The New Northern Central

[MK]

Helixes are great boredom-producers. In this case putting them at the end right before the staging yards does provide a way to limit their effect to one person, a ops session position specially made for the task: the Helix Humper. This member would bring the trains out of staging and run them down/up the helix, stop them just before they enter the layout room, and hand them off to whatever road engineer will run them over the layout. Same in reverse -- road engineer stops his train just after the engines enter the laundry room, then the Helix Humper takes over and runs it up/down to staging and parks it. All session, his only job is to run trains up and down the helix to/from the staging yards.  Instead of everyone getting bored while their staged trains are rolling in or out of staging, it's only the Helix Humper, alone in the laundry room, who gets to be bored for the entire session. 

May want to provide some printed material or AV device for the Helix Humper. Possibly some liquid refreshment, also. 

Everyone should tip ($) the Helix Humper at the end of the session as incentive for being a Helix Humper.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Thought so. We had something like that three houses ago. Total waste of a door. 

Yep. Although it does do a good job of making the room look more "finished". There used to be a pool table down there. Ironically, that made it basically a third living/family room. This house is a bit nuts...

[C855B]

> ...Helix Humper...

ACTually... on 1:1 this is known as a "pilot", an assigned operator to run the train through unfamiliar or difficult territory, one who already knows the district and how to safely traverse it.

IOW, another appropriate application of Ed's Law. You can work it into your session operations script.

[Philip H]

This house is a bit nuts...

Truest thing you have ever written on TRW.

[nuno81291]

Having barricaded home utilities with layouts my 2c is I would go for it, as long as it is easily maneuverable. For that I would recommend going with unitrack in the helix and connection to staging yard. Aka as nearly bulletproof as possible, but able to disconnect and move or reinstall easily.

[Philip H]

> ...Helix Humper...

ACTually... on 1:1 this is known as a "pilot", an assigned operator to run the train through unfamiliar or difficult territory, one who already knows the district and how to safely traverse it.

IOW, another appropriate application of Ed's Law. You can work it into your session operations script.

Ed's next t-shirt project:

The Helix Humper, An Ed's Law Application

[CodyO]

Ironically, as I was writing this I realized that I needed some tracks to hold blocks of cars for York to add to recycled road trains. These aren't pretty, but they should work.


To answer the question about what I'm using: it's Railmodeler Pro.

Whats your plan for the mini reversing section you created?

[Point353]

Have you considered moving the washer/dryer upstairs where it will not only be out of the way of the layout, but much more convenient to you?  I once owned a house with laundry in the basement.  It's kind of a pain in the a$$, hauling laundry up and down the stairs.  Heck, the laundry machines in my current home are on the first floor, but, of course, the bedrooms are on the second floor.  So, we're still hauling laundry up and down the stairs.
DFF

My washer is on the first floor while the dryer is in the basement along with the layout.
Each trip to the dryer is simply another excuse to JFRT.

[Point353]

Simplify the plan, or the construction and maintenance may cause you to lose interest in the project.
DFF 

Isn't that something of an ongoing issue?

Perhaps Ed should build a series of T-Trak modules?
One module could have the coal mine/breaker scene that was planned for the most recent previous layout.
Another module could be New Freedom.
Yet another could have a scene from Baltimore.
Hopefully, each one would represent a manageable task and could be completed before interest gets lost or a change of scale beckons.

[Dave V]

Isn't that something of an ongoing issue?

I think it really is for anyone confronted with the space and the resources to finally build the dream layout.

On one hand you certainly don't want to compromise at any point, but on the other, too much complexity can be overwhelming and slow the project to a chore instead of a pleasure.

This, gents, is why I pushed back so hard on all the "double deck," "helix," and "punch through walls" calls for my own HOn3 layout.

For some, even though they began construction years ago, the dream layout remains a dream.  While I don't have as long a run, as many towns, or as many operating opportunities as I could have had I double-decked, I have a finished layout I can tinker with at my leisure now rather than an overwhelming construction project I begin to dread at times.

Then again, for some, that working toward a potentially asymptotic goal can be its own labor of love.  As Spock said in TOS episode Amok Time, “After a time, you may find that ‘having’ is not so pleasing a thing after all as ‘wanting.’ It is not logical, but it is often true.”

