Well last night i finished construction of the helix, I'm quite pleased this section of the layout is done now as i really enjoy watching the trains climb and decend the slope,(shame it'l be hidden) Its a fairly step gradient of 1 in 39 and i spent a few hours testing different formations of wagons and locos, Most stock is fine but the new JGA's are quite heavy and all the locos struggle except the Farish 60's. In a way i'm glad because it means i've got to use specific locos for freight trains. The other thing i've found useful is that helix adds about 6-7 feet to the running line enabling me to run two trains on the same track, when one is on the lower UP diverging line the other is passing on the top level DOWN line.

Graham.