I recently built a crude bridge to span a doorway and the method I used to secure the bridge in the working position worked pretty well for me. I thought I would share it here in the hope that someone else can benefit from it.
http://look4trains.com/2010/06/cure-for-aching-back.html
Jim
Looks simple and effective, and that is what elicits the biggest smiles from most of us, particularly if on a fixed income. Good job, Jim.
-Crandell
To echo Crandell, Bravo! Too many of my “simple” fixes seem to end up complicated.
Well done, and thankyou for the video!
George
Looks great Jim! I am having the same issue on my layout at the moment but I like your idea very much. I love your BNSF coal train too, looks great!
John
It’s been a while, but a couple of near-misses (due to brain lock on my part) motivated me to take the next step with this bridge and figure out a way to prevent train tragedy. I’ve explained what I did, and posted a video showing how it works, here:
http://look4trains.com/2010/07/disaster-prevention.html
Jim
Simple and straightforward. I like it!
Only one question. How would you prevent a train longer than about three cars from dropping the markers into the canyon if it approached the bridge in reverse? Methinks the gap would have to be about sixteen feet from lover’s leap.
I could get away with a tad over 2.5 meters, but I run shorter trains. Your maneuver would work nicely as an addition to my cassette dock, to kill the entire yard lead if the dock was selected with no cassette in place. Since all movement onto cassettes is marker end first…
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
A fine question it is, and one I’ve asked myself. What I decided was that my first priority was to protect the locomotives, and I think this project does that pretty well. I didn’t want to kill the whole layout because I often switch cars when the bridge is down. So the solution is a comprimise, but the best I could come up with in my situation.
Jim
That single “plank” bridge, being made of solid wood (vs plywood) is likely to warp some over time. I would add a couple of 1/2" (or the same wood the bridge is made of) sides to form a “U” shape. This will not only give you stuctural integrity but also prevent anything from falling off the bridge (like those Genesis engines).
Well that’s just plain neat. One refinement I could think of would be to put a string on the removable wood “lock” and fasten it to the layout so that it doesn’t go wandering by mistake.
There are of course a variety of circuits that could be used to cut power to both sides of the brdige for when the bridge is “out” (or misaligned for that matter). I also recall seeing a pure mechanical solution involving a spring and a nail that would rise up in the middle of the track high enough to stop rolling stock. The nail or rod would be up and putting in the bridge would depress it.
Dave Nelson
I like that nail idea… You could do something similar with a couple of Tortoises to either cause an intentional derailment in a safe area, or control a couple of “real” derailers.
Hmmm. Now you’ve got me thinking about my own layout with a similar situation…
Have fun, George