Pete Nolan discusses his nolix design--Now With Photos

EDIT: Scroll down a bit, and you'll see that I've augmented this post with photos that, I hope, will make it easier to follow.

Pete

One 23' wall of my layout has three decks. I have a nolix design, so deck heights vary, but in general: the first level is 34" high, and 28" wide. The second deck is 49" high and now 15" wide. It started as 12" wide, because I was concerned about getting light to the back. I added 3" when I realized I could build an extension with a triangular cross section--that is, the top is flat, but the bottom goes from about 3" deep at the inner edge to a point at the outer edge. The third deck is 64" high and 12 inches deep. I could do the same 3" extension on the third deck, but it is so high I don't think I will. I can reach it because I'm nearly 6'4", but others have to stand on platforms.

I think the biggest planning issue with multi-deck layouts is the location of "blurbs"--either spaces for turn-arounds or peninsulae and protrusions away from the walls to gain running length. Fifteen inches vertical separation is fine as I've described it above--but putting a 3' deep peninsula on top of another 3' deep peninsula does not work at 15" vertical spacing. I eliminated two "blurbs" from my original plan once I saw how dark and difficult to reach the back coners would be. So I have about 30" separation when I need to turn around. I did not want a duck-under, so that ruled out an around-the-room plan.

Before I started building, someone on this Forum suggested to me that I mock things up with sheets of either cardboard or foamboard. I'm sorry I can't remember who that was, but it was the best advice I got.

Here's the first level:



I've since added four inches to the width on the top wall to hold my ships. There are three "blurbs"--at the roundhouse, at Charleston, and at downtown. I'll use a train going north as an example. You pick up your engine at the roundhouse or the diesel facility behind it and run around your train in the main yard. Then you back in to couple up. Then you are off across the Cape Cod Railroad Bridge. You will be running on the "aisle-side" here--the outer track. Once across the bridge you climb through Brighton and Charleston blurb to Downtown.

You loop around Downtown and start climbing again, now on "wall side." Here we run into a problem as the first deck is rising toward the second deck, and vertical space is vanishing. I solved this problem with my linear particle accelerator. The staging yard through the wall into the garage has been scrapped, as it would make access around a car difficult.

At the left edge of the plan, you cross the high bridge closest to the garage door and then make a 90 degree turn onto the second deck.

The second deck looks rather spare. There are only two blurbs--one at the top right, and one just left of the entry door.



You are at the top left of the plan, back on the aisle, on the second track from the aisle. Yes, the "outside" track becomes the "inside," due to geometry. What matters most is that you are still on the left track from your perspective. There's a long, narrow yard along this stretch--I haven't decided what goes there yet. Perhaps a lumber mill

You are fifteen inches above the main yard, and running pretty level. Once you loop at the top right, you start climbing again. Now, here's where my point about stacking blurbs comes into play. Instead of looping at the top right, the original plan had you looping over the roundhouse--that is, continuing along the right wall and looping at the bottom right.

This did not work at all. The depth of the loop at the bottom right would have completely obscured the roundhouse and totally blocked the light. The reach to the back corner would have been impossible with only 15" of separation.

Ok, you are climbing along the inside track on the top wall. You are literally clinging to a cliff--the vertical separation between the aisle-side and the wall side rises from an inch or so on the right to about 8" on the left.

Not shown is the 3" extension I built along the aisle. With its triangular cross section, it does not block light, and adds a stretch of "valley farmland" to the scene. The added depth also helps with photography.

Now you're back at the top left again. Here is one of the problems with a nolix that doesn't go around the room. You are bumping against the third deck. I'll probably solve this with a tunnel.

Now you take a 90 degree turn and traverse the garage door from top to bottom. Here's where I made a huge mistake. Originally the first deck was to be 12" from the garage door. I moved it flush to the door because I was lazy. Building against a wall is a lot easier than building freestanding benchwork 12" away. The problem is that my track is now directly over the high bridges, and not that high above them. If I had followed the original plan, these tracks would be 12" behind the high bridges, and much easier to disguise. As it is, this crossing of the door, and the next one to the third level (described below) will have to be hidden behind a sky back drop.

I think I can solve this problem with a slanted or gently coved backdrop.

Anyway, once we cross the garage door we are back on the aisle side, climbing toward the blurb that encircles the plutonium plant. Now, halfway there was supposed to be a blurb over the Charleston blurb of the first deck. This did not work, for the same reasons as the proposed blurb over the roundhouse--too dark, too restricting, and impossible reaches in the confined vertical space. This was good, in my opinion, as it let Charleston "breathe."

