Inclines and Power Base at Chadwick Model Railway | 118. 

Sorry folks but the Percentage figures of the helix inclines in this video are wrong. They should be, Outside track = 2.3% (1 in 43) rise. Inside track = 2.6% (1 in 38) fall.

I’ll be honest I got sweaty hands watching that HST driving flat out toward the void. You are a brave man Charlie!

Interesting to watch a problem solving exercise. Thanks for a great video. I just kept thinking what a brilliant excuse for double heading or having a banker at the back - maybe steam and diesel together.

Thank you Charlie for another excellent video, as a newcomer to the hobby at 65 I find your videos very informative and helpful. I took your advice you gave me last week and have gone with DCC and I'm delighted with it, so thanks again for the great advice.

Excellent video Charlie, I am presently building an incline each end of a 12ftx6ft layout and have purchased these power base packs as i suspect i will need them. This is the first video I have found that clearly demonstrates the necessity.for this item for steam locos. Well done Charlie and many thanks. I always find your videos extremely informative and very detailed. Keep up the great work. Cheers Mike. 👍

So - we're back to 1960's Triang-Hornby Magnadhesion...you'll need a smoke unit for that 9F and some good old Super Four track though!

Nice job. Added tractive effort seems to have three solutions: traction tires or friction modifier (e.g. Bullfrog Snot) on the drive wheels to stop slipping; increase mass over the drive wheels (tyre weights, TempLo); or make a helper district out of the helix and have some grunty useful engines as part of the operation scheme tasked with pushing on the back end or cut into the middle of your trains. I dislike the first option, am scheming the second, and haven't the opportunity for the third yet. Thanks for your hard work on these videos.

"What can possibly.....go wrong" - Love it. Really enjoying the helix journey and all the invaluable tips and hints Charley - makes Fridays worth waiting for even though I am in a huge amount of trouble now from HRH for delaying starting final paint of kitchen! :)

Thank you Charlie. Really useful and you’ve set me thinking about all the possibilities available to increase storage dramatically by use of a helix. Tony

Brilliant. Of all the things I spend my money on for model railroading, being a patron of this channel is *the* best value for money. You're saving me and a lot of others a huge amount of time by figuring this stuff out and giving these tips. Keep up the good work!

Interesting - and some food for thought as I start my straight incline, which will finish with a fairly tight radius curve. As I watched the video, the thought of doubling up trains as they used to do at Shap came to mind. With DCC I guess thats another option? So, their was some method in the madness 50 years ago with the Triang series 3 track and magnahesion!! My problem with the track will be rust on the line...rather than your 'leaves on the line'. Perhaps fitting sandboxes???? no- maybe not go there!

Great update, thanks! Here’s hoping you have things up and running to schedule in a Christmas Special service!

A very enjoyable video Charlie...seeing the trains going up the Helix. Nice to see it all coming together too...all the best.

Finally a good decent video on powerbase and how it works when i build my next layout in the future i will use powerbase in the inclines good video as always. Cheers and all the best. Nicholas.

Hi Charlie great video as always. It was interesting to see the power base in action. Bit of an issue to put the magnets in. I would expect the bachmann 9F could go up your helix unassisted. Both of mine are good for that sort of thing

Thanks Charlie, great video, had a feeling you would need powerbase. I mentioned it in one of your previous videos as I had to do the same thing, it's a great invention from DCC Concepts, well worth it.

Bravo, Sir! As Educating, Informing and Entertaining as ever! I have a confession to make too. I thought to myself before your confession "And it only took 72 magnets!" All the best!

Excellent video Charlie. Did chuckle early on. 8 trains he says. 😂. Very informative and as I’m only running steam in will not be incorporating a helix into my layout. Thanks again for great entertainment

I look forward for your videos, not only for the information, but also your sense of humor

Thank you Charlie. I found that content fascinating. Good luck with rest of build sir.

