On to less exciting stuff and I have been busy cutting and building the base and supports for the helix as well as determining the final placement by doing a more detailed plan for the helix.
The picture below shows the plan for the helix support from the top down it will be 1200 x1400 mm the track will come from the bottom of the other side of the layout and climb the helix to the upper level, then it will go back across the gap to the helix and down to the lower level. The helix will also have access to the staging tracks. I did a plan at work to find out how many loops I will need to get to the second level but I lost it but from memory it is about 5.5 loops.
You may have seen in the previous post marking out the curves to cut for the helix and then I realised I have a router so I just made a jig with two screws to alter the diameter of the cut.
To get the most out of the boards I made a jig on an old table to cut curves from the off cuts, I just screw the board to the table and cut them with the router.
The benchwork for the helix is nearly finished as well just needs some paint.
The photo below shows the gap leading to the staging yard.
Test fittting the helix sections.
