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looking to connect with train folks( new hobby for me,)

I’m using the train to propose to my girlfriend the day after thanksgiving.  Putting the ring on the Lionel O gauge polar express train, I’m trying to set up the track and I’m racking my brain how to do it. Also after spending a bunch of money on the ring I’m trying to figure out how to do it without spending thousands of dollars on styrofoam risers from woodland scenics . I have a bare 8x8 plateform in my girlfriends parents shed that I’m going to build the moutain on. I want to have the train spiral up the Moutain to an upper platform . If you know anybody that can help direct me on how to do that I would be super appreciate that!

patrick lavoie

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Unless you are going to devote 6 hours a day from now until Thanksgiving eve to get this layout up and running, forget it.  Too much work and too little time.  Now, if you can round up 3-4 experienced train friends to help you out, you have a chance.

Sorry to say, but you should have started this ambitious project on the 4th of July.

My BEST advice... settle for a simple oval, paint your board white, get some fake snow from Hobby Lobby.  You will be less stressed and she will be just as impressed.

Good Luck my friend.

 

 

 

Congratulations and good luck. Since you didn’t ask for relationship advice, I’ll stick to train advice. I’ll trust you have the rest in order 😉

can you share a link to the layout / track plan you are looking to mimic?

For risers, just use 1x4s cut to the appropriate height. No need buying all of that premade foam. You may also want to add horizontal plywood support over the risers and below the track. 


Depending on how much track you need, you may consider looking into tubular track. You can often acquire this much cheaper than fastrack. 

There are several YouTube videos showing polar express layouts that should give you some ideas.  The endeavor you have chosen to take on will be difficult because the fixed diameter of track makes it a challenge to climb the mountain without serious real estate and once you get to the top you have no place to go unless you replicate the bridge from the movie and then you have to get back down somehow.   You might want to build the mountain and wrap with ho flex track for the illusion but keep the o gauge track to one or two levels. Good luck. 

yes, time for completion is the concern - 

How high would you like the spiral to rise?

One forum member did the whole Christmas tree up the outside and down the inside. One on YouTube rise about four feet. Those take months

A simple turn of  3/4 to once around with a rise of about 6"-7" and mostly scenery would be possible, but still a big push to get completed before Thanksgiving.

I have attached a 4' x 8' that would still take a lot of hours to complete by Thanksgiving. Foam is used for the terrain. North Pole on left with 20" tree and mountain on right- the peak is made to sit inside of the spiral

 

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  • 4x8_Polar_Track_Plan
  • 4x8_Polar_3D

Patrick,

 welcome to the OGR Forum.  Assuming you have the personal side of things well in hand - the forum is a great place for advice. I actually really like the track plan the Moonman put out.  If you are using a Polar Express to climb hills it needs to be one of the recent offerings with the handheld remote known as Lion Chief or Lionchief Plus.  The very early transformer only offerings were too underpowered to reliably climb hills.

One option for you would be RR in a box.  They are a forum sponsor.  I have seen there products but not used them.  If you want something with elevation changes you can assemble in a hurry and still look nice its probably a good option.  As others said above, you will still need considerable time to to decorate things.

Good luck

Like others have said, the spiral mountain would likely take months to build and scenic...there was a father who built one for his family (on YouTube) that was very well done...I can only surmise it took weeks or months to build.

One quick idea for the proposal is to have a single line of track come into the living room or wherever you're going to pop the big question - have her sit down and then power-up the train and "deliver" the ring via the engine or train consist with either you or someone hidden with the remote control.

Just one tip: make sure she likes electric trains. Some women are turned-off by them, and the guys who play with them. My ex-wife is one of them

Jeezus you guys are a cheerful lot!!! Seems like everyone that has responded has told me of what I should do instead or that it would take me months and that I should forget this idea. You don’t know me or my relationship and you don’t know my plan. I need the track to work. I’ll worry about my relationship and the finnishing touches. If you don’t know how to build the track !!! please don’t respond!!!!

