Compact industrial point to point / test track loop

[47137]

I have a hankering for a small continuous run to help to "run in" my collection of four- and six-coupled locos and to watch the trains go by and I am pondering the scheme in the photo, which I could work up into something scenic:

 

- Plywood measures c. 43 x 53 inches, the largest I can find house room for.

- All curved track is no.2 radius.

- Taking the point as the datum, the continuous run needs gradients up to about 1:30, the drop to the lower level a little steeper

- Imagine a "mine" top left and a "canal basin" centre. Also a point and an added "headshunt" bottom right.

- Trains will be two or three  12t wagons plus a loco for "operation", or a light engine or dmu for continuous running. 

 

So far I have found that my Hornby B17 won't go round the curves with its drain cock pipes attached, but everything else seems to fit. I haven't had a tail chaser for about 35 years, and never built gradients on curves. I am wondering if anyone can see obvious pitfalls, because at the moment (B17 excepted) I rather like the idea. The pic has a J94 + wagon to give scale.

 

[HLT 0109]

Richard,

 

It looks a little ambitious to me as you need to allow a gentle transition from level to maximum gradient at the bottom and top of each incline. Other readers will know that I have a 1:15 incline on my large layout and the curved transition at the top had to be about 18 inches long to avoid bogied locos derailing. With a short train you may be OK in getting up the incline but be aware that a gradient on an incline necessitates a twist in the rail to avoid "an adverse camber" which may also cause derailment. Might it be more successful if the continuous loop remains flat whilst the siding is on an incline, as it has the longest run to the cross over? You would need a means of stopping loose wagons rolling down. If your datum point were half way way up the incline, it might work better - more challenging to build.

 

There have been many discussions on this forum in recent years on gradients - all interesting if you have the time to search.

 

Harold.

[47137]

I am tempted to cut out a suitable track bed and fix down the track with double sided tape ... prop the track bed up using blocks of wood on the floor and see what happens when I run a train. If it works, or sort of works, I could build a sub base, cut risers and fix the track bed down, perhaps shim one side of the track to compensate for the camber ... if it doesn't work then the loss is a sheet of plywood. I suspect that ordinary tension lock couplings will work, but Kadees will come adrift if the gradient transitions are too abrupt. I think it is worth a try.