Gradient issues...

Okay, lets talk gradients...

Now since the go ahead with the present plan it has incorporated two ramps to bring trains down onto a lower level board to extend the run within the shed on wet weather days. These gradients have only ever seen the Class 350s successfully run up and down them with all other locos struggling and stalling on them.

The solution seemed to be using a product from a company called DCC Concepts which was called Powerbase. The idea behind Powerbase is to basically fit metal sheets underneath the track and a set of strong magnets are attached to the base of the loco, the idea is that on the gradient the magnets will anchor the loco wheels to the track thanks to the metal under them, therefore giving additional traction to the wheels and helping to power the loco up the hill.

Well, thats the idea...

Having watched the YouTube videos and being suitably impressed by results seen, I was pleased to receive a starter pack of Powerbase items as a birthday present from my Sister and at the earliest opportunity I headed to the shed to start retro-fitting my existing ramps, no mean feat as a brand new ramp had to be constructed and put in place first before Powerbase could be fitted.

Following the instructions, the metal sheets were correctly spaced and fixed in place. The track was then re-laid and I then turned my attention to attaching the magnets to my locos. I chose the Class 91 East Coast livery loco and the Class 390 Pendolino Power Car as both have had particular issues with the ramps. With magnets in place and Powerbase in place, testing began...

Now, on previous attempts before Powerbase neither loco would make it to the top, so how would they fare now??

...Well, im sad to report no better, in fact now all trains going up the ramp nearest the windows now seem to want to derail themselves and neither the Pendolino or the Class 91 would reach the top of the gradient with either 4 or 5 coaches behind them respectively.

So, I`m either going to have to have a major re-think over the future of the gradients on the layout or im going to have to tinker around with the ramps and Powerbase a bit more to give it a proper chance to work and sort out the derailing problem too.

More on this soon...

Meanwhile - the Hi-Speed line along side the wall and shrubbery previously added has seen some OHE masts added and wires loosely hung on them, adding further scenic quality to this area of the layout.

Here is the Gallery...