An important step in placing the Powerbase magnets is to ensure they are at the balance point of the loco so as to get the artificial gravity to pull down on all driving wheels. I have 2 x 6 metre inclines and the powerbase has made them transition from hopeless to wonderful when I run my very old Lima diesels and more modern 2-6-4s. I also placed the plates well beyond the incline top, into the flat areas so that they could get the whole train up the hill rather than just the first couple of wagons.

Hi Charlie i have been watching your videos for a while now and have subscibed. You have inspired me to get of my bum after i damaged my back to build my own. Thankyou keep up the good work all the best Ian

Great and interesting video Charlie! Thanks for sharing. Cheers Onno.

Brilliant video Charlie ! Was testing my locos up a 2.5% incline and found that my Hogwarts Express could only pull 2 carriages up. After fitting power base it can now pull 4 carriages. Thanks for providing me the information that has really, really helped me get a better layout. Will be following you forever. Cheers, Rick Bulldog of Digon Alley Station.

What can i say Charlie. thanks for sharing this concept for pulling trains up banks. wish i had done the a power base idea years ago. buts its never to late. all the best Tony

Yes Charlie the details on the under side of the LBSC Atlantic is Break roding (double d ing ?) . I think that I have mentioned before that a helix is something that I would never need to build. But I still like learning, and enjoy your videos.

Brilliant video Charlie, really enjoyed watching the tests, it's a big investment if it didn't work. But looks like its (with a bit of tweaking) will be fine. I'm pleased for you. It will be great to see it fully installed and when you get the other end done it will be magnificent. You and the family stay safe see you on the next one Eddy xx

Great video Charlie, shows how necessary it is to use this system if you have serious inclines. In the colliery I worked we had an 08 on the surface which we maintained. There was an incline down to the sidings from the loco shed that was so steep you had to have spiked boots on to walk up it, well...you know what I mean. That old 08 climbed it like a dream, Going down was another matter, once you started there was no stopping, used up most of the headshunt and sometimes a little bit more! Thanks for the video though, really enjoyed it. regards gareth

Hi Charlie as always entertaining and informative with good advice for anyone contemplating inclines............Cheers Kev

Hey, Charlie! Been on a roll at work lately so just saw this video. Had a pal who built his helix, well two of them, using super elevation. Didn't test it until completely installed. Couldn't understand why his trains folded into the center of the helix every time. Helix construction brings on just about all the challenges of model railroading; you are explaining it well enough for even me to understand all the complexities. As always, Charlie, thank you for the lesson. BTW, I picked up a Brother PT-E300 label printer. Best purchase i've made in a long while! Thanks for the tip!

I laid my track with an incline before powertrack was around and steam engines would struggle to climb with anything more than a couple of coaches. I cut thin strips of metal and fitted them on top of the sleepers between the rails , painted track colour they aren't too bad aesthetically. I then used neodymium magnets stuck to the bottom of the engines ,wooden coffee stirrers used to shim them as close to the track as possible. The pulling power was increased dramatically. I enjoyed watching your video and would certainly use this if I build new inclines in the future.

1) my best Christmas ever was when I persuaded my sister to buy my 10 year old nephew a train set "'he's old enough to appreciate it now". 2) had to smile to see the Fire Extinguisher and First Aid Kit in the Affiliate Links. Supect there's a story there :)

Another great, fun, informative video. Thanks again. Andrew

as usual a brilliant and helpful instructional Charlie. thanks for your efforts!

'Bin' the cutie LB&SCR Atlantic? That would be a criminal act! Thanks for the video, very interesting.

34 year's old. Friday night/Saturday morning. 3:00am Just cracked open another beer to sit back and watch an episode of Chadwick Model Railway. Bliss.

For some odd reason my head told me that PowerBase was too expensive. Having just re-checked, I can see it isn't at all. Thank goodness you prompted me to take another look before I built my helix. As ever, Charlie, you are saving me from myself.

Like your winky way of presentation its always fine to watch you and see your efforts and ideas thumbs up!

