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EXPERT TIP: Optimum deck separation on multideck designs


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Joe Fugate

Tue Oct 17 2006, 02:07PM

Registered Member #3

Joined: Fri Sep 08 2006, 01:59PM
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posts: 145

Q. What's the optimum or "best" deck separation for a multideck model railroad design?

I see this question a lot, especially on the Model Railroad Layout Design Special Interest Group forum.

Like many things in the hobby, there is no one best answer ... so the answer is: it depends.

More than anything else, the best deck separation depends on how high the decks are from the floor -- in other words it depends on layout height. And of course, optimum layout height depends on how tall you are.

Here's how I express the optimum or "best" layout height:

From your waist to the bottom of your brest bone -- this gets things up close enough you can see them, but low enough you can see over multiple tracks (important in a yard, for example).

As you can see, there is no one best height, because we all come in different sizes.

For a club, the best you can do is pick some "average Joe" member and use him to set your heights.

Unfortunately, with multideck designs (except the mushroom, which is why I prefer this particular multideck configuration over all others), neither deck can be at optimum height, so you must compromise. Here's how the compromises work out:

Lowest recommended deck height: bottom of your rump (if you go much lower, it will become hard to even get under the benchwork to work on it.) Not going any lower than your belly button is better.
Highest recommended deck height: bottom of your nose(if you go any higher, you wont be able to see over front tracks to determine if there's anything on back tracks.) Not going any higher than your chin is better.

The farther you separate the two decks of a multiple deck model railroad, the more helix tiers you will need to get between decks. Each helix tier of a 30- 36" radius helix (in HO) contains almost a third of a scale mile of track, and every 4 inches of separation between decks adds another tier. A 24" tall helix will contain almost two scale miles of track and could easily be the longest part of your layout with the trains spending more time in the hidden helix than on any visible part of the layout.

So the closer you can get the two decks the better. A separation of 8" is the absolute minimum to allow you to get your hands in over any rolling stock on the track. A separation of 12" will allow you get get your head in over unoccupied tracks and to get a drill with a bit in over the deck. A separation of 18" is plenty to allow any operation you need to do, even over occupied tracks. A separation of 24" or more is just adding to the tiers in the helix and increasing the time your trains spend in a helix -- which is a huge waste if you ask me.

I recommend a deck separation that allows you to see all the tracks on the lower deck, but you don't have to see any of the backdrop (stooping is OK if you want to see the whole scene). I have found for an upper deck of 24" wide or less, a deck separation in the 12-18" range is the optimum tradeoff between all the factors.

Also keep in mind that upper deck does not have a thickness of zero. I've found 2" thick for very short runs to be possible, 4" thick is more typical, and 6" thick is plenty ample for most situations. Add the deck thickness to your deck separation to get the zero level on the upper deck.

[ Edited Fri Apr 18 2008, 05:01AM ]

Joe Fugate
http://siskiyou-railfan.net - 250,000 hits and counting!

hornerg

Fri Dec 01 2006, 05:11AM

Registered Member #104

Joined: Fri Dec 01 2006, 03:32AM
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posts: 4

Joe
The approach I have used for the multi deck is as follows:

Lowest deck at about 39 inches (fixed by the under layout storage as a compromise on using the space - storage is several cupbourds on wheels that can be rolled out to access underneath the layout) This will be "scenicked staging". The helix to the next level will be about 0.75 of a turn. The rest of the climb will run along the very back of almost the entire length (30 feet) of the layout and will again be lightly scenicked. That way an operator can choose to watch the train for almost the entire climb by sitting on a chair or crouching down a bit, but can also choose just to wait for the train to appear on the next level. This way the general visuals are of primarily the staging yard.
The next level will be 11 or 13 inches higher (some design details I am still working on will determine this). This will be the "main" level with a yard, branch line, town and several industries. It will be about 50 to 52 inches up (chest high)
The transition to the next level will be via an interesting track arrangement an hour or so from home. Originally the route was single track but "up" trains had troubles with the grade. When the line was duplicated, the original line became the "down" line and the new "up" line was built such that it had a lesser grade, passed under the "down" line where clearance was sufficient, passed under itself, spiralled around a hill and then passed over itself at a much higher elevation than the nearby "down" line, and then passed over the "down" line a couple of kilometres further on to resume correct (left) side running. A couple of kilometres further on the two lines match levels again. I am designing a representation of this arrangement that will gain about 14 or 15 inches (including approaches) with a 2.4% "up" grade and a 4% "down" grade (roughly double the grades of the prototype). This will put the top level at about 65 inches. This will be about mouth height, but the track arrangement will be fairly simple and the shelf will be fairly narrow - a good rail-fan location.
The final climb (yes I said climb) to staging will be along the back of the layout above eye height but sporadically visible from below and fully scenicked. This will be a representation of a line that climbed a steep escarpment near my home town that was generally only visible from well below (i may only need to scenick the fron part of the track!!) This will eventually dissapear into a tunnel and go to staging above valance level. This staging will be out of sight from the general operationg area. However, if operators want to watch their train, they can climb a ladder in the other two thirds (dance studio) part of the 3 bay shed and watch from a distance.

These plans seem fairly radical and "break" the "rules" but I am trying to use this rule breaking to achieve certain effects.

The final consideration was the size of the project. Basically the layout is a bent dogbone so each level can be ended in a temporary loop until I am ready to proceed to the next (the staging yards have loops for reversing trains and continuous running if desired).

I guess, in all this rambling, that I am trying to suggest that deck height and width "rules" are more guidelines than rules (heard that on some movie recently) and can be manipulated to achieve interesting effects.

Graham

[ Edited Fri Dec 01 2006, 09:16AM ]

Joe Fugate

Fri Dec 01 2006, 09:21AM

Registered Member #3

Joined: Fri Sep 08 2006, 01:59PM
:
posts: 145

Graham:

Great example of using different decks to get a lot of model railroad into your space!

Thanks for taking the time to post your explanation -- very clearly describes the height "guidelines" in action!

Your point about rules versus guidelines is so true. Once in a while breaking the rules will allow you to do some very innovative things when trying to fit the best model railroad into your space.

Good stuff!

[ Edited Fri Apr 18 2008, 05:03AM ]

Joe Fugate
http://siskiyou-railfan.net - 250,000 hits and counting!

Joe Fugate

Fri Apr 18 2008, 04:52AM

Registered Member #3

Joined: Fri Sep 08 2006, 01:59PM
:
posts: 145

I've updated the recommended model railroad deck separation guidelines in the main post above with more details. This tells you what the best deck separation should be for a traditional double deck layout design.

Note: A double-deck model railroad is also sometimes called a double-decker layout, a multi-deck layout, or a multi-level design. I've also seen the hyphen left out and all one word used as in the phrase "multideck model railroad layout".

[ Edited Fri Apr 18 2008, 05:02AM ]

Joe Fugate
http://siskiyou-railfan.net - 250,000 hits and counting!


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