Hellas-Express

Many thanks BarbaPanagos, but I think I need many more loaves to reach John Mood's creations and if I ever reach them.
At the moment I am building the double bridge of the second line.
Here are some recent photos.....

Hi Georg,
Again a great job. I Like your layout and wish you also a quick finish with the traks as you can start with the finishing!

FR
Manfred

Thanks a lot Manfred! It's still a lot of work and I want to go step by step. I will lay all the lines first and then model

I wish you all a healthy, happy and creative new year!
Happy New Year!
See you next year!
https://youtu.be/1zLrdxoROeA?si=m2q4UlHrrAJo4Xf4

Happy New Year George and to all the friends

that was a real Santa's train!

Good evening!

I would like to present to you my idea for an extension of my under-construction model.

Last year, around this time, I had laid the first circle of the outer line and after a few train crossings, I wondered if with two lines as in the original design, the whole project would cover me in terms of crossings because only two trains could run and at most one more that would be in the station's sidings.
Also, after much thought and various plans, Yiannis Hazapis helped me a lot with advice and an article in his online magazine eRail Times about a multi-level model with a hidden yard, as well as some photos of his spiral works by Katsikas Dimitris.

As you can see in the photo of the main model, an extension of the space to the right will be made and there a hidden double-line spiral with curves R4 and R5 will be constructed where the outer line of the model will be led with an entrance to the outer line of the spiral and an exit from the inner line of the spiral to the outer line of the model. Also, the corner module will be removed at the top left and a hidden double-line spiral with curves R3 and R4 will be constructed there as well, where the inner line of the model will be led with an entrance to the inner line of the spiral and an exit from the outer line of the spiral to the inner line of the model.
Both spirals descend downwards counterclockwise, that is, counterclockwise, and the distance from spiral to spiral in height is 9cm.

The two spirals will lower the trains below the model in the photo of the hidden yard plan that you see and will consist of twelve lines.

In the side view photo of the hidden yard that you see, it will consist of three levels (amphitheater) and each level will have four lines, three for depositing trains and one for passage. The outer line of both spirals will end at the rear and upper level, which will be at -43.5cm. One level below, that is, at the middle level, the inner line of both spirals will end after descending another 9cm, that is, at -52.5cm with two keys on a curve in the spirals on either side so that there is continuity of the descent of the inner line of the spirals another 9cm, that is, at -61.5cm on the third and last level.

To be continued....

Continuation of the previous one....

Let's look at a hypothetical scenario now!

To understand the scenario, let's assume that in the two top-view photos of the main model and the hidden yard we have the four points of the horizon, namely north, south, west and east.
So we have a train on the outer line of the main model at the height of the station heading east and after it departs it will enter the outer line of the southeast spiral, it will descend counterclockwise to the rear and upper level of the hidden yard -43.5cm and in a west and north direction it will head to the outer line of the northwest spiral and will ascend clockwise to the inner line of the model. After making a crossing on the inner line of the main layout, it will end up again on the northwest spiral but this time on its inner line, it will descend counterclockwise to the second and middle level of the hidden yard -52.5cm or to the third and lowest level -61.5cm, depending on where we have turned the two keys on the curve of the inner line of the two spirals, the crossing logic is exactly the same for these two levels. Heading south and east in the hidden yard, our train will end up on the inner line of the southeast spiral, it will ascend clockwise to the outer line of the main layout and after making a crossing it will end up again where it started, on the outer and first line of the station.

Conclusion:
Essentially, a double-line layout with two trains per direction becomes a single-line layout with the difference that the length of the lines is tenfold. This way I can run four to five trains at the same time, display them on the main layout in each direction on the outer and inner lines, and display any train I want with the help of the hidden yard, which will have at least another seven to eight trains stored on the sidings.

Disadvantages:
1. Complexity of construction
2. Higher cost
3. Longer construction time

Advantages:
1. Longer length of lines with monolining
2. Storage of many trains in the hidden yard and not in the boxes.
3. Amphitheater hidden yard with a showcase where all the trains will be visible.
4. Theatricality of the layout with the appearance and disappearance of various trains on either side of its lines.

The truth is that I am still in a dilemma about whether to proceed with this particular project and I would like your opinions and comments to help me.

I apologize for boring you with this sheet and some images of grammology in 3D.

Hi Georg,
It think you can try to build up at first the upper level in this way that you can add the other thing later. It is better to have a success step by step. In other case you can lose desire before you finish the layout

I have the same Problem with my layout that there are no more than 2 trains can run at the same time but better than 0 train.

FR
Manfred

It will definitely happen like this, step by step.