Hi Charlie, We will make a scientist of you yet. I went down this road some years back but moved on to other model railway matters. Your video 'Testing Inclines' has revitalised my interest in the subject. The start of my adventure was weighing all my rolling stock and measuring the drawbar pull, [aka Tractive Effort?] of all my locomotives with a device I built up using a very sensitive set of digital scales. Typical result was that a locomotive weighing in at 255 grams recorded a 'drawbar pull' of 45 grams. One can of course fiddle with these two figures to derive some sort of 'hauling capacity' for any locomotive but the answer we seek is a little more complicated than that as we have to add in the rolling stock variables which I have not yet got to grips with, until perhaps now thanks to your video sparking my memory of my engineering school days and the mechanics of the Inclined Plain and Coeficient of Friction studies. Finding what I thought was my old school text book on the subject turned out to be not mine but my fathers dated 1923 and it looks to have maybe the answers to perhaps come up with devising a 'calculator' or chart of some sort etc that might make for something useful when it comes to hauling loads up grades in our model railway hobby. Lab time!

That was a very interesting and as usual a well thought out and presented video Charlie, great watch , bless the Atlantic 🚂🚞🚞🚞

Great video again Charlie. I was hoping you would do this on the DCC Concepts Powerbase. I have 4 3% inclines on my layout and have struggled to get my steam locos up the gradients without this powerbase system pulling realistic rakes. The one additional problem I would warn people about is track pins fixed in the centre of the rails as after a while the magnets can pull the pins out and actually get stuck up in the motors. I no longer have this problem as I took up all my track and relaid it using glue after watching one of your earlier videos. Once again great video and keep them coming.

Another excellent video on the spiral! How about a very short running session showing running the locos on the inside track? Interesting to see what happens up a steeper incline. Thanks as always. John

Hi Charlie, a very good demo video of your helix with regard to your La France loco the brass stand off magnet carriers from DCC Concepts should overcome the problem but there is an awful lot of brake rigging etc under it. I have had to improvise with some of my old Hornby steam loco's as they are all tender drive, not very good at climbing more than a 1 in 100 which on a garden layout is useless, to be blunt, with the magnets fitted they all take the climb without a problem, the climb varies between 1 in 50 to about 1 in 25 but it is a long straight climb. Again you have shown what can be achieved with good planning.

Evening Charlie. What a fantastic demonstration in what the pit falls are for a helix 👍🏻 Never doubted that the Western would pull up the helix. They were fantastic workhorse when they ran on BR. It was my favourite locomotive of all times. The only one I didn’t see was 1058 Western Nobleman. I’ve got the model though. Not that intend having a helix but all the same I’m sure the information will help others who are in the thinking stage for a helix on their layout 🤔 Have a great weekend thanks as always Stevie.

Great video. Really interesting and informative watch,, time flew! I'll stick with my diesels for now, on inclines at least! Thanks

Thank you Charlie!

Another excellent video. Very instructive. I now know that my steam locos would not negotiate such an incline. My diesels, should have no problem. Well done.

Hi Charlie. If you have room inside you engines, you can add weights and that will provide extra traction too. Great video. Would like to see the eight engines running on the helix also.

Interesting video as ever but the maths / physics is going to make my head explode😁😁. I can see why you wanted an HST even though it doesn't quite fit your time period and that livery with the yellow warning extending down the body flanks in my opinion is the best livery. I may have mentioned to you before I was lucky enough to have an unofficial cab ride in one of the first 253 units from Paddington to I think Reading but it may have been Oxford or Didcot, I can't believe it was over forty years ago now. Keep up the good work and as you say hopefully we can now see an end to this virus. Stay safe.

Excellent video with much useful information. Well done!

It's interesting to watch those different trains going around your helix and I agree it would be a good idea for manufactures to put some basic examples in the instructions of what the train can pull etc. Always look forward to your videos and I had a giggle at the result of the trains going around that helix.

