [expensive!] staging, and you're looking at 66.67 sections fo flex track at $4.00 each [ha!, if you can find it for that price!] which provides a grand sum of $270.00 tied up in just that helix monster.  We still haven't discussed the time it will take to construct it nor your skill level in laying track, which would be very pertinent in the reliable operation of that unit.

Your room seems to be about 10x10, which means you only need 40' to go around once via single track mainline...two levels, that yields 80', and we're still nowhere near the trackage needed to go between the decks.

This may be a bit unconventional, but you may consider building your layout as two seperate shelf layouts that can be taken out [modular] to a larger setting and combined to form one larger layout - or suppose, for example, if you moved to a larger space down the road where you will have the real estate to enjoy everything you want at once.  For now you may never move, though it might be nice to take portions of your layout on the road with you.

But if you do ever move, I could almost guarantee that the helix will be a complete loss...I know from my last experience that the whole layout ended up going byebye, but that's a different story...in short, I did not quite make the layout sectional, I cobbled it together, and when it cam time to bade farewell, it came out in chunks that consequentially fell apart, best left for the garbage!

And between now and that move, you'll be spending more of your time building that helix then you will ever spend on the rest of your layout.  And that just seems like a bit of a loss in your total potential.

If I were you....I'd scale back to just the essentials.

The layout was free-standing, with one side against the wall.

The only hidden trackage was the two standard-gauge tracks along the front edge (standard gauge main track consisted of an oval), and a single narrow-gauge track behind the backdrop under the top deck (narrow gauge was point-to-point, running between a dual-gauge yard and the branchline terminus on the second level).  The hidden narrow gauge track could have been made visible, but I didn't want to see narrow gauge twice in the same scene.

rblundon you have been here at the MRH forum as long as I have so you may remember my posts about building the RGS in phases. Room 1 is 12ft 6in X 14ft10in and I was going to build a helix into room #2 with a two main lines one in Duel Gauge HO-HOn3 and the second in HOn3 the cost for all the lumber and track would have exceed $350.00 as well as been a major pain to operate. The same people said the same things to me and you can go back and read them all telling me to forget the Helix. At that time I started looking into the around the room No-lix. I found it takes 1/3 the track and 1/4 the cost to get my trains up to the second level at the same time I didn't loose any space the Helix would have needed and I gained more scenery and industry opportunities. My space is just a little larger than yours for my first room any way but once you start building you're going to find it's alot smaller than it looks on paper and you don't really have the room you think your going to have. Where you have the far side of your Helix going behind the furnace you can still use that space behind to send the trains around a hidden area.

I have spent the past 5 years planning and changing plans and Drawing and re-drawing all before I introduced the card board mock up I put on my blog with the helix. After that and the criticism as well as helpful suggestions I received here from everybody I did not build the helix and I did start building my RR. I have been building the RGS for 7 months now a few hours a week and have made alot of changes on my plan from what I first posted and even more changes because some things I found just don't work as I build. Best thing is get your first level built, see what it looks like and where you need to go from there it will help more than you know.You will be very happy you left out the helix with a gradual grade increase to the point of where level two and if you want level three starts just how much more space you end up with when you don't have to fool with the troubles a Helix can cause.

Dan

I know you've already been through the wringer on the layout design list, so all these helpful hints are probably not so helpful at this point.  I just want to let you know that your helix design will work fine, and if you really want to build it that way, it will work.  My club runs 40 car freights up similar helices, so a less then 20 car train will have no problems.  One thing that the nolix guys don't think about is how difficult it is to find a flat spot for switching when your mainline is on a constant grade.  Your industrial park would be tough to pull off when your cars don't hold still.  If you need some hints on how to build a reliable helix, I can help you out.

I assume your intention is to have the one line out of the staging area to drop down the inner helix right to the bottom level, and then work up from there on the outer helix through the middle deck till you get back to the top.  That should work like a charm; it's good to keep the tracks on a helix simple, no turnouts or crossings.  I'm just not sure whether you are going change direction on the middle level compared to the bottom; if you are, that's better since you won't be trapped at the wrong end of the aisle with your train coming out on the other side of the peninsula.  Even though it isn't a big peninsula, it's still better not to have to chase after your train after it enters hidden track--it should come out right above or below where it disappears.

A couple things I did notice though:  having the Soo cross the end of the passing siding by Waukesha is not so likely; railroads keep the number of tracks at a diamond to a minimum.  The other thing is your swinging gate, and maybe it's just not drawn as you intend, but the hinge has to be on the inside on the facsia, and the free end will need to be angled so that outside is shorter than the inside or it won't move.  Draw an arc from the hinge point, through the bridge and then connect the points where it intersects with the inside and outside of the gate; that's the angle you need to allow it to move freely.  You can make the angle more acute, but no shallower than that.

The hidden track will serve to separate the two parts of you layout, whether you want that or not.  I rather find that useful at times.  A layout with one continuous mainline without interruption is like a run-on sentence; you never have a chance to think ahead.  A helix is like a punctuation mark which gives you a chance to breathe and think about the next task at hand before your train gets there.  And it definitely makes your layout seem bigger.

Jergen is your Club railroad only 12ft X 12ft? Does your helix require 20% to 25% of your Railroad room's space? That's what my point is with such a small room of which my RR room is just bit larger and still to utilize 20% or more of the room It's better to live without the helix. As far as switching on a grade it's not necessary to be on a constant grade I have two yards so far and, only 20 running track feet apart and the yards are flat and level. I also have 3 siding industries with twin tracks on each and you simply back in to the flat side cut your cars for the other siding drop off the cars and pick up the rest of the train. I'm using 4% grades and I'm not having trouble with any run a-ways after all the world isn't flat. From what I see of the track plan he has, he'll have alot of level track on each level. now if he was running a single track all the way around on a single loop I could understand your point, or if he had a room 12ft X 25ft with the furnace in one corner then maybe a helix would only take 8%-10% of the Railroad room and wouldn't take away from operating room but with only a 2 foot wide isle and the tight quarters he has with this layout design he'll be able to move alot easier without the Helix taking up space. and 1 other thing should his furnace need any mechanical work done on it he would have to tear out the helix and suspend operating his railroad for weeks or longer + the expense of rebuilding the helix.

Dan

Actually, Dan, it's precisely because the room is so small that a helix is a better way to go.  If you have a large room the grades on a nolix layout wouldn't be so severe, but in such a small space you need to get very steep to get to the next level within the short running distance.  A 4% grade may work out very well for you, but then you're modelling narrow gauge in the mountains where excessive grades are more to be expected, but if you're trying to model the flatlands of Wisconsin, and an industrial area to boot, the grades will look very out of place.  I think it's better to hide the grades in a closet than try to incorporate them in the open.

Now I don't know where the furnace is or how accessible it is in relation to the helix, but rblundon should take that into consideration.  I think he's on the ball enough not to build the helix around the furnace.

If someone can draw a nolix plan with grades calculated and heights marked which will do what he wants, I would like to see it.

 Thanks for all the great discussion!  Here are a couple more points to consider...

1. I was planning on having a swing bridge for the lower two decks (the upper deck (staging)) will be a duck under.

2. I might be able to move the helix into the back room next to the furnace(upper left corner).

3. I could lower staging to 72" (everyone would have to duck)

I've started playing with the idea of having the helix in the back room, and it definitely gives more room along the walls.  Unfortunately, I have to start over on the design... I might even be able to move the yard and engine facilities off the peninsula and get rid of it.

Paper is cheap - You can throw out a whole plan and lose only a few sheets and the time you spent doodling on it!  That time isn't lost, though, as it goes towards the final plan!