Looking for help and ideas on this subject. My door entrance is a problem for my layout. I don't want to duck under the track work. Any links or articles, or better yet your expierences.
Thanks
Scott
Welcome to the forums...
I just typed, "lift-outs," into the Search block at the bottom of the page, and got six pages of hits. If you have any specific questions after looking over the available data, by all means post them.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
I built my lift-out from a piece of 3/4" plywood, with the same material, cut into "U"-shapes, used to hold the bridge in proper alignment. These pieces were fastened to the layout facia with screws. I hung the door to the room so that it opens out, but this should work no matter which way the door swings.
In the first photo, you can see the lift-out leaning against the layout, at right. The wire visible is equipped with a 5-prong plug, for powering the lift-out. Part of one of the "U"-shaped brackets is visible at the bottom right of the photo:
Here's the other side of the aisle, with the U-shaped bracket visible at the lower left corner of the photo. The black circular object to the right of the bracket is the female receptacle for the 5-prong plug.
I built and installed the liftout, then installed the track as a continuous section from the layout on one side to that on the other. After deciding where the cuts in the rail should be made, I carefully spiked the rails and ties as required, then made the cuts with a cut-off disk in my Dremel. The lift-out has to be lifted or lowered straight up or down, and kept reasonably level to avoid bashing the protruding rail ends on the lift-out, but with about 15 years in use, I've had no problems so far.
The detail pictures show the way that the rails and ties were spiked to keep everything in proper alignment, especially necessary with the continuous curve.
The 5-prong plug provides power for the lift out, and also for sections of track on either side of the lift-out, so when the plug is out, the bridge and the approach tracks on either side are dead. I ran a pair of wires over the doorway to the approach tracks on the opposite side of the aisle. In the diagram, the 1" connector sections were added for someone who didn't want the rail ends on the bridge to protrude - they're held in place by rail joiners, which sound to me to be an added nuisance. By the way, the 5th prong on the plug ensures that the plug can only be inserted the correct way. Obviously, the "safety section" can be made as long or short as you need it to be.
Wayne
I went with a swinging bridge, rather than a liftout. Using 3/8" Masonite spline as the subroadbed, I could create a curved, double-track bridge that closely follows the arc of the door:
As you can see, it pulls away from the door closer to the wall, but with the door open, there's only about an inch of clearance, to maximize my space. The gate is hung with a piano hinge (for strength) to a well-braced 4x4. At the other end (the "flying end" if you will), the gate rides on a shelf that ties solidly to the benchwork.
I'm still finishing up benchwork, so I don't yet have track down, but I put in some alignment marks, and with repeated use, they're still true to the limits of my ability to measure...
For the record, this took me a total of about four hours to build (in three sessions to allow glue to dry), including the "help" I got from my two-year old assistant (seen in the lower left, hiding behind my thumb...)
I don't know if this is quite what you're looking for, but I figure it can't hurt to throw the idea out there...
Peter
Raised on the Erie Lackawanna Mainline- Supt. of the Black River Transfer & Terminal R.R.
Lift out bridge is good, I've one:
forgotten:
And I was lucky.
You see, some saftey device would be useful.
With inserted bridge:
More details at my room site.
Wolfgang
Pueblo & Salt Lake RR
Come to us http://www.westportterminal.de my videos my blog
Dear Doctorwayne
I really like the way you explained your project, but I really really like the way that you made safety sections on both sides and the wiring of the whole thing. Makes it almost fool proof. I will not say it is fool proof because there is someone some where that could mess it up. But it is the best example of a lift-out I have seen so far with all the safety concerns pointed out and addressed. I myself will be addressing this project shortly on my own layout. Thanks for posting.
Johnnny_reb Once a word is spoken it can not be unspoken!
My Train Page My Photobucket Page My YouTube Channel
Actually, the safety sections as outlined in the wiring diagram were used on a previous layout, but not here: I didn't bother, although it would be an easy feature to add at any time. In my second photo, the black area is all staging, with only the lowest track heading towards the lift-out. The other track running off the turnout near the aisle is for a run-through track (for continuous running when the grandkids want to run trains) - otherwise, it's seldom used.
That turnout is a powering-routing one, so that lower staging track is only powered when the turnout is aligned for it. I was running a train in another part of the room one day, and thought that it didn't sound quite right. I stopped it, looked it over and saw nothing wrong, so resumed running. It still sounded like another train was running, though, so I checked to ensure that all power switches were off to the tracks where there were other locos. (I'm running DC) Unfortunately, on my previous operating session, I had run the train that was parked on that staging track, and an un-named dummy of a switchman forgot to close the switch. The next sound that I heard was that of one of my modified Bachmann Consolidations hitting the concrete floor, about 3' below. Dangling over the abyss was the second loco in the consist, another 2-8-0. The only thing that had prevented it from falling was the weight of the 100 ounce train behind it - once the drivers had lifted from the track, the train was unable to move. Surprisingly, the only damage to the fallen loco was that the wires were pulled from one of the plugs connecting the loco and tender, and the drawbar pin on the tender was snapped off. Both problems were easily fixed, and the loco runs fine. I didn't even have to touch-up the paint. She's seen here after the mishap:
I won't offer suggestions. Mine was a hinged drop down bridge. Often worked great, often caused derailments and the crucial spot. I wonder if there is such a thing as a trouble free lift out????
I speak in past tense because I have torn it out, and shall try try again.