I keep opening these emails thinking that I’ll have my questioned answered. I’m trying to build the polar express youtube Moutain!

if anyone knows that guys contact that is all I’ll need. Otherwise please don’t leave me relationship advice or advise on how to do it in a less time consuming way. 

patrick lavoie

I like the idea!  Here are two threads which will be of some help to you:

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...n-plans-for-fastrack

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...s-tree-layout?page=1

The key is to begin at the bottom with a larger diameter curve and go one dimension lower the higher you go.  Ie:  O60-O048-O36-O31.  It really depends on how high you want to go and trying to keep your grade to 8% or so (this is the grade of the traditional Lionel trestle sets).

Best of luck!

-Greg

Last edited by Greg Houser

Patrick,

 One thing I just thought of to make sure you are aware.  Because the lionel polar express engines are meant to copy some functions of the animated movie train - the pilot on the front of the locomotive is rather long.  This allows displaying characters on the front of the locomotive. It can occasionally become  a problem when getting on and off grades because the pilot sometimes touches the center rail before the rest of the engine changes elevation.   Generally making sure your initial flat to grade transition is shallow before you really start climbing is enough to avoid the problem.  If however you get something built and suddenly are dealing with this problem  you can either add a little bit of insulation to the underside of the cowcatcher or grind a little bit of it away with a dremel tool.  (that second idea will cause most folks here too call me a heretic but I usually don't worry about making modifications to my toys.)  For insulation you can brush on some liquid electrical tape.  The proper solution is to adjust the track until the sparking doesn't happen but I wanted to point out a couple quick ways out of a jam if this problem crops up close to show time.

Since you are new to the hobby I don't have a feel for your knowledge base.  In case you were not aware you can also but trestle systems from the manufacturers.

http://www.lionel.com/products...trestle-set-6-12037/

http://www.lionel.com/products...-trestle-set-6-12038

These come in graduated and single elevation sets.

I don't know these will necessarily get you the effect you are after, but I wanted to make aware of them.  By far this is the quickest easiest way to get some elevation changes going.  There are different trestle system for just about every track type out there.  The polar express set comes with Lionel fast track.  the big knock on fast track and any other track with a built in roadbed is that they tend to be loud.  That noise will be amplified on a trestle because the roadbed is now up in the air, but this would be quick. Also you could sculpt/arrange some cotton batting underneath to make it look like its rising on solid footing and this would help keep the noise down.

 

This is an exciting project with a tight deadline.  I will give you any support I can.

JHZ563

Having read all the responses above, I certainly hope there are pictures and a summary posted after Thanksgiving, good or bad.

No one mentioned using that flexible o gauge track with wooden ties that rolls up in a coil for storage.  You don't see it very often, but that would be my first choice for laying irregular shaped track layout in a hurry.

Last edited by aussteve

Well ok, if I were building something like that, I’d start with a truncated conical frame of straights like a teepee, probably eight struts about 4”x2”, to set the basic shape. Fix it to whatever base you envisage, this thing isn’t mobile.

Then I’d get a spirit level or laser level, and mark level lines on the struts at vertical intervals. 

So.. O72 circle has a circumference of 226” (72” x 3.1417: pi) at 8% grade that’s a total rise of 18”. Divide that equally between the struts, mark it relative to your starting level and that’s your first grade section. Cut a 3/4 circle of about 4mm ply to suit the track width and pin it to the rising struts (you’ll need cross members as it rises). That’s your track bed. The reason you advance in 3/4 circles is that if you don’t, the track doesn’t form a spiral and the geometry gets complicated. 

Now repeat the process for the next diameter. If that’s 60”, the circumference is 60 x 3.1417 = 188”, total rise at 8% = 15”

Repeat as required. After the NEXT diameter, the track is 18”+15”+12” from the floor, 45” or 3’9” which is probably enough? The tabletop will be about 44” inside the tracks, you have room to transition to O31 or O36 and run onto the tabletop. Cut the struts to level and insert the tabletop, say 6mm ply? 

Test fit the track and make sure the train doesn’t snag or stall anywhere. 

As you are going for a once-only effect, drape it in green felt which you should find at any hobby shop or haberdashers. Staple the felt enough to hold it in place. Spritz it with white, glitter and generally go for a frosted appearance - you don’t need a tremendous amount. 

Fix the track to the trackbed, and decorate as required. 

