Hey Folks,
I have two questions for you all:
The situation I am dealing with is this. I have 57" of space on a top shelf that I can build a layout (finally! been waiting 21 years for this). Immediately to the right of this shelf is a door that swings into a room. I need a folded extension that allows me to store the additonal 39" swung down and laying vertically against the side of the desk.
I appreciate any help :) If you need more information please let me know.
So this drop section, when folded up into position would be in front of the door?
Will you be using the door to support it?
If you are, make sure you can lock the door, once the track is folded up into position, and nobody can open the door it from the other side.
Other than that, it would have to align up with the excisting layout, just like a section that folds up for operation.
As far as how many tracks, as many as you want, but remember a somewhat precise method for the tracks to align would be critical.
Mike.
My You Tube
arvanlaaDoes anyone have information on how one would make a fold DOWN extension for a layout?
I made a two-track "drop-down" passage way bridge for my layout.
DB_3 by Edmund, on Flickr
As Mike points out, you need to make a way to keep the rails in alignment. I used hardened steel dowel pins but there are other methods.
DB_6 by Edmund, on Flickr
DB_8 by Edmund, on Flickr
DB_5 by Edmund, on Flickr
The dog-point set screws can be used to make fine adjustments to the level of the mating rails. The dowel pins keep things in lateral alignment. In 25 years I've never had to make very many adjustments.
Good Luck, ed
mbinsewi So this drop section, when folded up into position would be in front of the door?
Depending on your positioning lol. If you are in the room the layout will be in, then yes it would be infront of the door in the way of the door opening.
mbinsewi Will you be using the door to support it?
No. The idea will be to support it with legs on the floor or against the far wall with the door closed. If I support it on the wall, I will need a lock for the door so my 3 year does bust in while the extension is down :P
I think I would go with a lift-off section as anything hinged tends to get slop in it after a while and it sounds like it will be moving a lot. If you insist going with a hinged setup use a very good quality piano hinge and put glue in the screw holes before you put the screws in. I use Epoxy.
Use some sort of plug to carry the power across if you build a lift-off type. I built something similar once and used angle iron on the ends of the lift-off system to ensure a perfect vertical fit every time. I had two steel pins go down into the angle iron to prevent horizontal movement.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
gmpullman I made a two-track "drop-down" passage way bridge for my layout. DB_3 by Edmund, on Flickr As Mike points out, you need to make a way to keep the rails in alignment. I used hardened steel dowel pins but there are other methods. DB_6 by Edmund, on Flickr DB_8 by Edmund, on Flickr DB_5 by Edmund, on Flickr The dog-point set screws can be used to make fine adjustments to the level of the mating rails. The dowel pins keep things in lateral alignment. In 25 years I've never had to make very many adjustments. Good Luck, ed
This is great Ed thank you for posting this along with all the photos from different angles. It really helps :) The dog point set screw is a fantastic idea! I would have never thought of that. How does that work in relation to the machine handle? I am assuming that is used for securing the bridge to the other side of the layout?
arvanlaaHow does that work in relation to the machine handle? I am assuming that is used for securing the bridge to the other side of the layout?
Yes, there is a 5/16-18 screw threaded through the upper plate which acts as the stud for the machine handle to thread on to.
DB_1 by Edmund, on Flickr
The bridge itself is two lengths of 1 x 4 poplar with a dado groove at the bottom which accepts the furniture grade, maybe 9-ply, plywood roadbed base. Very stable and sturdy.
My bridge doesn't sit at a true 90° angle but has about a five-degree or so angle to it. I made a solid aluminum "wedge" that the heavy-duty hinge is anchored to. This, in turn is secured to a hardwood board which is lag-screwed into the studs of the adjoining wall.
Sounds like a lot of work but, the proof's in the operation. It is easy to drop down and in my case anyway, it is tucked out of the way, and has been very dependable. I have the track and rail ends secured with a few extra spikes and I believe I brushed on a little ACC super-glue just to give it an extra hold.
DB_4 by Edmund, on Flickr
Good Luck, Ed
BATMAN, thank you for your input. I think I will have to go with a hinge as my floors are not leveled (yay having a 140 year old home) and trying to mate the layout on two axis rather than one may prove to be difficult. The epoxy and high quality hinges are good points and ones that I will definitely be implementing.
Another question for you all... where the track breaks, does it have to be a sectional of track that is running perpendicular to the end of the layout? Can it be a straight section of track that is running at an angle? Can it be a curved piece of track? I would imagine the last two types of track would have problems aligning together when the two sections mate. Maybe they would prove impossible to mate cleanly? Opinions would be welcome.
One other thing I forgot to mention is that this section will be 18" deep. I was hoping to have it do more than just be a fiddle yard.
arvanlaaAnother question for you all... where the track breaks, does it have to be a sectional of track that is running perpendicular to the end of the layout? Can it be a straight section of track that is running at an angle? Can it be a curved piece of track? I would imagine the last two types of track would have problems aligning together when the two sections mate. Maybe they would prove impossible to mate cleanly? Opinions would be welcome.
