Links to Lift Out, Drop down or Lift up sections

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Think about making my bench into around the garage layout. Does anyone have links handy?

Any opinions to which is easier to make?

Cuda Ken

2

I have a shelf layout and it looks and operates well in my small 11X8 space. You should have ample room in your garage for a nice shelf layout. I agree, you should probably start all over. I would begin with completley cleaning out your garage…a full douche, then painting, installing some valance lighting and build some nice benchwork with fascia. You have the experience now to make a layout worthy of MR. And more importantly NO MORE Grass Mat [:)]

3

Gee thanks for the kind wording there! No Driline, I am not planning on getting 10,000 gallons of Water and Vinegar tanker pulling up to my garage door and doing a full douche. I am doing a douche in sections.

Many may not like the looks of my bench and I am one of them. But it runs great.

Thanks you for you kind words, Ken

4

I would be interested in similar info, as my around the office shelf layout has to pass two doors and I’m not big on ducking since I got out of the army. That fish should make a nice centerpiece for the layout. I had a 1973 'cuda 340 but drive a '68 Barracuda coupe now.

5

Ken, you forgot one other type of access, the swing out section. I have a lift up section on my layout and it is very reliable, but I built it very strong. I used a 4 1/2 inch brass door hinge on one end and a locating pin on the other to ensure good track alignment. Flex wires on the hinge end supply track power. My new layout will have a swing out section with large hinges top and bottom for even greater track alignment.

6

Ken, I’m surprised at you!

If you enter any one of those pairs (in quotes) in the Search Community block you’ll get a full evening’s reading, including lots of neat tips and photos of examples.

My original half-a-garage layout was going to have a bascule-design access bridge. When my wife ceded me her half, the need went away.

Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - in a double garage)

7

The guy must be from Germany!

8

I have a detailed HOWTO page on how I built my dropdown gate:

http://csxdixieline.blogspot.com/2009/01/howto-install-dropdown-gate.html

The pieces:

The finished dropdown gate:

Jamie

9

Chuck, last time I used the sites search engine it pulled ever post that had the word Road and Dirt. Something like 60 pages.

Jamie, thank you for the link!

Any others?

Ken

10

Here is mine. I have four lift bridges. All are a little different but the principals are the same.

http://mysite.verizon.net/vzescsbb/HO_MRR/Room%20Access%20Lift%20Bridges.pdf

11

I like the one that Nashville N-Trak uses, they call it a “Geezer Gate.”(They show it operate at around 1:30 into the video)

12

Did you try doing a search of the forum? I know I’ve personally answered this kind of question at least a half a dozen times. I’m getting blisters on my fingers…

Lee

13

Very fine examples. But the in the geezer link the picture does not come up.

14

It comes up fine for me. It’s a YouTube video and here is a link to it on the YouTube site if you want to try it. If you still can’t get it to come up, it is a pneumatically operated section. It lifts straight up high enough to walk under.

15

Johnny, some times you have to shut down your firewall to get U Tube to work.

Thanks for all the kind answers as well. Last few days I have been busy and just now got back to this post.

If I where to do this, I will have 4 lines on the bridge so it going to be a little bigger than most. Plus, I will have to anchor it to my floor. It will have to be free standing.

Thanks again, Ken

16

Here is another U Tube video on making a lift bridge: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvInjBVhxLI

17

Hey, Ken!

I made a swing bridge for my layout - click on the link in my signature and click on Swing Gate. Pics and howto. It could certainly be applied to a 4-track bridge.

How long does this bridge have to be - as wide as a car? if so, you might want to consider a straight lift-up, with both ends going up. A bit tricky, though, to lift it all the way up, if you have an overhead door on the garage… For a long swing bridge, you would need a leg on the end away from the hinge, to avoid too much stress on the hinge while it’s open…