It must be an election year. I keep waffeling on my decision on how many levels to build. After reading all of everyones wisdom and giving it more clear thought. Four levels just does not seem to make sense. I do not want to do a belly crawl (fat belly ya know). to work on the layout. I am now redesigning the bechwork to use only three levels. Well, it looks like June has been blown out of the water for the start of construction. Maybe late June or early July? The main reason I am going to three levels instead of four is to allow greater clearance for scenery between levels and to allow proper lighting and other devices such as switch motors, DCC equipment, Computer Equipment (I am afterall a computer nerd by trade). I will keep ya all posted on the progress of my maddness. Matt
Well I am at it again. I have been reworking my layout design. I have also discovered a problem. Unless I use an average of 3% to 4$ grade on the various levels, there is no way I can bring a train from one level to the next. The new distance between my levels will be 20", this includes 5" for the benchwork. The use of a helix looks more and more like the only pratical solution. I have never built a helix. I would appreciate any feedback on helix construction and tips and solutions that do not require a helix. I am still looking at three levels with 20" between levels. I do not want to exceed 4% on the grades. I would like to keep the grade levels to 2% or lower. Thanks Matt