Charlie, you should have your own TV show. Excellent video

Your ingenuity knows no bounds when sorting issues out. I would not be brave enough to drill into the bottom of my locos, just in case something may or may not work.

Another interesting and enjoyable video and a surprise as was not expecting one until next week. Will there be one next week or in 2 weeks time? Thank you as always for taking the time to put these together.

Great video, this really shows how important heavy chassis and good motors are... Maybe you should have a look at Sam's Trains loco reviews, he always measures pulling power. Just wonder how much extra strain ther is on the locos with all these magnets. Thanks again Charlie, keep up the excellent work and explanations!

For a locomotive's ability to pull I made a test track on a hinged base 1m long and at the hinge a room handle stood up with 2 small pulleys. A length of string ran thorough the pulleys with a weight on the loose end and a loop on the track end to be hooked on the coupling. By raising the track bed on its hinge any height can be set for a known gradient and a known weight drawn, or not.

SUPER VIDEO I have spent HOURS OF CALCULATIONs on making it work and still getting maximum staging in fiddle yard. I’m only weeks away from first video of series starting. Inclines are fascinating and magnet assistants are super but great ideas are timeless super as always you stay safe over there I’m worried for many of you in countries that are. It taking current climate seriously. Stay safe sir chat soon!

Amazing.....your knowledge is experience and is unmeasureable

Great video Charlie. I was wondering the same as others here about the keep alives. I see you haven’t equipped your locos yet with that feature. I decided to go with the Powerbase on my O-16.5 mining layout. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to take advantage of having the extra traction effort climbing a mountain. I have laid about 15 meters of Powerbase so far. I ran out of plates and had to order more. One thing that could add to your freight operations and your steam excursion trains is to have a siding with helper service locos at the bottom of the helix. Thinking of the helix as a mountain, an older model diesel remains on the siding waiting on freight trains and steam excursion trains. The helper can come in at the front or the rear of the train to help climb the helix / grade. Once the train reaches the top of the helix and the original loco can now handle its train, the helper moves away, the original train heads off on its journey while the helper drifts back down the grade to the siding to wait for the next train. Even if your freight locos can handle the helix, this helper service would add to your operations. A friend could be the engineer on the helper loco. Of course the helper service needs loco services at the siding. Fuel tanks and a sand tower at least.

I seem to recall someone with a similar set up loading up the locomotive interior with some lead shot to make it heavier and provide a bit more traction. May be an option for the 9F??

Hi Charlie. Great video as always, I have decided to invest in some Power Base myself. For non-scenic sections however, I will fasten piano wire on top of the sleepers between the rails, thus reducing the gap between steel and magnet. Magnetic force is roughly inverse to the distance between magnetic objects squared, so the piano wire should improve the magnetic force by approx. 4 times. (i.e. halve the distance to the magnet) This does not increase the friction between wheel and rail by 4 times but will certainly help increase it. The co-efficient of friction of nickel on nickel (the closest I could look up) is 0.70. This means that the tractive force is 0.7 times the weight on the driving wheels. Hope this is useful Barry

Always good information Charlie, great work. 👍

Go hornby 3 rail or wrenn locos very powerful no problem on my track with 50 tin plate wagons on tow !! Long live 3 rail !!

I run a 4-turn 4-track helix using setrack radii 2,3,4 and a flexitrack 5. The "mainline that joins the two ends is at a constant gradient of 1 in 40 (2.5%) and includes some radius 3 (20") curves. The whole of the mainline and the two outer (up) helix tracks were laid with DCC Powerbase "just in case" as fitting it retrospectively would be almost impossible. It has proved necessary but works well. All my diesel locos can haul at least 6 coaches up the mainline and the bigger diesels can all haul 9 coaches if required without supplementary magnets. Steam locos are much more of a problem. My Bachmann 9F hauls 7 coaches without magnets but I have had to use 3 magnets on Kings, Castles and Merchant Navy pacifics to achieve the same results. Even then I have to limit the Pullman Devon Belle rake to 6 coaches. Some smaller locos require magnets (normally one) to cope with even only 3 coaches. All the magnets are superglued on but I have found it necessary to sand away the raised text of the makers name to give a suitable flat surface and I have used plasticard spacers to ensure that the magnets only clear the track by 1 mm or less. The system works well enough that I have just embarked on adding a fifth helix track on the inside (radius 1) with a gradient of 1 in 30 (3.3%). I use my helix tracks as a fiddle yard for storage and have at present 22 trains there. The extra track will expand this to 29. The Powerbase system is not a cure-all, but it does allow much steeper gradients or much heavier trailing loads than would otherwise be possible.

