Here you go...

Even tough you never stated what real estate you are able to you I have to assume a full footprint basement was the original idea based on the descriptions, this might help

I was fortunate enough to operate on the C&M for the last several years of ver 2  If I could ever get the space I would absolutely build it as is.  It was a blast to operate

24x24 minimum

Steve,

Did you post pictures? If you did, I can't see them.

The finished area is 24x24. I wanted to stick to an "around the walls" design which wasn't terribly interesting, but I wanted the center of the room for a "crew lounge". I guess my wife's insistence on not using the unfinished area means I will migrate away from the original plan. Darn it, I hate it when she pushes for storage. If her plan was to limit the size of the layout, she probably should have said that...

I would like this Nolix/helix to occupy no more than 8 x 14, if possible (the original helix was going to be 6x10). Since the original plan had the staging going through the wall into the unfinished area, I think I will keep that idea going, but the yard throat will curve and run underneath the non visible are beneath the stairs as it starts the climb into the mountains. It will then exit back into the finished area and the first scene on the Nolix.

Around ALL the walls?

If your plan goes around all the walls, crossing any doors in the process, you have a lap of mostly hidden in background scenery or two to move between levels.  A lap around a 24x24 room is probably about 88 feet of track, @ 2% gives you a little over a 20" rise.

whooops

I swear I posted the link.  ver 2 ... should get you in the right direction.  There was an article LDS -48 Fall 2012  and 49

Be sure to look at the

This layout is 24 x 24

http://cmrailroad.com/

Have you checked out these

Have you checked out these plans.

https://appalachianrailroadmodeling.com/track-plans/

Not sure if any are NOLIX but some interesting plans non the less

Not around all walls

Originally, the plan was going around all perimeter walls, unfinished and finished (25x35). The stairs to the basement were in the middle of the room, so no duckunders or any other "creative solution" was needed. Since the landowner (the wife) has renegotiated the lease and reallocated the space available, I am kinda left without my uber cool plan.

I am beginning to hate holiday decorations...  

No, I did not want big island bump outs because I wanted the "crew room" a.k.a. a place to watch movies, etc. in the middle of the room. A screen could have dropped from the ceiling then roll up so not to obstruct the layout when I wanted to play trains.

My wife has been requested to make her presence at a pre-construction meeting so she can help me straighten this out.

Ken, I am using the grades along the layout to help reduce the amount of loops/etc. needed, but since this is not going all the way around, that won't work. I know this is the true meaning of a Nolix.

Steve, what were 3 things about that layout that made you want to copy it?

Neil, thanks for the links! I am going to cobble something out of these plans!

Here you go, couldn't do just 3

It's a pleasure to operate - a sense of purpose

The vast distance you have to cover gives the real feel of actually going somewhere - no caboose in one town and the motive power in another

Large enough to handle several crews at a time - never had to wait to get a train but can be run with fewer

Variety- 2 yards, a dispatcher, and there were so many towns & trains (never boring or repetitive)

Adaptive- not confined to one era or local

Not set in stone - you can adapt to fit your needs

Not complex or difficult to operate on

There is a a whole lot more I could list.  There is A LOT of RR in there but it's not packed in

The one downside for you is there is duckunder coming out of the Comstock yard at 51".  The upside is it is a lift out for non operating sessions.  There is also a nod under at 64" in the same spot. 

Steve

Staging to Level 1

Okay, gang.

So, there are 16 inches between the deck of the staging yard (not seen in this old picture, but it sits on the steel supports at the bottom) and the first level. If I have a continuous 2.5% grade, I will need 53' of track. If I use a 2% grade, I will need 67' of track. Considering it will be an Appalachian mountain area, with lots of twists and turns, it might be smart to go with the 2% grade when possible? It might be more realistic to have one short flat area with 2.5% ruling grade? Who knows? The whole grade will be double tracked (thank goodness I have scraped and scavenged Code83 track over many years!

Using a 40" radius with 4 feet of "straight track" between the curves will give me almost 21 feet. So, I don't think this is going to end up being nearly as big or cumbersome as I expected. Heck, it might even yield some really cool scenery? That works well with my fascination with engineering marvels such as horseshoe curve and Kinzua Viaduct.

