I built a liftoff section.
It's about 3 feet long, and the whole thing is built of pink foam with masonite edges and base for protection and appearance. The construction makes it very light. I used automotive connectors at each end to supply power and provide for dead zones when the bridge is not in place.
I don't have to get behind this very often, though, and when I do I just duck under it. In this situation, that's the easiest solution and I save lifting the bridge off for those times when I need to be going back and forth frequently.
For the OP's situation, I would go with a swing gate because you'll be going through it a lot.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I chose to make mine a liftout section.
This is the liftout section. I used strips of paneling to 1) hide the support bracing and to create a barrier to keep any derailments from taking the plunge to the floor.
It uses dowels to aid in alignment when putting it back in place.
Since my basement has exposed beams, I attached a couple of 1/4" strips across a couple of the beams. The liftout section slides up and rests on the strips to keep it out of the way when I remove it.
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
Though I haven't built one yet, I plan to and have looked at several styles.
I plan to do a tip up. Yes, as mentioned above, scenery on it may be slightly limited, but hills and fields can be on them, if planned properly. The simplist one I have seen had the two hinges screwed to the surface of the layout, putting the hinge point above the surface. The club layout moved around from show to show and it dosen't seem to effect the performance.
Over the hinges they had used burlap, but I think other materials, maybe even the dreaded grass mat, would work. The entire seam was covered, theirs looking like a plowed field, but could easily have been a hay field. As long as hills don't hit when they are lifted, you can have changes in ground elevations.
I prefer the tip up gate because: I don't have room for a swing gate. A lift out needs a place to be placed. A drop down exposes track and other scenic elements are exposed to passing legs, far below eye level, thus easily knocked off. The one thing to be careful of is if you plan to leave it in the up position, you need a secure way to hitch it up.
Just my thoughts.
Good luck,
Richard
I built the track on the side of a door for entrace to a staging yard with success. I also built a lift out in another location and it will be soon replaced with a similar set-up. The main thing with a gate is that it needs to be very stable and only marginally affected by changes caused by humidity.
This gentleman can sell you about any kind of gate, lift or just the parts to fabricate your own. I would check this out if you feel a little challenged by the carpentry: http://www.engineeredlayoutsystems.com/
Victor A. Baird
Fort Wayne, Indiana
If my doughnut layout plan was such that I could limit and simplify trackage at the access point, I might have tried a gate. However, the plan was such that the the track was neither limited nor simple, and I didn't want to change it. Construction and maintenance of alignment promised to be very difficult. So duck-under was my choice: 3-1/2 years later, I have no regrets.
Top of the layout is 49-3/4 inches above the floor; duck-under clearance is 45-1/2 inches. I determined ahead of time by test that I could stoop under that opening with relative ease and if ever necessary, I can sit in a small secretarial chair and easily roll through. The bottom edges of the 1x4 perimeter benchwork frame are cushioned with foam pipe insulation (an idea borrowed from a gate design by another). Adjacent to the opening on either side are 2 lateral leg braces, also cushioned, that I can lean on as railings as I stoop through. These are an immense help to prevent back strain. I am 80 years old, 5'-9" and frequently through that duck-under.
If you can physically manage it, a high duck-under is by far the simplest solution both during construction and during operations.
Dante
P.S. I am not plump but not skinny, either, at 180#.
Lift out. Make it light, but stable. It should rest, like real bridges, on bridge shoes.
The bridge shoes should be wood screws with wires track feeders for the bridge rails soldered to their shanks. The screw heads sit on metal brackets that are electrically connected to the bus close to them. If the rail heads don't seem to quite meet nicely from session to session, just back off or turn in the appropriate screw.
It was somewhat involved to build it, but unlike the reported drawbacks from others, all I had to do was to enter the layout, turn, grab the lift-out, set it into place, run my fingers over the eight gaps (it was double tracked) to verify the height across the gap, and reach for the power switch. Acquire an engine on the throttle, and I was in business. No biggee.
This is the whole bridge in place. Literally a five second insertion into its space is all it ever took.
A few years ago, another group at a train show we participated in paid tribute to that cartoon.
And yes, it is right side up when viewed in any pohot editor on my computer, but appears sideways in IE, right side up in Chrome, but it is sideways pasted here in the editor (in Chrome). Very annoying.
Edit - fixed it. Opened in Paint (where it looks right side up), made no changes, just saved it. Now it looks ok.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Tyler,
I have a swing gate and a lift out as well as a duckunder. The swing gate is well documented in this thread.
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/11/t/127351.aspx
The one thing I would change if I could would be to have the gate open to parallel to the bench work to make it easier to leave it open.
The lift out is used infrequently and works well. the duck under is a 60" and works well.
Guy
see stuff at: the Willoughby Line Site
charlie9 I have tried several things throughout the years. Lift up, drop down, swing in, swing out. etc. etc. My limited skills have taught me that you only need to know two words. Duck under. Duck under. Duck under. Charlie
I have tried several things throughout the years. Lift up, drop down, swing in, swing out. etc. etc. My limited skills have taught me that you only need to know two words. Duck under. Duck under. Duck under.
Charlie
Wouldn't be so simple if you're about as flexible as a ceramic culvert!
Many years ago, a feature layout was drawn with a duckunder. The staff commissioned a cartoon where the 'Duck under' was swimming around in a washbasin full of water.
Another option is the bascule bridge (vertical-swing gate.) That way the horizontal alignment is easily maintained. If the bridge swings up, the loose end can make a safe landing on a solid abutment.
