inclines and train not climbing

[jbrock27]

Uh, Jerry?  Why I am I being singled out for your ire   As Pachino said in Scarface, "you need to take it easy man."

You already told me to replace the battery and I said no, bc it is half the cost of the item and not worth it.  I was looking for a little more trouble shooting advice from an expert.  But thank you for the suggestion again, anyway.

[Jerrys HO]

Singled out? no you were just the only one that took my post to heart and call me out.
Damn I did it anyway 2nd  answer post.

[jbrock27]

You're awful worked up.  I did not call you out.  And no, I did not "take it to heart".  There would have to be a reason for me to feel bad about something for me to do that.  I just told you to relax and not get all worked up like you are now.  Are you happier now that in your view, more than just 2 people have helped so far?

[Jerrys HO]

Bill,
That is another option other than the graduated piers, foam risers made by Woodland Scenics. A little pricey but perfect for grades. Check out the ones Saved 1 used on his...
http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,28641.0.html

Jerry

[rogertra]

Why buy risers?

If you have used a solid benchwork top, like a 4 x 8 (shudder) then using a jigsaw simply cut a grade the width of your road bed and elevate that.

BTW, the "shudder" after 4 x 8 is simply because I think they're awful but that's my opinion.  I haven't used a 4 x 8 since my dad built my first train set when I was ten years old.  Within two years, at most, that 4 x 8 was cut up and became an around three walls of my bedroom railway.  Terminal station, through junction station ending in a staging yard with a very small branch terminal in front of the sky drop hiding the staging yard.

But, as usual, YMMV.  :-)

Cheers

Roger T.

[jbrock27]

Ya know Roger, you haven't been very helpful here...

[rogertra]

Ya know Roger, you haven't been very helpful here...

Nothing wrong with the suggestion to use the jig saw, that's what I used to do, way back when.

OK, guilty about the 4 x 8 but..........

Cheers

Roger T.

[jbrock27]

No of course nothing wrong at all.  
Sarcasm, as in, I was being sarcastic.

[jbrock27]

Perhaps this will help to "redeem" myself.  I have had this saved to "Favorites" (RichG would be so proud )

http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,11880.0.html

[rogertra]

No of course nothing wrong at all.  
Sarcasm, as in, I was being sarcastic.

No problemo, as you know, I have a thick skin.  

I'm also cheap, which is why I'd never buy risers.  

Cheers

Roger T.

[jbrock27]

I knew we had things in common; I am cheap as well.  (I have said that here before, haven't I? )

[jward]

it seems to me roger is actually onto something here. not a dig at you roger, so let me explain further.

a lot of this thread has been a discussion on using pier sets to construct grades, with the general consensus that the Bachmann set results in a grade that is way too steep. I agree with this btw. roger has stated he would never buy "risers" which I take to include both the foam incline sets from woodland scenic as well as the various pier sets on the market. which begs the question, why not make your own? anybody with a saw and tape measure can make their own, to whatever grade they want using blocks of wood cut to fit. or another way would be to buy 1/4" moulding strips and cut them to the width of the ez track. you can stack the cut pieces to whatever height you wish.

consider that using those 1/4" strips, you can easily make an approximately 3% grade, by stacking them under the track joints. 3% works out to about 1/4" rise per track section. also keep in mind that you need about 3" of clearance for a train to pass beneath an overhead track. thus, for a 3% grade over and under type layout, you will need 12 full track sections of run to make the grade.

all in all, making your own risers or piers can save you a lot of money, and allow you the flexibility to make the grades what you want them to be.

I will have to run some tests on my layout, but I believe the 0-6-0 should be able to pull 3-4 cars up a 3% grade.

[Jerrys HO]

Jeff I will agree with everything you said except for the part,
"a lot of this thread has been a discussion on using pier sets to construct grades".

Most of this discussion was on weight (which is needed) and traction tires (can't believe those were ever made, glad I never had the chance to own one).

Jeff if you remember you helped me with this a while back, this is why I chimed in. Grades play a big part in HO if you plan on using them.
I have the cookie cutter design (rogert's suggestion that I missed)on the mountain side of the layout, but when I redone the center section (not finished do to other circumstances),I opted for the risers for convenience and I needed to keep the sturdiness to the framing. Yes I could have supported it better to work that way but the underneath holds other stuff and it probably would have interfered.
Hey Doneldon, there's my mistake as Jeff showed, it's a 1/4 not a 1/2 as I posted.

Gosh I hope with all this useful information Bill has a better understanding of how all of this info plays together as one happy railroad and skips all the sarcasm remarks.

Jerry

[jbrock27]

...skips all the sarcasm remarks.

Jerry

Like yours Mr. Statue of Liberty?  You need to get over yourself.

[Len]

I think the riser/pier set discussion got started because of this line in the original post back in December by Bill, "I have a Bachmann "Jingle Bells Express" set and added track and the graduated piers."

Bill can confirm one way or the other, if he's still paying attention, but my suspicion is he was building a temporary Christmas layout. Not something permanent that might offer better options than using a pier set.

Len