Run train. 

This is all based on a shop window display I built some years ago, for a local Scout troop. It isn’t modelling, in the strict sense, and it DOES require you to be a little bit handy with carpentry, but it’s fairly quick and cheap. 

Any use? 

 

Patrick Lavoie posted:

I want to have the train spiral up the Mountain to an upper platform . If you know anybody that can help direct me on how to do that I would be super appreciate that!

Patrick, the plans in this topic might be helpful.
The OGR On-Line Forum       Train Forums
Hi-Rail, O27 and Traditional 3-Rail O Gauge
Trains IN The Tree - The Plans, by Bill Henning

Last edited by Susan Deats

I'm not going to say yes or no to your plans but there might be a viable alternative available.

Some years back a young man wanted to propose to his girlfriend and he sought the help of the SD3R's. He had arranged for the engagement ring with a proposal note to very slowly move then stop rig ht in front of her. Needless to say she answered in the affirmative.

Last edited by Doug W.

You live to far away or I would have traded construction work for a hair cut.

No need to over think this one. No need to use expensive material either. Once you figure out how high you want to go I might suggest using a combination of plywood and foam board. You should be able to get the grade and curves correct by a little trial and error. Then to finish it off use some plaster of paris.  You can shape that stuff to make the mountain look like you want.

You can finish it off with that fake snow that comes in a spray can like paint, I think they still make it.

Just remember to keep the grade so the train will not habe any problems climbing.

Sorry if my info sounds so plain but I'm thinking that you want a cool working project and not some complicated year long project. Good luck and I like your idea.

Disclaimer: I've never built anything but flat tables.  But I've read about "cookie cutter"-style benchwork.  Here's what I'm thinking: Cut a conical, spiral pattern in 3/8" plywood using a sawzall.  Anchor the outer start of the spiral to the lowest level, and "pull up" on the center, creating an instant mountain!  Heck, you might even be able to support the center of the spiral with a wire attached to the ceiling.

Of course you would still have to fill in the space between levels.  Something soft or even inflatable inserted from underneath would be a sneaky way to do that.  But at least the roadbed would be finished, and with a very smooth natural grade.  Just thinking aloud here.

 

Last edited by Ted S

Patrick, check out the Christmas engines in the MTH Ready to Run Catalog. I have and love my Polar Express berk, but would never consider running it on the tree layout. The MTH engines are PS3 with speed control. You will want that especially when going down. Also, plan to keep your train short and light. 

Patrick Lavoie posted:

Well on my way to completing Bill H’s version of a spiral Christmas tree had a friend who is a CNC engineer take bills design and tweak it a little bit added to it and created the beginning of this fantastic journey

WOW! You certainly are on your way. If you read the detail of Bill's build, you should you need a at least a couple of artificial trees worth of branches - the kind that are installed individually - perhaps three.

I took the grandchildren that year to Lansdale, PA  to see this tree on display. The grades are gentle enough that there is no problem with speed control. The Polar engine and 3 cars will be fine.

If you have not seen the videos, I can try to find them. 

I believe Bill may have published the "how-to" in OGR Magazine.

You can contact them easily through the forum on by calling the store.

Way to show the doubters!

By the way, the flat area on top is for another train - you need a higher ceiling for that. 

CW-80's wouldn't be my first choice but they will work just fine for what you're doing.  

The idea is to leave the ground or outside rails tied together as usual.  The center rail needs to be isolated/electrically insulated to create two circuits.  How you do that depends on the track system.   For old school tubular track you yank out a center pin and use a plastic pin.  For mth real track you tape over the connector under the rails.   Gargraves you cut the center rail to make a gap.  Not sure how you do this with lionel fast track.

I am sure someone can point you in the right direction if Google doesn't help. 

Amazed by your progress so far. Those cuts look perfect.   Did you have those cut on a water jet table?

This link of the manual for Fastrack block section may help explain the basic concept.

You can modify regular track to insulate one section of track to the next.

https://www.lionelsupport.com/...50FTBlockSection.pdf

Spiral UP tracks are block A, Down tracks are block B. 

I only jump in because I realize that time is of essence with this project. I am sure others can explain better/further.

 

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