No matter what kind of movable/removable track you arrange, you should interlock track power in such a way that no locomotive will ever get within a train length of the abyss. As no less a person than John Armstrong discovered, it's possible to back into the hole where the bridge should be.
Chuck (whose drawbridge became a cassette dock)
I have a swing gate. It opens and closes easily because it is cut at an angle.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
I had a lift out section on a layout once. Never again.
For one, it turns into a duckunder. For two, it adds to "set up time" when you want to run trains and requires somewhat more complex electrical connections. For three, you have two connections that require vertical motion, which means its easier to damage scenery and track at those points when you're dropping the lift out into place.
Should I ever need to do this again, I'll opt for a swinging gate for a couple reasons:
1) because the gate never moves vertically, you don't get the opportunity to damage things as easily. Plus, because it stays level, you can actually USE the space on the gate. Like...scenery and stuff!
2) Simplified electricals. You only need one gap in the wiring (the latch side) because you can run longer connections to the hinge side.
3) Its literally "opening and closing a door' when it comes to the "set up" time, unlike "dropping a leaf in the table" that is a bit of a hassle.
LION was looking for that duck under the layout, but him never found the duck.Maybe someone else ate him. Pitty, I always wanted a nice duck dinner.
ROAP
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
I built a lift out for my current layout, and have never done a swing gate, so I can only offer one perspective with some assumptions on the other. The lift out I made was simple to make. The simplicity of it allowed me to complete it and move on in a much shorter timeframe than what I can imagine a reliable swing gate would take. Wiring for it is similar I'm sure to that of a swing gate. Both need to be properly done in order to assure that the tracks always line up properly at a rather critical location on the layout. Nobody wants to watch their prized possessions fall to the floor due to a track misalignment. Overall, I am happy with my lift out section, but there are some drawbacks. First of all, if you want to have it open for any longer than simply passing through it, you have to have somewhere to put it close enough to be convenient. Second, you have to handle it a lot when lifting out from one side, entering the layout, and trying to place it in the correct position from the other side. Lastly, I've noticed that if I leave it out for a couple of days or more, it doesn't like to go back in as easily the first couple of times. The fit keeps just fine though if I leave it in. In the case of a swing gate, I can see where it could help to eliminate many of these issues, but at a time cost for construction. In my same situation, were I to do it over again, I would still go with a lift out for all the positive reasons mentioned, but I would be tempted to try a swing gate for comparison some time on another layout if the track plan dictated a need for such a situation.
Mike
I have tracks crossing the door at 4 different elevations so the swing gate was the only option for me. Mine is built on a curve so I came up with an airplane wing type of construction. I cut the 4" wide subroadbed ribs out of pieces of 2X12 and made the skin out of a piece of 3/8" plywood. My original plan was to laminate 2 pieces of the 3/8" together but after attaching it to the ribs I realized it was quite strong enough.
In any case, I would eliminate the lift-out from consideration for a main entrance to the room. The operation of it, and finding someplace to put it make it far too inconvenient for an area with regular traffic. I would only use a lift out in a spot where only occasional access is required. This leaves you with the choice of swing in/out or up/down.
The most important consideration IMO is going to be where to put the hinge. Look at how the section will rotate on the hinge and think about where edges would bind. If you put the hinge on the edge of a 4" section with a 90 degree cut across the gap it won't swing because the back of the swing section will rub against the front of the fixed section. Better woodworkers than me have used curved cuts to avoid this issue. My ribs are cut at a 45 degree angle. The hinge location usually makes a drop section a better choice than a lift. On the lift, the hinge point would need to be above the track level which makes it difficult to hide.
The other thing I did was to build the swing gate first since it was the most difficult. Then I matched the fixed sections to it.
I have the right to remain silent. By posting here I have given up that right and accept that anything I say can and will be used as evidence to critique me.
Lift up, or Lift Out. Is difference, ewe know.
As for lift out, all well and good, may be easier to build, but where will you put it after you have lifted it out? That is what the LION wants to know. Will you squish existing sceneery, or will you put it where some beast will trip over it?
Ah the logistics of building a railroad. LION would keep it simple. Have a set of pullies, open the door, the pullies lift the section out of the way. Colse the door and it comes back down again. Hey! Rube Goldberg could not have done it better.
Or just opt for a swing gate.
ROAR
I am starting the construction of a new layout (HO scale, around the walls) in a 14 x 10 room and I'm debating about constructing a lift out section or a swing gate (as I have the room for the gate).
The section will be approximately 3 feet long on a 30 degree angle. The area has to be on an angle due to a small indent in the room where the door is. There will be two tracks over the area as a double main line, both running straight over this section. The lift out or swing gate will be located at the main entrance to the room and therefore used by those viewing the layout or myself on a regular basis.
I have done some research and could basically flip a coin to decide at this point. I also read the comments related to another discussion in the forum titled 'Lift Out / Swing Gate Bridges for Model Railroad Club' however this was posted in 2012.
I am looking for up to date information from those of you who have constructed either a lift out section or a swing gate. What are the positives and negatives to the construction and operation? What were some obstacles you faced and lessons learned? I've watched many videos online for both however it would be nice to interact with those of you who have built one or the other.
I'm viewing this as a daunting task ahead of me in the construction process.
Thanks in advanced for your time and wisdom!
Tyler.
'Lift Out / Swing Gate Bridges for Model Railroad Club ... 2012