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ideas for 4'x8' layout

"Dan Merkel" wrote in news:qzEsk.8569$ snipped-for-privacy@flpi145.ffdc.sbc.com:

I'd go for a Walthers Trainline locomotive if you're going up grades. They are excellent pullers, last month I took a 54 car train all around the steep grades on my club's layout with two GP9Ms. The ruling grade is probably about 2.5%. I didn't take the train up the steepest grade, though... but did take it down it.

They're a little more expensive than Athearn locomotives, but the difference is only like $5-10.

Puckdropper

Reply to
Puckdropper
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Anyone remember right off hand what the incline is on a set of plastic trestle risers? I'm thinking that they were designed to raise the train about 3" on a semi-circle of HO, 18" radius track. I don't think you could use 22: and still have a loop of track outside of that. So,if that's the case...

pi (3.14) x 36"=113.04

113.04 / 2=56.52 3 / 56.52=.053 or a 5.3% grade.

Add to that the 18" radius curve and you have a real pull.

dlm

Reply to
Dan Merkel

snip

To get the plastic risers to work correctly on a figure 8 layout, you start with the crossing straight. Then you start the rise with the next piece of flex track. Continue the risers to the other crossing straight. Then start down. That works out to about a 3% grade.

Reply to
Chuck Kimbrough

I'm not sure but I think the original poster talked about a loop outside of that track. If you had a pair of turnouts to connect the two, they wuld have to be near one of the "sides" of the figure-8. That's why I estimated that a portion of the 8 would have to be flat on the layout.

I'd agree that with just a figure-8, you would start immediately after the corssing point...

dlm

Reply to
Dan Merkel

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