Hi Julian, thanks for you comments and sub - really appreciated. I think you've done the right thing with 4th radius - wish I had done that ! Chris

Thank you for your kind comment - really appreciated. Chris :-)

Thanks - appreciate your comments ! a 4 track helix is very impressive ! Chris.

Hi Peter, Thanks for your comments :-) Doing a railway outside presents all sorts of challenges ! - bring some pictures to Chester - look forward to seeing you there ! Chris

Thank you - really appreciate the comment. Chris 🙂

Thank you ! Really appreciate you kind words 🙂 Chris

Thank you - really appreciate the comment. Chris 🙂

Hi Antonio, knowing what I know now, I would definately go 4th radius and probably only with one line. I would also be tempted to lay DCC Concepts powerbaye under it too. Chris

Thanks very much ! Really appreciate the comment :-)

@@CheshireLines :)

Thanks Tim - really appreciate your comments - yes I had spotted the training wire and it's now fixed ! Heliices are great but can be troublesome - if you have the space go 4th radius ! Chris

Thank you - appreciate your comment !

Yes you're right - it has to do with my main loops of the layout - the outside 2 are connected to outer line of the helix and the inner 2 loops connected to the R2 helix line. It is possible to swap between them in the fiddle yard, but up top on the main tracks less so. I am considering rebuilding the helices to put in an R4 track so I may also put in points at the top to allow switching between the outer and inner loops.

Hi, the camera is a car reversing camera kit to give a rear view when parking - it came with 2 cameras and cables and runs off 12v - the make I've got is Buyee but there are others - search Amazon - there are even wireless ones now ! Hope that helps, Chris.

Thanks Al - yep 4th radius would have been better - bit late now though !

Hi Trevor - thank you for your kind words. The gradient is really dictated by the height of the track above - on mine its climbing 84mm in each circle. Heavy diesel locos have no problem - does depend on length of trains. Steam does tend to struggle, which is why I wish I had gone 4th radius - but they do take a lot of space. I would also recommend installing DCC concepts power base to help lighter locos. Hope that helps, Chris

@@CheshireLines thanks Chris. Did you have to use the DCC Concepts powerbase?

@@TrevorOakley-tt8pd Well - I tried to do it on the cheap and layed a ferric strip between the tracks and put magnets on the locos - it does work, but the strip does sometimes cause derailments so will probably remove it - wish I had gone power base and 4th radius - now a big job to change it !

Hi Chris, so I estimate the R3 is about 1:37 and the R2 about 1:34. There is an 8.5cm height difference between each level. If I was doing it again I would go R4 for the steam locos - the diesels cope fine. Hope that helps. Chris

@@CheshireLines Thanks for your reply Chris. Whoa that's quite steep for steam isn't it, but clearly you diesel had no issues with - what was it - 12 on! I take what you say about using R4 Food for thought, though. Makes me ponder about my layout design with its' problem fiddle yard. Really appreciate your thoughts. Thanks again, best regards Chris.

Hi Chris, the other thing you could consider is the DCC concepts power base and then add magnets to your locos that should give them a boost. Chris.

Hi Mike, Hmmm - I think you may struggle - the diameter of my helices is 1.1m so if you had 2 you would be left with 2.3 m for the fiddle yard - the length of each road would decrease with every road added due to the points - so you need to have an undertstanding of how long and how many trains you wish to store in the fiddle yard as it may end up not being worthwhile because your trains are too long. An alternative would be to have one helix into a fiddle yard and at the end you have a reversing loop using space under and around the rest of the room - A train would then enter the fiddle yard via the helix and then leave the fiddle yard via the reversing loop to ascend the same helix - this would give you extra fiddle yard space, but would put the trains back on the top in a reversed direction. So... you have enough space to do 2 helices, but will it give you the fiddle yard space you want ? . . . I would also recommend using AnyRail software to draw out accurately your fiddle yard - this will help you decide whether you have enough space or not. Hope this helps, Chris

Hi, I’m just converting half my double garage into a railway room of 4,6m x 2.6m. I’ve built a track plan in SCARM which will have a single 5 layer 2nd and 3rd radius helix with a 3% slope descending from the main scenic level to the lower fiddle yard, with a reverse loop ruining around the outside of the fiddle yard. This gives me 11 storage lines reach of about 2m long, enough for a train of one loco and six coaches or a five car rake HST. I’ve watched a number of different KZfaq videos on helix and I’m feeling my plan should work. I intend to test all my planned loco/coach/wagon combinations on a test two layer helix before I start the full layout build just to be sure. Thanks for your video as it further increases my confidence that my plan should work. Great layout with a wow moment seeing your bridge.

Typically yes steam locos struggle although 9F copes well and can haul 30 loaded mineral wagons up them. I have laid a magnetic strip between the rails to help, but I wish I had gone 4th radius which I think would have helped a lot.