I saw this at many of the layouts at the Springfield show this past weekend. A lift out or up Bridge that broke the connection to the trains so they didn’t run off the layout… I thought about it and I think that I would like to have something like that on mine and may add some more depth to my track plan…
I also think I saw something like this in Model Railroader in a back issue. Does anyone know of any design out there?
The article I saw and roughly followd for my layout was a hinged swing gate that opened like a door. I replaced a lift out section and am very satisfied with the results. I would recommend having the movable portion hinged either way-o swing back and forth or up and down. I just used a microswitch that the gate when closed makes the contact to power the movable section and a 36" section on each side of the opening… I use a latch that pulss it up tight against a stop that aligns the rails.
You must have saw our layout (MOhegan And Pequot Model RR Club) We have two lift out bridges and I was going in and out of them. As for the choice on a home layout I do also have a bridge on my layout but it is a drop down bridge. Not a lift out. Here is a picture of mine.
hi biggie smalls
was your bridge hard to make?
New at this and I like that way instead of the lift up I think it would work for me in a future project
rich
i needed a removable section to span a 56" doorway for my one track n scale layout. no room for a lift up or swing around section. i made a lift out section that has a 5 section plate girder bridge passing over a small river. while it’s only 6" wide it looks very good for n scale.
The bridge was pretty easy to make. I just used 2x4s and the curved chord bridge kit as the lenth of it. I use the bottom pieces of the bridge so I have more room to get into my layout. The open space is about 18". I walk thru sideways and then bring the bridge back up for operations. It was pretty simple when I sat the looking at what I had to work with and how I was goin to do it. After like an hour of just looking at it I came up with this.
Biggie,
I think it might have been your club’s layout that I saw. I meant to take a picutre of it, but never got around to it. I have about 18 to 20 inches to spare, to where I want the bridge, but i am thinking I might go with one that goes up. I just picture that if it drops down, I see people running into it… if you know what I mean & I mean even me not paying attention and that happening. I think by bridging this it might open up my track plan better.
Your layout area looks like mine!!! I have to head downstairs in about an hour and do some work. Thanks for the tips and will let you all know how i make out
Grandfunk DWOuld you like me to take a few pictures of the bridge and send them to you? I will do so if you want me to.
Biggie sure… that would be cool… thanks…
back to the basement…
Is there any special wiring needed for the bridge?
On my layout I need a lift out section to go across the entrance. It is a 30" span and there is no room to swing in any direction. I plan on using 2" blue foam with Woodland Scenics risers to raise the tracks up to the two different heights. I would like to know what would be a good way to secure it and align the tracks when it is in place on the layout. My idea was to use brass channel that fit around the bottom of the rails and just set it on a 1x2 on the side of the shelf. Does this sound like it will work or a bad idea?
http://www.trainweb.org/mgr/
The Southern Serves the South!
I’m puzzling over how to build a swing-away bridge (for a walk-through); but for multiple (at least 4) levels of tracks (at about 0", 5", 10" and 15" relative elevations). I have to be able to walk-through two decks and the 2 turns of the no-lix linking them. I’m thinking of putting small “shelves” on a door-like structure. Does anyone have other suggestions?
Hello, I see this is a fairly old thread but I am new here. I too am interested in designing a bridge that will pivot upwards from one side. I have a 24 inch span to clear. Any advice and or photos would be greatly appreciated. Patrick
From the March 1998 issue of MR: Building a Swinging Gate.
http://www.trains.com/mrr/default.aspx?c=a&id=1100 …opens in a new window.
Thanks Steve!
I tried a 24" swing out bridge at first on my layout. After two failed attempts, I went another direction. The problem with swinging out is finding a hinge that has little enough play and cutting an angle that will let a bridge swing without binding or leaving a gap. My third attempt I went with a lift bridge. The opening is 24" wide, the gridge is made of 3/4" plywood with a 2x2 stiffener, and the bridge extents about 4" beyond the hinge on the hinge side. This allows the rail connection of the hinge side is drop away easily without causing damage to the rails. The rails on both sides hang over the lower section by about 1". This has worked great for me. For safety, I insulated about 2-3’ of track on each side of the track and ran the power bus for the whole section through a microswitch set under the bridge. If the bridge is liften even 1/8" the power dies to the entire section (very important since this in and N scale layout). Below are some pics of the bridge raised, lowered, and the micro switch. Hope this helps, and I’ll be glad to answer any questions about my experience.
Ron
My gate during construction:
There is a thread “Drop Down Gate Construction” by jxtrrx, currently sitting on Dec 3 (I think). It has some good information as well as my description of a very simple, effective gate I saw at a mrr show. Only thing is the hinge pins are up so need to have a building or other scenic effect to cover the hinges.
Have fun,