vonhammer_87
Member
Below is a screen shot of what I plan on having in my basement, it's HO scale. What I was wondering was How would one go about making the upper level of the layout? Any Ideas?
Model Railroadz - Upper Level?
- Thread starter vonhammer_87
- Start date
I have done something similar. Check out these topics:
Routes on the DLS; feel free to download and check how they look.
What I did was make custom assets.
In this screenshot you can clearly see the different layers / custom assets. During the creation I put a bunch of red triangles on the route to mark where I should put the tracks, which I removed from the asset before I uploaded them.
It has been (and still is) a long term plan to make more standardized assets to help others to do this, but real life and other projects has been keeping me pretty busy. So far I only have a spiral (as seen on the right side in your image) done in concept.
If you are handy with 3D tools, I am sure you can pull this off yourself as it is a bunch or standard shapes (although getting it exactly as you like can take months if you want an exact remake of a plan :hehe
. If you are not that handy and are not in a rush, I could see if I can help you out in some area's, but no promises or deadlines.
Routes on the DLS; feel free to download and check how they look.
What I did was make custom assets.
It has been (and still is) a long term plan to make more standardized assets to help others to do this, but real life and other projects has been keeping me pretty busy. So far I only have a spiral (as seen on the right side in your image) done in concept.
If you are handy with 3D tools, I am sure you can pull this off yourself as it is a bunch or standard shapes (although getting it exactly as you like can take months if you want an exact remake of a plan :hehe
. If you are not that handy and are not in a rush, I could see if I can help you out in some area's, but no promises or deadlines.cascaderailroad
New member
Always build a sectional layout, so that it can be easily disassembled, and moved out of the house, in case you ever have to relocate.
If you are talking about a real (physical) model railroad there are books on the subject. Particularly those on bench work. A model RR with 2 levels can be fantastic but takes some serious planning ahead and not just bench work - lighting, control, access, etc. all need considerable thought in advance.
Ben
Ben
KingConrail76
Active member
Pretty much the same as the real Model Railroad, build a spiral/helical ramp from lower level to upper level, then use floor and ceiling assets to block the view from one level to the next.
--I've built one helix, it worked, but was very time consuming to figure and build, due to the spline points being directly on top of one-another thru the various levels.
--I've built one helix, it worked, but was very time consuming to figure and build, due to the spline points being directly on top of one-another thru the various levels.
A helix isn't a snap on a real model RR either. I've built two in HOn3. Both using an 18 inch radius. Big booboo. The forces involved want to cause the cars to fall over in toward the center of the helix because grades on a helix tend to be steep. Remember you must get the minimum clearance recommended by model RR practice for your scale within 360 degrees of curvature. 24 inch or more would have been a much better choice. Also - some provision for preventing cars from falling out of the inside of the helix to the floor should be given serious consideration as derailments are almost certain to happen now and then (heavy hands on the throttle will do that, lol). Thin sheets of plexiglass or something similar would do the trick. Attached in a way for easy removal when necessary.
Ben
Ben
KingConrail76
Active member
Minimum radius and maximum grade also apply to Trainz. Too steep and too sharp a curve, and your trains will stall out even in DCC mode. Unlike real trains, Trainz can not be picked up and moved to a different part of the layout on a whim.
-I should have noted in the first post, the upper level is not suitable for "scenery" (without custom terrain assets), but the upper shelf makes a very nice flat "fiddle yard", or staging, or other textured flat plane type function.
-I should have noted in the first post, the upper level is not suitable for "scenery" (without custom terrain assets), but the upper shelf makes a very nice flat "fiddle yard", or staging, or other textured flat plane type function.
vonhammer_87
Member
Thanks all for the inputs. The whole purpose i am doing this is so that I can get an idea of how my operations will work. I plan on starting construction in the fall. I already have the wood which was donated to me by a friend who was tearing down a layout
Thanks for the offer of help, I could really use this. My experience with 3d modeling is limited to the program Revit Architecture by Autodesk,and Google Sketchup. One of the things I have been able to do is import the model I did in Revit to sketch up and scale it up in Sketch-up, then using the Ruby Exporter for Trainz,I am able to take my model into trainz.
The Helix in the plan has a 30" radius and the grade comes to 1.8%.
I have done something similar.In this screenshot you can clearly see the different layers / custom assets. During the creation I put a bunch of red triangles on the route to mark where I should put the tracks, which I removed from the asset before I uploaded them.
It has been (and still is) a long term plan to make more standardized assets to help others to do this, but real life and other projects has been keeping me pretty busy. So far I only have a spiral (as seen on the right side in your image) done in concept.
If you are handy with 3D tools, I am sure you can pull this off yourself as it is a bunch or standard shapes (although getting it exactly as you like can take months if you want an exact remake of a plan :hehe
Thanks for the offer of help, I could really use this. My experience with 3d modeling is limited to the program Revit Architecture by Autodesk,and Google Sketchup. One of the things I have been able to do is import the model I did in Revit to sketch up and scale it up in Sketch-up, then using the Ruby Exporter for Trainz,I am able to take my model into trainz.
The Helix in the plan has a 30" radius and the grade comes to 1.8%.
I would think that upper-level scenery might be possible using spline objects. There are various grass, concrete and asphalt textured splines that are suitable. I did this for a two-level station at one point. It was a pain in the butt then before layers which really help with projects such as this.
John
John
vonhammer_87
Member
Hmm, You know i dont see why not.
Another thought:
In Trainz rather then use a helix where each successive layer of track must be directly above the previous layer - use a spiral with a continuously increasing or decreasing radius. That way the layers of track are not directly over each other. Has to make it easier to setup.
Ben
In Trainz rather then use a helix where each successive layer of track must be directly above the previous layer - use a spiral with a continuously increasing or decreasing radius. That way the layers of track are not directly over each other. Has to make it easier to setup.
Ben
Ben's suggestion is a very good idea. I have a model railroad with a "helix" on it right now. It was too tedious and difficult to position each loop right on top of the other one. I opted to decrease the radius as the helix went up, and decreased the grade slightly as well. Considering I have the helix "hidden" in a closet for the model railroad, I figured it's weird form was of little consequence - it serves the purpose. However, I used the helix not to connect 2 levels, but to connect the high and low ends of an around the walls, climbing mainline profile.
Rather then use wooden spacers between layers which must be screwed or glued in place (and subsequently very difficult to adjust) I use four threaded rods. Layers are held in place with nuts and washers. Adjustment if necessary is just a matter of grabbing an open ended wrench and having at it.
Ben
Ben
vonhammer_87
Member
That sounds like it could work. I was actually thinking about doing something along those lines. The tricky part is going to be laying the tracks on the upper level. I was thinking about exporting my model to Sketchup, with just the upper level fasciaa and plywood.
Btw, I'm going to use metal shelf brackets to support the upper level once its built.
The thread has been removed where I described it in these forums, but several years ago I created a baseboard sized object in Blender (I expect you could use another 3D modeling program, too), which I imported into Trainz, and upon which I laid track and successfully operated an SPV. Preparing the blender object for the size of your model railroad would be easy but quite time consuming, so this might not be the best solution.
vonhammer_87
Member
Alll right i just got an email from auran, its done