We circle the plutonium plant and climb--this time gently--against the wall. The staging yard at bottom left in the garage has been scrapped. We cross the garage door again, still climbing and, at top left, enter the third deck.

So, I've eliminated two blurbs so far. A little less running length, but much better vistas. But, ayee! Watch what happens to the third deck.



The deck on the bottom wall was eliminated. Originally Summit was supposed to be over the plutonium plant blurb, but I realized it would be too high and face the same problems of blurb over blurb. It was a very good deletion, as even this railroad is proving tough to maintain.

The top left shows a single entry to the third deck--I built it that way, but changed to a double track once I realized a single track wasn't going to help the mess I had created by moving the first deck against the door. By the way, I haven't redrawn the plan because of technical issues in switching computer systems. We enter on the aisle side, where there is a long passing siding, and proceed on level track to "Summit" at the bottom right. This will be an interesting little town, once Jeanne and I get there.

Eventually there may be a staging yard that penetrates into the garage. It's high enough that it shouldn't interfere with the saw table underneath, and I'm thinking of enclosing it with plexiglas to keep the dust and dirt off. But at 65" high, I may just scrap it. There's enough on line storage--so far.

The Summit blurb is a full 30" above the first deck roundhouse blurb, and works well. Once at Summit, we just proceed on the "righthand" track all the way back to the roundhouse. That's fully one half of the journey, so just read backwards if your want to take it. The only point of interest is that, if you want to enter the yard back on the first deck, you must divert off the mainline onto the sidings at the top left. This double-, then triple-track arrangement around the roundhouse provides plenty of linear storage. If you take the inner siding (along the top wall, first level) you can enter the yard directly; if you don't, you can either loop again, or back your train into the yard.

I haven't put in the cross-overs yet--I want to operate for a while to see where they would be appropriate. My last layout had a gazillion cross-overs, most of which were never used.

Hope you enjoyed this long-winded discussion. Photos of these location at at my railimages account: http://www.railimages.com/gallery/petenolan or at this topic at Trainboard: http://www.trainboard.com/ultimatebb.php/ubb/get_topic/f/9/t/002984.html

Pete

[ 01. October 2004, 14:59: Message edited by: Pete Nolan ]

 

Thanks, Pete! Your point about 15" clearance on a loop being insufficient is well taken. I like the way you staggered (vertically) your blurbs.

And even though you whispered about the maintenance of such a track plan, I heard it very loud and very clear! Somewhere else I saw a thread about how big is big enough, and I'm learning that maintenance is an issue to consider thoroughly.

By the way, in case nobody has ever said it - great layout!

 

Thanks, William.

Actually, maintenance hasn't been that much of a problem. The room is virtually sealed, with only a door and a heat pump, which provide adequate ventilation. It is entirely finished. I used epoxy paint on the floor. All of my cutting is done in the adjacent garage. I try not to make too much of a mess while scenicking, or cover the tracks with tape. When I do clean the tracks, I do it in sections, but that hasn't been much of an issue.

Charlie, I think if I intersperse more photos in the description, it may be easier to follow. I'll do that. I'll have to split the post, but that's not hard.

Pete

 

This is a revised description of my multi-deck nolix railroad. It was originally written to answer a question about deck spacing, so that is the first subject. Then I decided to do a tour of the plan. I realized the tour was quite difficult to follow without pictures, so I've added them in. I don't have time to rewrite the entire document, so there may be some repetitions. And I don't have time to re-photograph everything, so some pictures may be a little outdated. I'll put the additions in bold.

Part I: Deck Spacing

One 23' wall of my layout has three decks. I have a nolix design, so deck heights vary, but in general: the first level is 34" high, and 28" wide. The second deck is 49" high and now 15" wide. It started as 12" wide, because I was concerned about getting light to the back. I added 3" when I realized I could build an extension with a triangular cross section--that is, the top is flat, but the bottom goes from about 3" deep at the inner edge to a point at the outer edge. The third deck is 64" high and 12 inches deep. I could do the same 3" extension on the third deck, but it is so high I don't think I will. I can reach it because I'm nearly 6'4", but others have to stand on platforms. On the plan below, this is the "top" wall--at the top of the drawing.

On the opposite long wall, there are only two decks. If you think about this for a moment, this makes sense. In order to gain elevation without extreme grades, there have to be "intermediate decks." So the deck heights on the "bottom" wall are just about (34+7.5=) 41.5" high and (49+7.5=) 56.5" high. Let's call these deck 1.5 and, above it, deck 2.5.

The left wall is a mess, which I'll discuss later. Bridges must be level (for the trusses I've used). So I can't climb across a bridge. This is not problem on the first level, where the Cape Cod Railroad Bridge is nearly at sea level, and the high bridges behind it (closer the garage door) are at 135' above sea level. This is a standard height that allows all ships but the newest aircraft carriers to pass under. Of course, there has to be sufficient water depth too.

Above the bridges, where I go from deck 1.5 on the bottom to deck 2 at the top, and from deck 2.5 to deck 3, is a real problem. Later!

I think the biggest planning issue with multi-deck layouts is the location of "blurbs"--either spaces for turn-arounds or peninsulae and protrusions away from the walls to gain running length. Fifteen inches vertical separation is fine as I've described it above--but putting a 3' deep peninsula on top of another 3' deep peninsula does not work at 15" vertical spacing. I eliminated two "blurbs" from my original plan once I saw how dark and difficult to reach the back coners would be. So I have about 30" separation when I need to turn around. I did not want a duck-under, so that ruled out an around-the-room plan.

Before I started building, someone on this Forum suggested to me that I mock things up with sheets of either cardboard or foamboard. I'm sorry I can't remember who that was, but it was the best advice I got.

Part II: Running the Layout

Here's the first level:

1.

I've since added four inches to the width on the top wall to hold my ships. There are three "blurbs"--at the roundhouse, at Charleston, and at downtown. I'll use a train going north as an example. You pick up your engine at the roundhouse or the diesel facility behind it and run around your train in the main yard.

This is the roundhouse shown at the bottom right of the first level. As I've already got a train running, we'll use that one to follow around. The roundhouse has two incoming and two outgoing tracks to the left of the picture

2.

Then you back in to couple up.

This shows a Trainmaster which has run around the yard to back up to a string of ore jennies. We won't follow this train, but it shows what I mean.

3.


Then you are off across the Cape Cod Railroad Bridge.

4.

You will be running on the "aisle-side" here--the outer track. Once across the bridge you climb through Brighton and Charleston blurb to Downtown. The train is running on the main; the track closer to you is a spur

5.
6.

You loop around Downtown on deck 1.5 and start climbing again, now on "wall side." In this shot you can see the second deck blurb--the plutonium plant. Notice that it is set back so some light can get in, and the reach is not impossible. The buildings support the second deck, which I've called deck 2.5.

7.
8.

OK, I'm limited to 8 images per post, so let's see how this works, and then we'll get over the high bridge to the second deck on the top wall.


Pete

 

Continued

Here we run into a problem as the first deck (now called deck 1.5) is rising toward the second deck, and vertical space is vanishing. I solved this problem with my linear particle accelerator.

9.

The staging yard through the wall into the garage has been scrapped, as it would make access around a car difficult. That's the tunnel entrance at left-center-bottom, just ahead of the RDCs.

At the left edge of the plan, you cross the high bridge closest to the garage door and then make a 90 degree turn onto the second deck. That's the lighter gray bridge at the top, behind the darker gray one

10.

Part III: The Second Deck

The second deck looks rather spare. There are only two blurbs--one at the top right, and one just left of the entry door.

11.

You are at the top left of the plan, back on the aisle, on the second track from the aisle. Yes, the "outside" track becomes the "inside," due to geometry. What matters most is that you are still on the left track from your perspective. There's a long, narrow yard along this stretch--I haven't decided what goes there yet. Perhaps a lumber mill.

12.

You are fifteen inches above the main yard, and running pretty level. Once you loop at the top right, you start climbing again. Now, here's where my point about stacking blurbs comes into play. Instead of looping at the top right, the original plan had you looping over the roundhouse--that is, continuing along the right wall and looping at the bottom right.

13.

This shows the run before I added the 3" extension. I didn't quite catch all of the loop at the right center of the picture, but basically it just loops around the white house and starts climbing against the wall. This is an early picture, since then we detailed that rock cliff and added another cliff against the wall.

This did not work at all. The depth of the loop at the bottom right would have completely obscured the roundhouse and totally blocked the light. The reach to the back corner would have been impossible with only 15" of separation.

Ok, you are climbing along the inside track on the top wall. You are literally clinging to a cliff--the vertical separation between the aisle-side and the wall side rises from an inch or so on the right to about 8" on the left.

14.

Again, an early picture. We've since completed the scene

Not shown is the 3" extension I built along the aisle. With its triangular cross section, it does not block light, and adds a stretch of "valley farmland" to the scene. The added depth also helps with photography.

Now you're back at the top left again. Here is one of the problems with a nolix that doesn't go around the room. You are bumping against the third deck. I'll probably solve this with a tunnel.

15.

The blue tape, actually a marker for a track problem, shows the "top" of deck 2. The double track below it is the "bottom" of deck 2. Above the blue tape is the entrance to deck 3. There's not a whole lot of separation here.

Now you take a 90 degree turn and traverse the garage door from top to bottom right to left in the photo. Here's where I made a huge mistake. Originally the first deck was to be 12" from the garage door. I moved it flush to the door because I was lazy. Building against a wall is a lot easier than building freestanding benchwork 12" away. The problem is that my track is now directly over the high bridges, and not that high above them. If I had followed the original plan, these tracks would be 12" behind the high bridges, and much easier to disguise. As it is, this crossing of the door, and the next one to the third level (described below) will have to be hidden behind a sky back drop.

16.

Here you can see, partially, the tracks crossing above the bridges, and also my minimalistic approach to benchwork. There's not a whole lot of vertical room above the bridges. The crossing from deck 2 on the right side to deck 2.5 on the left side is nearly above the bridges.

I think I can solve this problem with a slanted or gently coved backdrop.

OK, that's eight images for this post. Let's see how it works, and go on to the third level.

[ 18. March 2004, 22:24: Message edited by: Pete Nolan ]

 

Continued

Anyway, once we cross the garage door we are back on the aisle side, climbing (actually, I now realize it's pretty flat; if you look at the top right of the picture in the previous post, I only gain a bare two inches on deck 2.5!) toward the blurb that encircles the plutonium plant. Now, halfway there was supposed to be a blurb over the Charleston blurb of the first deck. This did not work, for the same reasons as the proposed blurb over the roundhouse--too dark, too restricting, and impossible reaches in the confined vertical space. This was good, in my opinion, as it let Charleston "breathe."

17 .

We circle the plutonium plant and climb--this time gently--against the wall. The staging yard at bottom left on the plan in the garage has been scrapped. We cross the garage door again, still climbing and, at top left on the plan below, enter the third deck.

So, I've eliminated two blurbs so far. A little less running length, but much better vistas. But, ayee! Watch what happens to the third deck.

Part Iv: The Truncated Third Deck

18.

The deck on the bottom wall was eliminated. Originally Summit was supposed to be over the plutonium plant blurb, but I realized it would be too high and face the same problems of blurb over blurb. It was a very good deletion, as even this railroad is proving tough to maintain.

The top left on the plan shows a single entry to the third deck--I built it that way, but changed to a double track once I realized a single track wasn't going to help the mess I had created by moving the first deck against the door. By the way, I haven't redrawn the plan because of technical issues in switching computer systems. We enter on the aisle side, where there is a long passing siding, and proceed on level track to "Summit" at the bottom right. This will be an interesting little town, once Jeanne and I get there.

Here's another train, headed by three engines painted in PRR colors (that's Pete's RailRoad colors) headed in the opposite direction. It will obviouosly have to pull into the siding to let our train pass. I haven't shot much of the third deck yet. Our train is headed from the bottom left to the top right.

19.

And here is Summit, above the roundhouse, in a very early photo. You can see here how I suspended the upper deck from the ceiling on a threaded rod.

20.

Eventually there may be a staging yard that penetrates into the garage (from the corner). It's high enough that it shouldn't interfere with the saw table underneath, and I'm thinking of enclosing it with plexiglas to keep the dust and dirt off. But at 65" high, I may just scrap it. There's enough on line storage--so far.

The Summit blurb is a full 30" above the first deck roundhouse blurb, and works well. Once at Summit, we just proceed on the "righthand" track all the way back to the roundhouse. That's fully one half of the journey, so just read backwards if your want to take it. The only point of interest is that, if you want to enter the yard back on the first deck, you must divert off the mainline onto the sidings at the top left. This double-, then triple-track arrangement around the roundhouse provides plenty of linear storage. If you take the inner siding (along the top wall, first level) you can enter the yard directly; if you don't, you can either loop again, or back your train into the yard.