In reviving some very old locos, this proves why I have been wise to not build any gradients into my layout! Interestingly a similar idea to the DCC magnets lies in couple of old Triang Diesels from the 1960’s. These have magnets built into the motor bogies to give extra grip on the then Super 4 steel rails. Think they called it “Magnaheshion” or something?

I’m glad the magnets didn’t foul on the track fixing screws. I have part of a return loop on an incline which one of my locos struggles with. Retro fitting the metal plates would be a major P.I.T.A though.

That was great Charlie. Not surprised the H2 didn't make the grade (excuse the pun), as mine struggle with 8 coaches on the flat so they don't get used on my helix. I worked my helix out at 1 in 65 on the outer line and i can run pretty much scale length trains with any loco, but the older Lima stuff really does struggle. Anyways, brilliant vid as always.

I'm sure someone will have mentioned it already, but any neodymium magnets you can buy off eBay or local suppliers will work too. So if the kit magnets don't fit just buy some smaller ones and add as many as you can. The reason I''m steering away from a helix is I'm a pre-1965 enthusiast and steam locos seem to struggle more than diesel on inclines. It does give so much more useability in a small space though, I might have to try the gentlest possible helix in the near future.

Hi Charlie great video over been testing my incline today going up to the helix that has not been built yet after Christmas now am okay mine are all diesel locos I do have the flying scotsman but that doesn't really come out much I've just finished yesterday my fiddle yard my boss loves you because what you have a want and he has to build it for me lol hope you and the wife have a great Christmas and hopefully have a better new year in 2021 thanks Paul

Brilliant work as always. The results of your testing are great to see. Very encouraging that you can get all your locos up this incline I loved the short pieces of the video where you had a camera inside the helix structure (eg at 7:39) The maths for the gradient isn't too hard - it's the height of the climb divided by the length of the climb. The length of one revolution is the "two pi r" formula So gradient = height / (2 * PI * radius).

On your final point about drawbar performance tables, I don’t know if you remember the old Model Railway Constructor (that ceased publication in 1987) but their loco reviews always told you how many grammes the model could haul. I was also thinking about your comments about the 9F and wondered if the solution might be a Hornby Dublo three-rail type shoe that is magnetised, attached to the underside of your loco, running along a steel rail mounted in the centre of the track. The power base is attempting to recreate the magnadhesion system that Triang and Hornby developed for use with nickel-silver track, now that steel rail has gone out of fashion.

Having watched your trials regarding inclines vs loco ability, I was actually quite impressed. Your video has been very helpful...so as I build my layout and (no room for a helix) so I will try locos on a temporary incline before committing to erect the high level layout. Thank you once again. Quite how you manage to build track layout so quickly...well impressed. Between soldering droppers, and fitting fishplates (rail joiners), I seem to be achieving 30cm a day!

I know one person who uses car wheel balancing weights to add more weight to his trains that does the same thing for less cost. He just pops it open slides a few of the weights into the loco and it runs reasonably well.

Does anybody remember the Hornby version of traction assistance: Magnadhesion? It was all the rage in the Sixties when it was introduced.

Some steam locos like the Hornby Evening Star I had, is tender driven which had rubber tyres. Be interesting to see the difference in traction.

Bonjour Charlie, An another useful video, for sure. As an intermediate solution, that would have been interesting to check how traction tires can help on your helix (and more generally on inclines). This seems a bit less intrusive that fixing magnets but maybe an harder task to achieve, especially on steam locos. And not taking into account that one may dislike traction tires! Regards, Claude

I also was a bit nervous watching your locomotives hurtling toward the end of the helix (beyond which there is no track yet). Smart to have an insulated gap there. And apparently you don't have momentum set up on those locos. I have a similar situation where my access gate is located. I've installed microswitches so that the track power is disconnected a distance from the abyss when the gate is open.

Hi Charlie, yet another informative video, going back to the explanations regarding setting up you tube channel and getting likes etc, I know that you always reply to comments which as you said is good manners basically, I have however encountered a non reply to a question on a channel ( I shall not name) who has failed to respond after 2 weeks therefore deleted. Keep up your great videos always a pleasure to watch always a thumbs up 👍 from me

Thanks for your feedback

G'day Charlie, I am inclined to think that the magnets would make it worse as there magnetic pull on the metal strips would slow the loco down, I think that it was the extra weight of the magnets that made the loco slightly better. I would definitely be loading the loco body with extra weight but not enough to put too much strain on the motor. I can still see that "MISSING NUT" on the helix support 😂😂. You are the type of bloke that I wished lived next door, Regards, Alec.

I don't have a helix, but did install Power Base on 3 sections of 1in35 where trains have to restart after possible Signal Checks. My experience is such that I can confirm your own comments and those from Graham Thomson; if the magnets can be securely fitted, preferably across the axles of the driven wheels, a noticable improvement results. Regarding your remark about a 'graph' to compare pulling power; some 15 (or even more) years ago the German "Eisenbahn Magazine" developed a standard test for measuring the effective tractive effort, at the rail, of model locos and has consistently applied it to the models it reviews ever since. (A touch more scientific than "pulled five Hornby Pullmans on the Pecorama Loft Layout"!) By the way, I too think you are worth "a (or even two) cup of coffee a month"; even though watching (and commenting on) your broadcasts takes up precious time which could otherwise have been spent in my own railway room!

Charlie, glad to see the helix is running, great video. For the steam loco’s, what about putting the traction ring on one set of wheels? I believe they are little black o-ring looking things. Anyway, thanks for sharing and stay safe. Ken

Interesting experiment. Huge amount of track to gain levels.

Interesting video - many years ago, certainly in the 1960s/70's, Triang used to market locomotives with what they called the Triang Patent Adhesion System - the reason was the new plastic body loco's didn't haul as much as the old cast iron body loco's, or those competitors who still used cast bodies such as WREN - the track in those days was made out of steel (so if you got your 6x4 layout out of the loft for use in the winter, the first thing was to clean the rust off), and the "patented" system was simply as big as possible magnet in the bottom end of the loco to stick it to the track, and hence add adhension. Intersting now that someone in the modern Nickel-Silver rail days has added back the steel and magnets (and I dare say, at some cost). If there was a genius out there, they would mould a magent the same size at the piece of plastic on the bottom of the 9F, and you would simply replace one with the other. I'm not a fan of the helix (space, plus operational access issues), but I do think that not adopting your normal distributed power for a single power source in the helix is a wise operational choice - Good Luck!

another great informative video Charlie. But i was waiting for you to glue your fingers to the magnets lol.

Great video Charlie, I love that 9F.

Hi again Charlie i did watch you put that helix together and maybe trying to lower it is a bit of a task it not a five minute job so guess the power base is the way forward.