As I think more and more about this, maybe I should thank my wife for wanting storage room? I think this might have some real merit !

The wall that encloses the staircase is the subject wall and I think I have about 12 feet to work with as I build the Nolix between the two levels. Someplace other than here will have to be a helix that can lift the track from the first level to the second. Well, I'll figure that out later on...

As I continue on this project, I will post in my blog!

Is the store room going to have a wall to hide the storage?

My thinking is that a wall between the layout room and the store room will be an extra wall where the nolix could continue the climb.

Yes. Walls are finished.

Great idea about the Nolix!  The staging yard was originally going through the finished wall and into the unfinished area to a helix. Climbing to reach three different levels of layout was going to make that thing absolutely huge!!! My estimation was that each track on the helix was going to have a 120 foot run from bottom to the top. It was also going to reduce the amount of storage space to a minimum and that was the part my wife was not real excited about. It still has to go there to get the track from the main level to the second level and keep the Nolix from looking too crowded. The difference being is that I will mount it along the wall like this example I found somewhere on the internet:

The advantage to something like this is that I will have plenty of access to the sump pump, water heater and HVAC system, which should keep any of these systems easy to maintain, repair or replace.

I spent a little time with the pencils, compass and graph paper today (sorry, I never have liked using computer software for this purpose...). The top of the photo shows the finished wall along the stairs. The stairs are 4 feet wide, so there is room to turn the staging yard underneath the staircase and then enter the Nolix which of course is visible and out in the finished room. One discovery I made is that I need to reduce my curve radii 6 inches down to 36". It is smaller than I want, but like everything else in this hobby, there are trade offs. On the drawing, you can see the 36" radius circles. These are here just for the purpose of being a place holder. The track will twist and turn and may actually have some areas with larger radius track. I just need to remain aware of spaces for various coal mines, sidings, etc.  Funny... When I started this whole thing, my intention was never to have such a focus on coal hauling. I guess I can paint CSX and NS, huh?

This is the area below the stairs (don't compare the drawings they do not measure out the same. The connection to the staging yard was drawn before I reduced my minimum radius). I can start the climb just a little bit someplace after the last switches, but I am not sure where just yet. If I start at the switch, I can get around 2" in height as the track enters the nolix.

An alternate approach

Looks like you’ve got a decent plan.  But in the spirit of suggesting something completely different...

You‘ve got a long wall on the left there.  If your longest train isn’t going to be longer than that wall (maybe 20 feet or so?) could you put a train elevator there, or something like John Armstrong’s dehydrated canal lock?  It would only take a few inches in from the wall.  Different set of tradeoffs than a nolix/helix.

20' is probably correct.

A 50' long coal gondola would be just under 7 inches long. Which would mean trains of around 28 to 32 cars long. That is a perfect length ! 

I hadn't even considered a train elevator but I am not going to be rebuilding any benchwork. It is certainly something to consider, but as I sit here and look at the plan, it is really growing on me. I am not sure why but I have always been intrigued by layouts that go into a tunnel or a view block and it is a challenge to figure out where they will exit and how long it will take.

This is one HUGE project and I just hope I can stay motivated to see it all the way through...  I mean, there are gonna be lots and lots of puffball trees and you name it...

Storage...

Have you offered her the space under the layout?  Huge advantages in terms of length, width, and accessibility.  Minor disadvantage is that it's all at your/her knees, but hey...  As far as I'm concerned, the space below my layout shelving will all be storage-ready.  Boxes, and boxes, and boxes of room.  In the old house, I took a sheet of 1/2" ply, ripped it in three lengthwise, and mounted refrigerator roller sets on the underside.  They pulled out from under the layout, into the aisle, whenever I wanted anything stored on them.  One restriction, most of my layout was diagonal-supported, no legs on the floor, which I hate anyways.

If still constructing, such storage can still be used, just throw a painter's drop sheet over the boxes.  Every marital dynamic is different, but I just can't see a dedicated store room being necessary with a layout room.

Kirk,. kindly review your other thread... I saw this after