[nuno81291]

I have to say as someone who built a roughly 26x14 room filler with peninsula that my layout while the largest I built, went exactly as expected. Not to say I couldn’t improve upon it, but it was nearly twice the space as my previous chain saw layouts and I was mentally ready for the undertaking. I don’t think anyone’s individual tolerance for a large project translates to another’s tolerance for it. At a point I thought “this is too much railroad to maintain”, but once I cleaned everything I was ecstatic with the layout I built. No way will the T Track dreams encompass this large layout he has planned, and only Ed will know his willingness to undertake and not bite off more than he can chew. Helix and double deck isn’t for everyone, but I have seen many Ops centric layout owners who wouldn’t have it any other way.

[MK]

Ed's next t-shirt project:

The Helix Humper, An Ed's Law Application

The Helix Humper, Everybody Needs One!

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I think it really is for anyone confronted with the space and the resources to finally build the dream layout.

On one hand you certainly don't want to compromise at any point, but on the other, too much complexity can be overwhelming and slow the project to a chore instead of a pleasure.

This, gents, is why I pushed back so hard on all the "double deck," "helix," and "punch through walls" calls for my own HOn3 layout.

For some, even though they began construction years ago, the dream layout remains a dream.  While I don't have as long a run, as many towns, or as many operating opportunities as I could have had I double-decked, I have a finished layout I can tinker with at my leisure now rather than an overwhelming construction project I begin to dread at times.

Then again, for some, that working toward a potentially asymptotic goal can be its own labor of love.  As Spock said in TOS episode Amok Time, “After a time, you may find that ‘having’ is not so pleasing a thing after all as ‘wanting.’ It is not logical, but it is often true.”

Isn't that something of an ongoing issue?

Perhaps Ed should build a series of T-Trak modules?
One module could have the coal mine/breaker scene that was planned for the most recent previous layout.
Another module could be New Freedom.
Yet another could have a scene from Baltimore.
Hopefully, each one would represent a manageable task and could be completed before interest gets lost or a change of scale beckons.

I have to say as someone who built a roughly 26x14 room filler with peninsula that my layout while the largest I built, went exactly as expected. Not to say I couldn’t improve upon it, but it was nearly twice the space as my previous chain saw layouts and I was mentally ready for the undertaking. I don’t think anyone’s individual tolerance for a large project translates to another’s tolerance for it. At a point I thought “this is too much railroad to maintain”, but once I cleaned everything I was ecstatic with the layout I built. No way will the T Track dreams encompass this large layout he has planned, and only Ed will know his willingness to undertake and not bite off more than he can chew. Helix and double deck isn’t for everyone, but I have seen many Ops centric layout owners who wouldn’t have it any other way.

Guys, these posts have been very helpful for getting me to think philosophically about what I'm getting myself into.

Here's my thoughts on this. This plan, as I've designed it so far, is a natural progression from my Windsor St layout. Construction will be a bit more advanced, but not much. Other aspects will similarly be slightly more complex, but not much. For example, I'm planning on signaling from the get go here. That's gonna require a lot more thought about some stuff, but not too much until I get into it. The requirements of helper ops means that I need to be even more fastidious about track laying, but it's not like I have to hand lay everything.

I know there's a lot to this project, but that's actually my goal. Unlike TTRAK stuff which can be quick wins, I'm planning on this being a long term project. It might be 5 years before someone can switch the Trans-Flo terminal in York, but hopefully we'll be rolling coal well before that.

The variety of tasks here is something that I'm really looking forward to. It's something I missed on the Coal Country layout: if I want to work on weathering my TOFC flat fleet, I now have a good reason to do it, and somewhere to show it off. If I want to work on a structure, well, I'll be needing a few of those (although not as many as on my old layout, I don't think). If I feel like laying track, well, I'm sure there's a spur that will still need to be filled in. Scenery? Lots of room for that. I'm hoping that this variety will help keep interest high while also giving me stuff that I can feel like I'm accomplishing as I go.

[wm3798]

I've thought about that. But there isn't a good other place to put them.

Let me look the place over...  You have the room for those buggers, you just haven't seen it yet.  It's one of my super powers.  I can see washers and dryers, toilets and showers, and yes, even places for staging yards, where others only see walls and doors...

Lee

[CRL]

Helix Humper can be a computerized task... just saying.

Just another comment... we had a front load washer for a while and replaced it with a new top load washer. We won’t go back to the front load washer... ever. Front load washer was a pain in the a$$.