OK, so there's something to be said for quality of construction. After testing the Berlin Branch at a nominal 2% grade and not seeing any significant improvement, I took out the line altogether. I picked up a Woodland Scenics 2% Incline Set. For those that haven't seen these, it's a steady 2% grade cut out of white foam in 2' long sections.

To make the 2% grade work, I'm going to have to put a slight incline on the mainline deck as well to get over it. Right now I have about 1.5" to 2" clearance depending on exactly where I cross over the Berlin Branch. I felt this was a reasonable compromise.

The last change I made was in the geometry of the branch itself. It's now a constant 28" radius, and instead of going through an 'S' curve (with a turnout to be between the reverse curve), it has a much longer straight section with a curve at the base of the hill. I didn't want to pull up the roadbed in the yard, so it took a little bit of creativity to rework the yard throat.

OK, I've made a few adjustments to the Berlin branch track, and I can also raise the upper deck slightly. Clearance will be below the recommended heights for a short section, but seems to work with all of my equipment. This reduces the grade to below 3%.

But the 44-tonner can now pull 3 cars, but 2 is still better. So I tested the 44-tonner on the helix. The helix is about a 2% grade, and even then the 44-tonner can only manage 4 cars with effort. 3 is better. So it appears that with the 44-tonners with a grade I'm looking at 2-3 cars max. I'll see what I can do to add weight, but I'm also still planning on adding sound decoders so there won't be much room.

The Athearn RS-3s pulled 6 cars on the helix, 10 when double-headed. That should be OK for the freights, but I'd like to get a couple more if I can. I need to order the Reboxx Exxact Socket reamer. That will ensure all of the cars are as free-rolling as possible. I haven't checked the gauge on the cars/locomotives yet either. So I may be able to make 3 cars reliable with the 44-tonner, and 12-15 cars for the double-headed freights.

OK, after a little modification I've measured the Berlin branch at a 3.9ish % grade, and the part that ties into the helix will be about a 3.5ish % grade. With the curves it's enough to make it difficult for the locomotives to get a train up the grades.

I tested the Athearn RS-3s. First of all, I didn't particularly like the sound of the motor. I tried two of them and they sound the same. So I'll have to see if one of my modeling buddies can help with optimizing and maintaining them. They had trouble with 5 cars.

An Atlas RS-1 could pull 9 cars, but struggled up a portion of it (obviously the grade isn't even, so I've got to work on that as well. That might help). The Holyoke freights will come up through this section of the layout, so the RS-3 will need to be able to get up that portion.

But the biggest problem is that the most frequent locomotive to use this trackage will be the 44-tonner. And the best it could manage was 2 cars. In fact, when I had 5 cars on it and helped it get partially up, the weight of the cars was enough that they pulled it back down the hill.

Well, it's been a little while since my last update. Progress has continued, if a bit slowly.

The Proto Meet was great. There are plenty of reports online, so I won't go into great detail. I did bring a couple of unfinished models; the NE-5, NE-6 and Tichy War Emergency Gondola upgrades. Nothing really spectacular, but at least I managed to bring something.

I had a number of guys over for a quick layout tour and dinner on Saturday night. The break is short, and I couldn't have done it at all without Bill Schneider and Chris Adams' help. Bill and I prepped dinner, but he did all the cooking. And while I was running up and downstairs to welcome people at the door, Chris gave people a tour of the layout room. Anyway, next year will be better organized, and the layout will be on the Sunday tours.