Suggestion,
Why not get some basswood or balsa wood and make a long truss type bridge all the way across the drop down?
Would add to the layout
Ed
Yea I was thinking the same thing. I thought it would be cool also to set up a string of LED lights in a lighted bridge configuration. Until then I’m going to live dangerously [}:)]
I’ve made a lift out:
Wolfgang
I built a magnetic lift-out bridge very similar to Bill Darnaby’s for a aisleway and it has been very reliable since 2001. Instead of wood for the bridge I used a piece of aluminum channel extrusion that measured 2 1/2" wide by 1.0" high by 1/8" thick and if you lay this up next to a HO plate girder bridge you would have a pretty close match. Using aluminum cuts out 1/3 of the problems you may have in a wet humid basement.
I attached cork roadbed to the aluminum using a silicon sealant and glued the track to the cork. The cork over hangs the extrusion on both ends 3/4" and the track overhangs the cork about 1/2". When dropped in place the extrusion sets on 3/4" wood blocks. Beyond the wood blocks on both ends I have attached 2 cabinet magnets and a latch plate is attached to the aluminum channel.
Power comes from the track just adjacent the bridge and now you’re probably all thinking about the electrical connection since it is a piece of metal. Well, I just insulated the connections using .020 thick styrene between the latch plates and the aluminum channel plus I used nylon screws. In all the aisle bridge is 34" long and weighs 2 lbs 4 oz and works great every time I set it in place.[:)]
I suppose if you wanted a double main, you could flip it over and attach 1/2" plywood to it to widen the roadbed. I’ve thought about doing this sometime and using the same technique I used for the single main.
Here is a 3d cad shot of what I have for my lift out. Good luck.
http://s69.photobucket.com/albums/i75/mrrail/?action=view¤t=BridgePicture01.jpg
myrail
[quote user=“myrail”]
I built a magnetic lift-out bridge very similar to Bill Darnaby’s for a aisleway and it has been very reliable since 2001. Instead of wood for the bridge I used a piece of aluminum channel extrusion that measured 2 1/2" wide by 1.0" high by 1/8" thick and if you lay this up next to a HO plate girder bridge you would have a pretty close match. Using aluminum cuts out 1/3 of the problems you may have in a wet humid basement.
I attached cork roadbed to the aluminum using a silicon sealant and glued the track to the cork. The cork over hangs the extrusion on both ends 3/4" and the track overhangs the cork about 1/2". When dropped in place the extrusion sets on 3/4" wood blocks. Beyond the wood blocks on both ends I have attached 2 cabinet magnets and a latch plate is attached to the aluminum channel.
Power comes from the track just adjacent the bridge and now you’re probably all thinking about the electrical connection since it is a piece of metal. Well, I just insulated the connections using .020 thick styrene between the latch plates and the aluminum channel plus I used nylon screws. In all the aisle bridge is 34" long and weighs 2 lbs 4 oz and works great every time I set it in place.[:)]
I suppose if you wanted a double main, you could flip it over and attach 1/2" plywood to it to widen the roadbed. I’ve thought about doing this sometime and using the same technique I used for the single main.
Here is a 3d cad shot of what I have for my lift out. Good luck.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i75/mrrail/Isometric3.jpg
wayne
Nice job Wayne!
I may do the same on my layout.
I was looking at the CAD 3D you have, and I was thinking with either some styrene strips, or basswood strips or balsa strips, you could add uprights and also upper and lower pieces r
Last Saturday, in a scrap yard I found the exact same aluminum channel profile that I used for my lift out as long as 120" so a wider aisle could be bridged without too much of a problem except maybe for storage of the bridge if anyone wanted to go that long.
Best regards,
myrail