It would be very simple to include a "tunnel district" with just a little manipulation of DKS's plan. The big curves where the bridges are on the lower level could be brought closer together, the different heights leveled out, and the exceptionally steep terrain leveled out a bit so it represents a near water-level route, with a river curving in and out of the fascia, with portions of the steep, rocky mountains coming down in ridges that need to be pierced by twin tunnels with bridges on either side. Actually, this would be very similar to the UP's mainline from Morgan to Devils Slide, so you'd get bridges (Warren Truss, Deck Girder & Through Girder bridges), steep dramatic mountains, and curved tunnels with high pressure bores and concrete portals. AND superelvated mainlines so your trains are tilting a bit through the tunnels...creating a very "western" look in contrast to your upper "eastern" level. Although I would have said it differently than MarkInLA, he's correct. DKS's plan is "art" and "function", it has character and the rails flow. Your plan looks like it came out of an Atlas code 80 plan book, being designed to sell as much sectional track as possible in the least amount of space using the very amateurish and unprototypical "figure eight" and sharp angular curves...which is bad design especially considering the generous space you have available to you. Your plan stuffs as much track as possible into it, sacrificing good design for the sake of stuffing track into it. My advice is to scrap your design and do DKS's...with some slight modifications. Just ask him, he'll work with you. Cheerio! Bob Gilmore
I did surrender, but, one more: I do give you kudos for keeping your temper and not being offended through all the blows and jabs we've given you. But, still, Ditto to Bob G. .
OK, lets try this another way... The attached diagram is from the August 2013 MRR (Page 45) magazine which is a real HO Layout built by Jim Bonnett and is based on Canadian Rockies that is 11x22 feet. It's lowest point is 42" (hidden below the Roundhouse); the Roundhouse itself is at 48". This is a Continuous Loop design using a "Figure-8" loop through a Mountain with the high point being at 57". Behind the Mountain is a Staging Area that is at 52". Maximum Grade in this design is 3% and there are 5 Tunnels / 10 Portals; mostly in the Mountain Zone. I have a strong interest in a N-Scale, 2-Deck Layout in which I want to incorporate this concept (not a direct copy) as one of the two decks. The major modifications I am looking at are: Drop the "Penticton Harbor" Place the Roundhouse on the other Deck that will be more of a City design built in the late 1800's that has maintain it old look and feel into the Modern era with a large Union Station to hold several passenger trains In the place of the Roundhouse place a Helix to transfer between Decks Convert this from a Single Main Line to a mainly parallel Dual Main line were 2 trains can operate in separate Continuous Loops and potentially allow the two Continuous Loops to operate as a double size Continuous Loops such that a single train would travel one-way on Loop #1 and the opposite direction on Loop #2 Use the Staging Yard and View Block to hold a Deep River Canyon such that Loop #1 would be at the bottom of the canyon along the river edge and Loop #2 be up near the canyon edge. I envision that both Main Lines would climb the mountain in that same "Figure-8" loop style (same as many old RR's did in Colorado during the Steam era) and rather than decline back down the outside edge, would continue the climb along the outer edge until both tracks reaches the helix to transfer to the other deck OK, what would be the technical issues I would need to watch out for in such a modification? Something like this given my ROW space
All that you and other have posted I take as constructive criticism which is exactly what I open this topic for. I want the honest statements even if they are against the design...
Well, as I said over on the Railwire, your insistence on returning to the same design style over and over indicates this is your heart's desire, and clearly we're not going to sway you from it. Perhaps as you build it and see it in the flesh you might realize what's wrong--or perhaps not; it may suit you just fine. In which case, carry on. We're just spinning our wheels here.