I think it could be any track, just more precise layout would needed so they match perfectly when folded in place.
I think if I was to try something like this, I would build the shelf, hinge it and get the folding part figured out, and in place, then I would lay the track I wanted, and cut the track right along the seam where the shelf meets the folding section, and work out any particular connection problems from there.
You can make it as simple or as challenging as you want.
As far what to do with the surface of the folding shelf, and it's purpose, once again, any thing you want.
Everything will have to be glued and fastened down securely to hold up and withstand the folding operation. Scenery, structures, etc., etc.
You could even include a backdrop, with carefull planning.
I've got a lift off section, bridged for power with plugs. I would recommend running the wires over the door frame in your case. Plugs are a nuisance.
A fold-down can be trickier than a fold-up, because the mating track ends must be accounted for.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Brent, earlier, suggested abandoning the hinged idea and to go with a simple lift-out. To date, I have a swing up in my history, the current arrangement, a swing down, and I had a lift-out on my last layout. The latter was by far the easiest to construct and the easiest to adjust to changing conditions when I found rail heights were getting inconsistent across the various gaps.
A hinge only has so much 'give'. After that, you're in trouble. So, it has to be a very sturdy, high quality arrangement that gives reliable operation across a range of temps and humidity and of wood shrinkage or expansion. It can be done, but I am a basically hurried and lazy sod who does the minimum I can get away with. Why I am in this vexatious hobby is anyone's guess let alone mine.
But, I figured out that the liftout can have widely variable vertical and lateral adjustment, mostly vertical. You can use cams made of smooth wood to keep the falling bridge aligned laterally. But vertical is more challenging. So, I made mine rest on four half-inch wood screws driven partway into the abutments on either side of the gap, one under each track. I would make minor height adjustments to each screw and get excellent alignment. I also beveled the 16 rail ends involved
My layout is partially double-decked, so I have two lift-outs at the entrance to the room...
I used 3/4" plywood to fabricate the support brackets, then cut the ends of the lift-out sections to fit snugly into them. The lift-outs are not interchangeable.
Next, with the lift-outs in place, I layed flex track from the layout, on the left, top and bottom, to the staging areas on the right, also top and bottom.After running trains across several times, forwards and backwards, I used a cut-off disc in a motor tool to cut the rails so that none of them on either side of the aisle protruded beyond the edge of the layout. Otherwise, someone walking into the room would eventually snag their clothing on the rail, making a mess of both track and clothing....
This is the track on the layout side of the lower level....
...and across the aisle, in staging, its continuation...
This is the layout-end of the lower lift-out...
...and with the lower lift-out in-place...
I use a plug to power each lift-out, although have not bothered to include dead sections of track, also controlled by the plug, on either side of the aisle when the lift-outs are lifted-out....
Wayne
A few of the MRVP videos show circuit board ties soldered to the bitter end of the rails and nailed to whatever serves as roadbed. None of the forum members seem to do it that way.
Watching and listening for future reference.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
It seems that each person with a liftout bridge has a layout connection at both ends. Therefore, the edges of the liftout will be supported by benchwork. In my case, since I have a shelf layout, which means one end is attached to the benchwork and the other end, I have three options:
Does anyone have any warnings or considerations that I should know about any of the the above three options?
On the side of the door opposite that where your layout is located, is there room for more layout beyond the area occupied by the door?If so, you could add whatever benchwork would fit it that area, then have the removeable/repositionable connection supported at both ends.
If there's little-to-no room for more fixed layout, then you'll need a support of some type beyond the door opening. My choice would be a sturdy bracket attached to a wall stud, in which case you'd likely need to make the extension across the doorway as either a lift-up or a lift-out.
I purposely hung the door to my layout room so that it opened into the access hallway, not into the layout room. If you can change yours, it would at least eliminate the hazard of the door being unexpectedly opened, and damaging the extension or the trains on it.Another option might be to put the extension on a wheeled section of layout that could be stored elsewhere in the room when not in use. Of course, the door opening into the room would remain a hazard.
I can't visualize what the room arrangement is. Sorry. That said, I would be leary of the door opening inward, especially with a lock to keep people out. That doesn't sound particularly safe. It would only be a matter of time before one of the kids gets themselves locked in without you knowing it. Or you fall down and can't get up.
Cannot the door be rehinged to open outward?
When I expanded my layout, I needed a way to dropdown a section of the layout to be able to reach the holding tracks behind the layout. I used cabinet hinges underneath the dropdown section and attached to the edge of the layout. I installed and ballasted the track across the dropdown. Each end has wooden dowels to align the section. Once the ballast has hardened, I then make angle cuts in the receiving end of the section. Make sure that the angles slope down towards the stationary approach, so that when you raise it into place there is no interference with the mating rails. I routed power to the dropdown section using connectors. I then routed power back to the approaches on either side from the dropdown section. Once the connector is unplugged, power to the approaches is shut off. The link below, is to a YouTube video I made. Towards the end of the video, you can see the connector.
Dropdown section
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR