Testing the incline

Having positioned the inclines and begun to lay the track them, I thought it would be a good idea to test a locomotive on it. Given that the typical kits have a 4% incline and I've gone for 3% it shouldn't pose a problem, but I wanted to test it to be sure.

As you can see, the small loco with a light load easily made it up the slope. Now all I need to do is complete the track laying and then I can move onto wiring and control.

The incline rises 50mm over 1500mm. I'm tempted to build a 4% version just to see what happens, but then again it works so why fiddle with it! Mind you, all I'd need to do is put a 10mm spacer under the high end. Hmm. Hold that thought.

A new project

For quite some time I've harboured the ambition to build a model railway. Well the day has coke to make a start. A few years ago Anne bought me a basic oval (The Flying Scotsman) and in there last couple of weeks we've made a start on developing a model railway.

Here's the beginnings of the basic layout for the track:

 It's a fairly simple series of ovals with the outside one rising to go over a bridge. The base is made of three sections each about 1200mm by 660mm so that it can be stored away in a cabinet (yet to be built!). The inclines have been a challenge to think about. Firstly you need to get the gradient right. From looking around the 00 gauge loco's are able to climb a 4% gradient. I've gone for around 3% (50mm over 1500mm). Once I've got some track on them I can test them out to see if it's ok.

To make the inclines I used 3mm hardboard (I used some thin ply first time round but hardboard is a bit easier to bend into shape).

I made a simple tapering jig for my table saw and cut two at a time.


Rather than do a lot of maths I made the outside incline and then used an off cut to measure the inside because it's obviously shorter around the inside than it is around the outside!

I cut a whole series of pieces to space the two sides apart and glued them in place before creating a card template of the curve.

I then used the template to trace the shape onto some thin ply and a jigsaw to cut the pieces. They don't need to be perfect because they will be landscaped at some point.

The next step is to glue all the pieces together and then decide on their final positions. Hopefully all the track Weill be connected so that trains and rolling stock can be moved from track to another.

 There's also room for extension at either end if and when we want to add say a boat yard or factory. I'm making provision for extra track by adding some points in strategic places.