I’m just getting started in the hobbie. I assume fold outs or lift outs should have their own wiring, but when in use, do they need to be connected by rail joiners to the other track, or is their a better way to do this? Hope that doesn’t sound too ignorant.[:P]
Wired connections are normal and sometimes guardrails(like bridges). There are some who make their own custom connectors that slide into place as well. Check out how modules are made too. The MRR mag has had several articles on the subject.
If the track is mounted to both bases so that it absolutely cannot move, and the movable bench work is designed so that it always aligns exactly the same every time it is returned, then the track does not need to physically connect across the gap.
Check out this thread by Jon Grant:
Some guys use Atlas re-railers on either side of such a gap just in case.
Dave Nelson
Welcome to the forums.
The ones I have seen have either had Atlas rerailers or most often nothing visable. The track was aligned by triangular notches, latches or other guides to align the tracks and hold them firmly in place.
As for the wiring, yes they need their own wiring. You want to be sure that the wiring for the track both sides of the potential hole disconnect at the same time you disconnect the “gate” in order to keep your trains from taking a dive into the void.
Good luck,
Richard
[#welcome] Welcome aboard.
I have two yard throats, one a lift out, the other a drop-down (and take out sideways.) There is no physical connection between the rails on the moving section and the rails on the adjacent fixed benchwork - BUT the rail ends are soldered to screwheads and the stud-and-wingnut frame connectors assure alignment within a few thousandths of an inch. I also have guard rails that overhang the joint, permanently fixed to the side that rises (relative to the other side, which drops.) Since this is hidden track, the guard rails aren’t pretty, but they DO work. Each yard throat has its electricals connected to ‘dry land’ by a multi-pin computer cable D-socket with plug-in cable on the ‘dry land’ side. The cable is #22 wire, not the usual micro-wire used to connect data links. I soldered it up, one wire at a time, checking for proper installation all the way.
I also have a cassette dock, where single-ended cassettes (made from lengths of steel stud) mate end-on with the fixed track. Here, the fixed track has soldered-on rail joiners (the only soldered joiners on the layout) and the cassette rail ends slide into them. Since trains are loaded onto cassettes marker end first, the cassette doesn’t have separate electricals. If the locomotive stalls at the joint (seldom happens) the Mighty Hand of God moves it the last few centimeters.
I don’t worry about the cassette dock, since I put a Kadee coupler gauge on the rails when the cassette is absent. Throwing the cassette access switch causes an instant short. The yard throats will probably never have to be removed, but the wiring is interlocked through those D-connectors. Unless the throat is in place, the stub tracks (back-in staging) are DEAD - period. So are the approach tracks on the hidden thoroughfares.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)