Is there ANY way, commercial or otherwise, to have a truely removable track section?? Any kind of track.
I have an awkward bridge situation tjat I would like to have it either removable (Lift Out) or hinged on one end.)
Any and all ideas or opinions are welcome!! Also .... a VERRY HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL !!!
on both my home layout and my christas layout i have made removeable track sections by creating a piece of tubular track with pins on bothe ends and then used a dremel to create a grove in the track it will fit into. if the two tracks on the end are secured correctly, you can just push the removeable track into place and the lift it out with a screwdriver. also if the ends get looose you can tighten with long nosed pliers...let me know, i can post a few pics if need be.
Put track pins into the track that is to remain in place. Remove any track pins from the track to be lifted out. Open up the ends of those rails with a screwdriver from below. Flatten the sides of the rails, from the railhead all the way down to the ends of the flanges, to form an inverted-V shape with a rounded apex leftover from the top of the railhead. Use long-nosed pliers for this to be sure that the metal is flat on either side for the full depth that the stationary track pin will penetrate.
Bob Nelson
Just to add to what has been mentioned, if you are using this with a bridge, make sure that the entire weight of the bridge, etc. is not on the track pins. You do want to make sure you get good contact at the pins/lift out section, however, you do not want all the weight of a bridge, engine, etc. on the pins. I believe Jim Barret has a OGR video on how to build a lift out bridge.
Dennis
TCA#09-63805
Dennis is right about that. It is a good idea to have a few inches of free rail at the end of the bridge so that the rails can touch the pins and then deflect a little. You can arrange the bridge support so that the bridge track is perfectly level with the stationary track, then bend the loose rail ends down just a little so that the pins put a little force on them to push them up to level.
Great advise! Quick, too. That is about what I was thinking. I will now proceed to mangle a few sections of track.
Much appreciation!
T would love to see pix of this!
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