Great Northwestern Railway

Exciting to see the momentum build.  The helix got legs and set in its final location.  Legs were made of 2x3's, and included carriage bolts to allow adjustability.  I just have a dickens of a time keeping 2x2s and 1x2s from splitting, no matter how careful I am! Tracks come out of bottom at 35" above the floor which is the staging yard elevation.  Trains will leave the helix the second from the last loop - 47".  The tracks, of course, still need to be redirected at that elevation and will do so as the adjoining benchwork is completed.  The last turn, just set on the helix for now, will take trains over to a switching area a bit higher up.  And thinking about adding a turn-back loop on the inside.  Plenty of room inside.  Still noodling on that. Turned out nice. Also started framing out the benchwork for the staging along the west wall.  Stuff is moving forward! More later.

Wood is in the garage, basic track plan in place, including elevations, and was all geared up to start benchwork.  On a lark, I thought I best mock up the elevations to see how they really worked out BEFORE I cut anything.  I mean, if it works in CAD, it ~should~ work in real life... but maybe I should check first, huh?  Well, it does work.  Sorta. After mocking them up, it was clear the deck spacing would not work out, at least not to my satisfaction.  So some trusty clamps and some scrap wood developed some realistic options.  This is where I am ending up.  The “main” level at 47” above the floor, and the upper at 60”.  Staging will be at 35-36.”   I know -  I am putting the decks pretty close together.  But I think it'll work.  I never have liked a really low lower deck.  And my upper deck is more of a pass-through.  In the pic, the upper deck is, well, the upper deck.  Relatively narrow.  Middle is the 'main' deck and will be the yard there.  And lower is staging, abo

Super excited to see some pieces come together!  I was able to salvage a helix from Dave Cochrun's excellent Castle Rock & Pacific RR before it was dismantled.  Had a few hours this afternoon reassembling it.  Still a ways to go, but great to see SOMETHING in the new space!

So I used 3rd PlanIt to lay out my new yard either with #6 Atlas Custom Line turnouts or ME #5 Yard Ladder System turnouts.  As it turns out (haha), the ME yard ladder system reduced the yard throat by a whopping 38”!  This for 2 A/D tracks and 5 class tracks.  A whole lot of classification space can be had with an extra 3’.   So the question is if I am getting myself into trouble using the ME system.  I run mostly 50-60’ cars with occasional 75’; era 1980.  I have #6’s on the old part of my layout, and they work just fine.  But again, that extra yard capacity is sure tempting.  Thoughts?