may i suggest a gaurd rail or a trap door by that, um, opening (would it be considered a floor opening or a roof openging). if you went the trap door route then you could something cool like make it out of fiberglass (the clothe method that custom car audio makers use to make fiberglass sub boxes), and then some sort of pulley system that lifts it as the stairs are lowered. or just tie it into your layout by having a dedicated track and some trains that move down a track and actually pull it up. fiberglass is light, some decent string/rope (enough to hold up the weight of the door), and pulley set up that brings the string/rope level to the track so that way it doesn't just pick up the back end of your locos. i like the train idea best, but mostly because i realized with my first one the trap door would remain open unless you raised the stairs back up and if you did that well then you wouldn't need that trap door. or get a thick glass sheet and set over the hole so you can mess with people and make it look like you're floating over the stair hole. or a good joke when you tell them to come on up .
Hi guys
Thanks for the comments. OK.... once last thing. (This is the problem with now knowing how to post pictures..... you never know when to stop!) Under the lower leverl I'm putting in a couple of slide drawers between the rafters. I used the extending sliders that you can get for kitchen drawer units. The photo is the first one that carries my NCE 5amp PRO and power pack transformer. It's handy because it slides out if you need to get at it and then out of the way so you can stand back and fall straight down that hatchway (Bill!)
Anyway.... last picture for now, promise.
Barry
Just be careful when you step back to admire your work. Thats dedication man! BILL
Barry,
Clever way of building within the roof trusses. Your lucky to have so much center area, most trusses usually are rather tight. Nice job.
Modeling B&O- Chessie Bob K. www.ssmrc.org
Hi
Well there is one good thing about building in the loft in that access is through the ceiling hatch. So, when getting up into the loft you are in the middle of the layout. I've added a couple of pictures that show the ladder up and then in the loft itself. Of course, moving lumber up and down can be a pain! By the way, I routered the ends of each track section to fit onto each other and bolted each section together. Each section is then bolted to the uprights with coach bolts.
Finaly getting the sizing of photos in posts too!
Cheers
Simply Brilliant.
One question - how do you access the layout? from the center? or is there a lift out/duckunder?
I'm trying to model 1956, not live in it.
With about 1% grade you did a good choice. You can run long trains. I've 1.6% and run 25 cars with two engines without problems.
Wolfgang
Pueblo & Salt Lake RR
Come to us http://www.westportterminal.de my videos my blog
Well, thanks to the many guys in this forum who have helped with info about posting pictures, you should (hopefully) see 2 pictures of where I am with my new HO layout. My layout is 10' by 15' and is in the loft so I have to contend with a sloping roof and support beams. To take advantage of the space and (because it's a neat plan) I wanted to build it in it as a 2 level design. As I have no room for a helix, I have built the climb around the perimeter. Of course, doing this means that I have to move inward as the track climbs upward. Anyway, here's how it's looking. I anchored the risers to uprights using coach bolts or threaded rod. It's very sturdy and the climb is 0.95% according to the calculations.