On my new layout I am going to have a section that will need to be moved/removed for access as I am NOT doing anymore duck-unders. What is the best method to accomplish this on a single level, maybe 24-36 inches wide? It will be a double main and will see a lot of action, so it needs to be reliable. Any input, pictures, history, or suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks!
I built a liftoff bridge.
It's 3 feet long and 1 foot wide.
Now, what do you mean by "access?" In my case, I wanted access beyond the bridge, but I don't need to go back there very often. So, a liftoff is sufficient. It's a bit of a nuisance because I have to unplug it at both ends to remove it, too. So, it's really a "removeable duck-under," as I don't normally bother taking it off when all I need to do is fix a derailment.
The single track does see a lot of service. So, I spent a lot of time making sure the ends were solid and lined up perfectly every time, both horizontally and vertically.
As you can see, I made the whole thing a "scenic element" by adding a river and a nice truss bridge from Central Valley. Once again, though, the scenery is something that must be handled carefully when removing the bridge.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I will access and use this at every point of operation as I plan to operate from within the "loop" if you will.
I use hinged lift bridges. This link is to a paper about building different types.
http://www.waynes-trains.com/site/LiftBridges/Lift-bridges.html
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.
I built a swing gate.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
Mr. Beasley - I am doing almost exactly the same thing with a bridge and scenery. I wanted put a hinge on one end and do it as a fold up but after I basically got it in place I decided it was much more practial to just make it lift out and put in the electrical connection with plugs - That part is still on the to do list. Yours looks great.
When you look at all of these pictures and others, one point should stand out. Those who have built swing gates or other hinged devices have very solid, heavy benchwork to support it. My benchwork is sufficient to hold up my layout, but it would not serve to bear the load of a gate. It's not attached to either the walls or the floor.
MR had an article a year or so ago about a bridge that was built using drawer slides. The slides were mounted vertically on one side. To remove the bridge, one would lift the whole thing straight up and then fold one end down from the hinges on the other end. The now-vertical bridge would then slide back down on the sliders, now out of the way.
My liftoff has only been in place for a few months now. I like it, and it does the job, but in retrospect it has a couple of shortcomings. First, the plugs are awkward and are one reason that it's a "removeable duck-under" rather than the easy-to-use liftoff. I should have gone with some sort of connectors that mount to both the benchwork and bridge so the whole thing just plugs together in one motion. The other problem is the bridge. I used a Central Valley model, and I like the way it looks. However, it's not a "ruggedized" model and really can't take a lot of handling. For a frequently-removed liftoff, I would recommend either just making it a causeway or plain track, or going with a simpler but stronger bridge from Atlas.
Another thing which hasn't been mentioned yet is the "good practice" of providing a dead zone of track that has no power when the bridge is not in place.
I have used a swing-up bridge to good effect, and my latest layout has a lift-out type. My drop-down/swing-up bridge on my last layout was on a diagonal to permit my looped layout to have a reverse loop. It actually worked quite well. It was hinged with brass hinges on the one side of the central operating pit, and retained with brass barrel locks on the other side. Copper wire feeders routed around the brass screws and up to the rails provided power reliably.
The latest bridge is a lift-out that sits on metal L-brackets of the kind used inside cupboards, the small chromed or anodized ones that take four screws. They were inverted so that the long shank runs vertically and is bolted to wooden blocks on the faces of the bench. A photo is worth a thousand words.
Here is the general view:
Note, below, that the 'bridge shoes' of the lift-out comprise 1/2" wood screws that can be adjusted in or out (up or down) by lifting out the bridge, tilting it, and using a Robertson screwdriver to turn the screw head a few degrees. When all four screws make contact with the metal supports, AND the rail heads up top are matched for height (not nearly as hard or finnicky as you might think), things work reliably and smoothly.