Hi Charlie, I use magnets from “first for magnets” they have some very powerful neomagnets, flat, thin and with self adhesive backs. The pull on one with the same foot as yous could be up to .36kg.

hi Charlie , i have been watching your videos with great interest and yes i have subscribed , i would just like to say that by fitting magnets to the underside of your locos to increase traction could shorten the life of the electric motors to some degree as this increases the down force which effectively increases the weight of the loco , so this has the same effect as decreasing the motor size and increasing the current which in turn causes the motor to run hotter which may have a detrimental effect on your loco and over a period of time may burn out your loco , you may be able to measure the current from one of you dcc controllers for said loco on the flat and on the incline to see the effect of the incline on that loco. Rob

Well Charlie that was very informative but I'll just be using multiple engines and maybe add some just for the run up. Technically that would be prototypical for what I'm doing but you and I know were we can put that prototypical. Lol. Thanks again, Chris

Those magnets and a light coat of Bullfrog Snot should totally eliminate any slipping. I think you got pretty lucky with the magnets. Take care.

People have been trying to get wheel spin on steam locomotives moving off for years! But seriously, two questions come to mind: 1) Why do models of steam locos have such poor pulling nowadays? 2) Whatever happened to traction tyres on model locos? The most powerful loco my dad and I had on our layout was an ancient Marklin Hamo SNCF 2-10-0. Ignoring prototypicality, it was an immensely powerful beast, able to pull a rake of 10 Hornby Dublo BR maroons with ease (and those coaches would need a shove to get them to free run down a much steeper gradient than your helix!). The rubbish pulling power of virtually all the British outline models at the time, was one of the reasons we decided to "go continental" - at the time, only little shunters really had much problem on the inclines, and when we much later added a helix to join three levels in an extension to the layout, anything with traction tyres was able to pull a decent length train without problem. Though that Marklin 2-10-0 was still the most powerful, even 40 years later when the whole thing was broken up and sold off. Curiously that Marklin 2-10-0 was one of the few steam locos we had from the German & Austrian manufacturers that wasn't tender driven: most, apart from the tank engines, of course, most if not all, the others had the motor in the tender.

A cool concept to be sure, but it's safe to say no magnets will be finding their way onto my locos. I would like to try them out on a helix to see how much they can pull up that sort of incline. You've got my sub for sure.

Another great video mate

I had to add 5 or 6.to my 9f, the worst was the duchess as the frame was so high I had to lower the magnets to get them closer to the track. My deltic did it no problem.

Hi Charlie, The use of the magnetic system by DCCconcepts brings to mind my layout which has working pantographs and the effect that this has on climbing my helex grades. Frankly it does have little or no effect and if one puts a 222 gram locomotive on the scales and presses the pantographs down the we come up with 230 grams a effective weight gain of only 8 grams or about 3% to help adhesion. I don't have any of this 'magnetic' system to experiment with but more on the subject would be interesting. Interestingly there was a 'magnahesion' system decades ago and it relied on metal or tinplate track to work.... I don't think it was a howling success! When it comes to 'adhesion' the best in my experience was my TT 12mm gauge layout in the 1960's.... the Triang locomotives has cast iron wheels which far surpassed the adhesion material ability of our modern methods. Likewise locomotives in the bigger scales ('O' gauge) I scratchbuilt for some years were well known for their haulage abilities... they had cast iron rims on the driving wheels. Cheers.

Would be interesting to see your power meter hooked up to see if the magnets increase the current drawn. Could be hours of fun plotting graphs of speed and number of coaches against current 😂👍😷

Looks good Charlie. I have it to do early next year. With double track the outer is going up and the inside track is down.? So these magnetics be fitted to the side that climbing because I can't see how you need them when the locomotive is on the way down. Do you what I mean. I may just fit them to one side only. I use a 3in block of wood to get clearance of each level. Then I fine turn the helix. I have build three in the past and one for my uncle but this time your mate can do them. (Health reason). No dust.

Very interesting to watch Charlie, a methodical engineers approach to a problem. Have you considered an inlay between the rails on the incline track, to reduce the magnetic coupling distance and increase down force ? Or have i misunderstood the way the magnetic flux is working to improve grip?

Hi Charley. It looks good it is hard to see if you could reduce the gap on the helix and go round again and reduce the 1:50 climb. Regards Bryn