The sub road base plywood has been reinstalled above the helix, including new timber for the fascia to be re-installed. The track work that forms Carlisle Junction that was removed is also getting done again too.
The last two photos show the limited amount of room between the last helix loop and existing bench work & sub road base plywood, which is just enough to clear a hi-cube boxcar.
Once the track work is re-installed I'll wire up the helix and conduct a test using a four & six axle locomotives and several variants of rolling stock to test out the performance of the helix.
Jas...
Didn't I read there would be threaded rod and nuts to support the helix loops? Did you decide to use blocks instead? That's a lot of run between blocks especially for blocks set alternating inside and outside as you have them. Plywood sag over time may be an issue.
ReplyDeleteYes you did read about the threaded rod, I changed my mind after I thought about how hard it would be to implement them. The blocks just worked straight away, I'll be adding more and these aren't glued/secured in place yet.
DeleteWhen I'm sure I wont have to alter anything on the helix I'll add more blocks and glue them into place. Given our stable low humidity weather here I don't think sag in the plywood would be that much of an issue anyhow, but rest assured Alan it will be "over engineered"... Jas.