Under the Table Staging and Turnarounds

[Anonymous]

Who does it
How do you do it
Tell me lots of stuff!![soapbox][soapbox][soapbox][soapbox][soapbox][soapbox][soapbox][soapbox][soapbox][#wstupid]

[cacole]

Stuff, stuff, stuff, stuff -- is that enough stuff?

Seriously, though, I have a friend who is in the process of doing that right now on his home layout. He's going to use X10 video cameras so he can see the trains in the under-layout staging yard on a video monitor. His lead track to the yard is approximately 8 feet long and descends at an approximate 2 percent grade. The under layout portion of the yard is going to be 10 tracks, each 20 feet long. There will be about 5 inches of clearance between the track and the bottom of the layout, so it is going to be very dark under there. The X10 cameras are supposed to function under very low light conditions, since they were sold as surveillance cameras. He'll have a video switch box to select between the different cameras and follow the train's progress as it enters or departs the makeup yard area, and watch for derailments or other problems.
.

[Anonymous]

How does he access it if there is a problem?

[Jacktal]

I have such a project in mind for a future layout,as it seems I'll never have much space to work with.I've been collecting ideas here and there,mostly on this forum by the way,and also given it a lot of thoughts so far.

An under the table staging area has many appealing points in my mind.First,one could set a track or two for continuous running,thus creating the "coming from/going to" effect,with the only concern being minimum curve radius and no intersections.Trains would run on a flat surface(no grades) on sort of a shelf under the outer edge of the layout.

The shelf could be made deep enough to accomodate a few static staging tracks on one or more side(s) of the layout and could be accessed by what I call an external helix around the layout edges.Being supported from the under layout structures,the whole shelf would be visible and accessible,so that any derailment could be easily handled.I'm thinking of a simple net that would prevent any derailed stock from crashing on the floor.Too bad for fascia,but this is a price to pay I guess.

Having cameras to be able to use the middle portion of the "underground" is certainly interesting but access is still a problem.My idea is to have elements of the scenery(fields,park,pond,big buildings or whatever) built on removeable sections so that rolling stock could be handled easily.

I know,this adds considerably to the workbench complexity and has to be carefully planned right from the start of construction but I don't think there is a better way to have big time railroading in limited space.Crazy idea?May be...What do you think?

[dehusman]

I have under the layout staging and a return loop. Key design features are:
1. Keep switches close to the edge for easier maintenance.
2. KISS (keep it simple, stupid). Very simple track plans, no complicated switchwork, very straight forward operation.
3. Vertical clearance. You need enough room to reach in with your arm and lift a car over another standing car on a track. And you have to take into consideration the thickness of the track, roadbed, supports, under the table switch machines or motors and wires too.
4. Access. If you make it too inaccessible disaster will definately strike right there. Use lift off's , pop ups and access doors in the fascia to make sure you can reach into every part of the hidden trackage.
5. Detectors and remote switches. Detectors that tell you where the trains are is a big plus. Powered switches with very simple controls ( the best are those that reliably route the switches for one track with one button or switch).

Dave H.

[ClinchValleySD40]

Like Dave says, keep it as simple as possible. I have two (different levels) of staging under my benchwork, railhead to railhead distance on each is 12" which I consider the minimum for access. You can see some photos done about a year ago on the link in my signature. Each staging track holds two trains (serial staging) and each level has a reverse loop.

[aluesch]

I have four hidden stations with 8 tracks each, similar to Dave's description. They represent the end of the line on a dog bone layout. I use Zimo-DCC and STP software. This allows the automation of those stations. All train movements can be observed on screen, including their locations (addresses). Trains will automatically be guided in and out of the station at proper speed reductions. The track power will be turned off once the train reached its stop in the station. Each train can of course still be accessed manually.

Regards,
Art
http://www.mrsonline.net/

[Anonymous]

my layout will include a fiddle yard under the layout, but the layout is on a shelf so accesse is not a problem. I will use a traverser or cassets so turnouts will not be a problem.[2c]