I haven't put in the cross-overs yet--I want to operate for a while to see where they would be appropriate. My last layout had a gazillion cross-overs, most of which were never used.

Hope you enjoyed this (now even longer) long-winded discussion. Photos of these location at at my railimages account: http://www.railimages.com/gallery/petenolan or at this topic at Trainboard: http://www.trainboard.com/ultimatebb.php/ubb/get_topic/f/9/t/002984.html

Pete

[ 18. March 2004, 22:17: Message edited by: Pete Nolan ]

 

Paul,

That's the idea. It's much, much easier if you can run all the way around the room, as you might be able to in a basement or attic. I couldn't, so I have some back and forth running--but I think that's pretty well disguised by elevation changes.

My last layout had lots of hidden trackage--it was a pain, even after I daylighted as much as I could.

I still have some difficult reaches in the top right corner of the plan. I left a triangular access on the first deck--thank God! because there is a problem back there--but deviated from plan on the second and third levels in that corner because I'm lazy. It was easier to build those levels flush to the wall. I don't have any problems--yet. When I do, I'll probably have to mimic Michelangelo and rig up something to suspend me over the layout.

I think that helixes waste space. I can see them in some circumstances--layover tracks, for example, or places where the modeled railroad is essentially flat.

I've also got to say that I sort of stumbled on this idea by myself. I hadn't been reading the mags nor participating in forums when I designed this--well, about four years ago now--in anticipation of renovations. The plan has been out there for two years now, with no real criticism. I think that's because it is large and hard to follow. I posted the revised version to see if I could draw some comments.

What's funny to me is that, at 14 years old, I aced every aptitude test except for spatial relationships, where I scored in the 60th percentile. Maybe it was just a challenge?

Pete

 

Not sure what has happened, but I'll add this.

Here's just a few details, showing how we are detailing things. The first is Newbury Street:



This is Mass. Ave:



This is a fair shot of Filene's:



And, of course, Jeanne wants her J Town featured:

 

Alan,

I think the practices of model railroading in the U.S. and Europe diverged in about the late 1950s, although that date is certainly debatable.

The U.S. is a big country, and the most popular Lionel scheme was the Santa Fe, which crossed long distances. We also had a model railroad press that featured large, basement-sized model railroads. For more than a few in the U.S., the model railroad became a showpiece, rather than a hobby.

I'm not sure what the size of houses has to do with this divergence, as I didn't travel in Europe until the mid 80s. The U.S. certainly sprawled into the suburbs after World War II, and house sizes grew larger, and then larger again. The layouts of people like John Allen, Allen McClelland, Tony Koester (and many others)--along with the writings of Linn Wescott and John Armstrong (and others)--promoted large layouts.

To me, the idea of running a train for twenty minutes around the layout was just a culmination of these influences. It will never be super-detailed, except in the spots that my wife Jeanne decides to attack. She, as an artist, knows about selective detailing--that a foreground scene with a lot of details implies the same amount of scenicking in the background.

This approach makes a large layout like mine feasible. We did the basic ground scenery on a 23-foot stretch ("top" wall, second deck) in about an hour; the vertical rock walls took perahps two hours more. Once we get the materials organized (and that's where she come in), we can do large areas of scenicking very quickly.

The only part that is mind-boggling to us is when we've not worked on a section for a while. Then we have to remember what we we doing before going onward. But this remembrance is easier because we do have an "intent" for every section, and the railroad as a whole. The road starts at a harbor, where it picks up cargoes from ship or from through shipments. It then climbs into the mountains (hills, actually) to deliver shipments and pick up shipments along the way. The "major" industry, about halfway up the climb, is the plutonium reactor. Before that are supplying industries and a major city ("Downtown"). Once past the plutonium plant is a major military facility at the Summit, with a few industries along the way. As long as we remember that intent, the rest (the sectional intents) follows along easily.

We view space as making things easy to scenick, rather than an impediment to finishing scenes. Yes, it requires more structures and much more material. Structures do take time to build, but scenicking broad swaths of ground goes very quickly. Building a long rock wall, for example, requires a bead of glue, a supply of stones of the correct size, and then a misting of water, followed by another bead of glue on top (which melts into the wall). Total time--about ten minutes.

I guess my summary would be tthis: once we've decided on what to do, it takes very little time to actually do it.

Pete