Welcome to Trainboard, We're all glad your here:tb-biggrin:! The more tallent aboard this train the better it gets!
Welcome, Jim. I'm a Puget Sound native, and I just wanted to comment on how impressed I am that you have managed to capture the grey, foggy, somewhat damp feeling of thereabouts. :thumbs_up:
Hey Jim, You made it ! You'll enjoy the group here. Always lotsa cool stuff. There are some excellent modellers here and always stuff to motivate and inspire, as if you need motivation and inspiration:yes: Do us all a big favor and post a few more shots of the woo woo woo&S, Pa Leeze?
Jim -- Just curious (you may have already answered) but how do you get from level to level on your layout? I'm looking at doing some type of 'non-helix' helix and I think you may have done what i'm looking for.... Welcome to train board and we're looking forward to learning and teaching!
theskunk, Is that like the "Skunk" that runs out of Ft. Bragg, CA? Anyway, you're right. I didn't use a helix between levels. I have a helix that runs down to staging and I just didn't want to have another (it gets really boring waiting for trains to re-appear). The line to the upper level rises at about 1 1/2 % and the line to the lower level drops at about the same rate. The bench width for most of this run is 30", so the tracks are not side by side. The separation, rail head to rail head, is 15 inches. I guess you could do the math to figure out the distance to reach that separation, but it's quite aways. I'm fortunate that I have the room to do stuff like this, I have the entire basement and the garage. Of course you could increase the grade a bit, but that affects operations. I have a friend who has a 6%+ grade to his second level, he's now tearing it out because runaways are frequent and disastrous. Good luck with your non-helix. I know there are some other more compact examples around that work just fine. I can't seem to attach a picture to my reply, but I'll try in a new thread. Jim
