I have a section of my layout that lifts up, it has two main line tracks running over it. I have just finished laying the track across the lift up section. Is there anything I should know before I cut the track so I can lift up the section.
Also how do I wire the lift up section. The section where it is hinged I figured that I would run feeders to the tracks on that end with a loy of slack in them. My problem is the section that lifts up, how do I wire that? I thought of a type of male/female connection that I could un plug when I needed to lift it up. How do I do this and what type and name of the connection should I use. Please note that I do not have much knowledge in wiring. My layout is a DC set up, fairly simple, if that info is of any help.
A point of wiring. Get a set of trailer connectors from Radio Shack. They are "arrowed" just wire them the same. Depending on how your layout is set up, you may not have to wire a through connection. Just come at it from the other way.
When you wire the bridge be sure to include some way of laterally positioning the bridge so that the tracks line up. When our club built the first incarnation of it's bridge there wasn't any and so we ended up having to shim with quarters.
On the bridge, make sure to wire a bit more often than the rest of the layout. We drop every 3', but on the bridge every 1'.
The simplest keyed 2 wire electrical connection is an audio plug and jack.
Most (but not all) people also use a switch or plug to make a couple of feet either side of the lift out or swing gate dead when the gate is open. It keeps things from plunging into the abyss.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
Better to make that 'solid land' dead section as long as the longest train that might accidentally back into the abyss. John Armstrong had that happen to him at the site of the infamous 'bentless' trestle on the Canandaigua Southern.
There are about as many ways of arranging to wire kill lift bridge trackage as there are modelers who have addressed the problem. My own lift-outs are wired through multi-pin D-connectors, so positioned that the plug has to be removed before the lift-out can be moved. Some pins power the lift-out, while others are jumpered together to power the 'landside' rails. I use analog DC, and the liftouts are yard throats, so the specifics of the circuitry apply only to my layout. DCC would probably require fewer, but much heavier, wires.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
I'd guess that the wiring for your bridge/lift-out would be the same whether you're using DC or DCC. I used a 5-prong conductor from Radio Shack to power my lift-out - only four are needed for the power, while the fifth one ensures proper alignment of current carriers. Before cutting the rails to allow removal of the lift-out, ensure that it will be properly aligned every time you remove and re-install it. I prefer to leave the rails on the lift-out slightly long (hanging over the ends) and the permanent rails on the layout correspondingly shorter - this prevents people passing through the opening from snagging the rails and damaging them. You do, however, need to handle the lift-out carefully, once removed, to avoid damaging those protruding rail-ends.
Here's a simple diagram which explains the hook-ups (you can ignore the 1" "connector sections", which were added for someone who felt them necessary).
The "Safety Sections" should be as long as required to prevent trains from dropping into the abyss: at least as long as your usual loco consists if you run multiple locos on a train and approach the lift-out only with the locos at the front. If there's any chance of backing trains in this area, make the "Safety Sections" at least as long as the longest train which you intend to operate.
If your tracks on both sides of the abyss are already powered when the lift-out is removed, create the "Safety Sections" by cutting gaps in both rails on both sides of the opening, as far back from the edges as necessary. Use ca to secure a plastic or cardstock shim in each of the gaps, to prevent them from closing. Next, drop feeder wires from the "live" rails, and route them to one component of the multi-conductor plug - the female part of mine is mounted on the layout fascia. Add wires to the male part of the plug, and to the rails on the lift-out, so that when connected, the lift-out will be powered.
Next, drop another pair of wires from the rails of the lift-out, connecting them to two of the free prongs on the male part of the plug, and add corresponding wires to the matching contacts of the female receptacle. Connect these wires to the rails of the adjacent "Safety Section" - mind the polarity.
Finally, drop a pair of wires from this "Safety Section" and route it (mine go over the top of the door frame) to the "Safety Section" on the opposite side of the aisleway.
To remove the lift-out, it must be unplugged - doing so kills the power to the lift-out, which in turn kills the power to the "Safety Sections".
Here's the side of my aisleway which corresponds to the left side of the wiring diagram. The female receptacle is the small black spot just to the right of the shallow "U"-shaped plywood bracket which ensures proper alignment of the lift-out.
And this is the opposite side of the aisle, with the lift-out on the floor, leaning against the layout:
A view of the track alignment on the left side of the aisle (the black background is layout, the unfinished wood, the lift-out). Note that the cuts are offset to accommodate the curve, and that the rails on the lift-out overhang the end of the board. The extra nails and track spikes help to prevent misalignment:
A look at the opposite end:
This has proven very reliable, yet was very simple (and cheap) to achieve. When the second level of the layout is built, there'll be another directly above this one, too.
Wayne
I recently built a lift out section to span an aisle, no hinges, it just completely lifts out so it can be set aside.
I built a ledge on each end of my bench work for the lift out section to rest on. I ran feeder wires from my bus wires to each ledge where the wires are connected to brass mending plates. I have a pair of matching mending plates on the underside of the lift out with feeder wires running from those meding plates to the rails on the track on the lift out. When the lift out is set down on the ledges, there is power to the tracks on the lift out. No plugs, no external connections, no nothing.
I can lift out the section and set it aside in seconds and reverse the process and set the lift out in place once again within seconds.
Rich
Alton Junction
Thanks Rich, that sounds like a great idea. One question, do the plates you used have to be brass? And exactly what are mending plates?
woodman Thanks Rich, that sounds like a great idea. One question, do the plates you used have to be brass? And exactly what are mending plates?
They don't have to be brass, just as long as they can conduct electricity. Here are the ones that I bought at Ace Hardware. I screw them down with the screws provided and the stranded wire simply gets smashed between the mending plate and the wood ledge or the plywood for the lift out section. Electrical current flows across the meding plate. The plates are lacquered, so I lightly sanded them so that the current could easily flow.
http://www.acehardwareoutlet.com/ProductDetails.aspx?SKU=998004123
I have a removable staging section of layout for access to hard to reach areas of the main part of the layout. I wired it with two 4 connector plugs. One feeds power the removable section. The other feeds power to the approaches from the removable section. No plunges into the abyss if the removable section is out.
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR