Liftout

Greetings CoolRuehle

I did a very large liftout on my layout. It works exactly as planned and was not difficult to construct. You might get some useful ideas from my blog post about it.

http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/17258

Although it works perfectly, as I consider building a new layout in a new home, I have decided that I will avoid using any liftout or duckunder if possible.

I am also not a fan of turnback loops, but they can be used to run down to a lower deck for hidden staging.

Looking at your plan, I am more concerned about the 30" wide benchwork around the perimeter. I would strongly encourage you to reduce this to 24" or less. Working on the back edge of the layout at 30" wide is going to be a "stretch" at best.

Lift Out

i would definitely go with a lift-out. Lance Mindheim has some great tips for how to make an easy reliable lift out on his website at LanceMindheim.com. Regarding your second plan I personally would never go with bench work deeper than 30" with only one access point like you have with the dog bone design. If it is beyond arms reach you will have some serious problems. Also, you can make your layout more realistic utilizing broader curve radius with the lift out. For HO scale if you plan to use anything tighter than 24" then you will have problems keeping longer cars and larger locomotives on the track. 

I use a lift out to access my Seaboard Central layout that uses alignment pins I ordered off of eBay. It works great. I also agree with Bill. Reduce the depth of the bench work along the walls to 18" to 24" and then I would increase the end of the penensula to accept a radius of 24" to 30".

Tim G

It's your choice

It's your choice to have a lift out section or not. I personally like the top bench work plan with the lift out. If you choose the dog bone or loop back plan your trains will run through the scenes twice as they go out and back on the bench work along the walls. It is also more difficult to disguise the large turn back loop and it can limit your curve radius to get the track to fit in the turn back section of the bench work. If you choose the turn back plan you will need an access hatch to reach the track in the back of the bench work (you know where the train will derail or stall). The top plan allows a point to point operation with trains only running through each scene once. Again, it is your choice as to the type of operations you prefer.

There are many model railroads that use a lift out or a swing gate and each modeler has a different way to accomplish the goal. Check out Lance Mindheim's web site as he has a simple lift out design and explains how he built it. If you keep the track straight over the lift out it will make things line up much easier. You also want a way to kill power to the approach tracks when the lift out section is removed. You could also build a swing gate which many modelers have perfected and prefer over a lift out. It looks like you have plenty of room for a swing gate. One other option is a drop gate where the section drops down when not in use.

Depending on the height of your layout, you could just have a duck under and eliminate the lift out section. If your model railroad is at height of 54" or higher the duck under would be manageable. Try to keep the bench work as thin as possible in the duck under area and add some padding to the edges to cushion the occasional bump. 

I have a removable lift out section on my layout and it works fine. The height of my layout is 54" and when the lift out is in place it creates a duck under when you enter the room. Once you are in the room the impact on operations are minimal. I remove the lift out section when I am not operating the layout. 

Good luck on your plan. Remember it is YOUR model railroad and you choose what works best for you.

Thomas Klimoski

Georgia Northeastern Model Railroad

ThomasKlimoski You Tube Channel     

or if you really wanted to

or if you really wanted to you could do both and suit both needs/ideas

Liftout?

  I've had liftouts on my last few layouts. I find they usually let me use a larger radius than I could get with turnback loops. One could build a swing gate or raising or lowering section but I like the simplicity of the liftout. Here's one of the liftout sections for my new S scale layout, it's 42 inch radius. The last few ties on each end are pc board material with rails soldered in place. There are locating pins under the ends and latches to hold the section down tight when closed. I've used this same basic design on multiple layouts and scales with no problems.......DaveB

Second Thomas

A swing gate would be just as easy (or difficult) to build on half of a sold code door. The hobby press has done lots of examples of this and you could a aid the Thank you. back loops. I agree that a sincere scene with tracks going through it once, and always the same direection, would be ideal unless modeling a mountainous railroad. 

The devil is in the details so please tell us more about what you hope to do in the playroom. 

Just to get started.......

I made my lift-out to accommodate just the one single track. I used cabinet grade plywood to construct all the pieces. Three Atlas plate girder bridges span the top as half 'gainer deterrents. The blocks on the fascia have enlarged holes in them to "fine-tune" the  track alignment. Stereo jack plugs power the lift-out & dead rail sections on each side of the lift-out.

Locking Slides

I went with a slide up section on my layout.

It locks in place at the top and at the bottom.

A counterweight system was suggested by Pelsea and that is something I would like to do to make raising the section nearly effortless.

Regards,

Jerry, great idea

Jerry-

Like the lift out bridge idea. The black circle down and right of the support pieces, is that a plug in for track power on the bridge?

24" vs 30"

I made some of my benchwork 30" + in a few areas, most notably in the corners.  Vow to never do it again.  Unreachable by most normal means.  As for the perimeter at 30", again, anything longer than arms reach is asking for problems.  Also, what height will be your benchwork?  I did mine at 40" inches simply to match 2 existing modules at the time not realizing in my haste to get trains running I would have been so much better to remove the existing legs and replace them with 50" ones.  My layout is very similar to the top schematic you have shown only with an added "L" section. All my benchwork is 24" deep with the corners as the exception and even at 40" high, can still pose a challenge to do any sort of work at the back.

So just for what it's worth I would avoid the extra 6" in depth.  Then again, It's YOUR railroad!  

@ Jerry

That's an elegant design. I love the simplicity and the way it blends into the room. I've seen similar lift outs using through truss bridges .......DaveB

Plan where to place the removed section

Once the section is removed you have to put it somewhere.  Make a small platform near the entrance, perhaps at the end of the peninsula.  The lift bridge on rails is another idea.  Your choice. 

Both have their place. I was

Both have their place. I was going to sugest the drawer slides and someone already did that with wonderful pictures. Now instead of the debate about which one is better let us consider what type of trains appeal to you the most and what types of operation you like the most.

Are you going to try and run 2-10-4s and other big steam engines. Do you like DD40s and U 50s from the diesel era. If those things appeal to you you will need to allow for a big radius to really enjoy the locomotives. Do passenger trains appeal to you or long intermodal trains, again more reason for the big radius.

If equipment smaller than those extremes is in your plans a 30 inch radius will be fine and they will look nice on it. You will be able to run on even tighter radius but the bigger curves really look better.

Do you favor terminal or switching operations or do you like sitting back and watching them run.

Their are no wrong answers to these questions just answers and you should design the railroad to fit what you want it to be. Once you look at those things and what area and era you wish to model the shape of the plan should become plain to you.

Just keep a couple of things in mind maximum reach for most of us is about 30 inches. If your turnouts and complicated track is less than that it is doable. The closer to the edge the better for you to work on it.

Will your layout be more than one level? Will it have staging for trains? those things will also need to be factored in when considering what shape is best for you.

@ Eric

Eric, yes, that is the plug for the track power, to the dead rail sections on each side of the lift out and the lift out itself. A section of wiring is attached to the back of the lift out. I liked the idea of a dead rail when the lift out is removed so I borrowed the wiring for that from the JL&T RR blog, great info! I thought I wouldn't be running trains with the lift out removed, but ya never know, now my base is covered! Here's a pick of the plug underneath the bench work.........                                                                                                                                                      Jerry

@ DaveB

Dave, thanks.........since the bench work & lift out are all wood I was concerned about expansion, contraction, what surprised me was the size of the rail gaps at each end that I could get away with to compensate for this. A full 1/16th of an inch. But once the rails are in alignment, it's good to go..........                                                             Jerry

storage

I have a scenario similar to the...

I have a scenario similar to the OP. However, my door swings into the room. I'm going to build the section to 'slide out' instead of a lift out, or lift up. This section will be a little wider than the door opening. It will be on legs and since the floor is smooth (tiles), I'll put the leg levelers on each foot. I'll secure it to the rest of the layout with a lock similar to what they use on windows, and a set of male/female plugs for the track wires. To stabilize this section, I'll add a shelf below for storage. I hope to start this project in the fall as I'm currently building the rest of the layout which wraps around the walls. It won't be difficult to push out or push into place. 

I did think about the loop, but I don't have that option on the other side of the room due to the positioning of the door.

Good luck to the OP!

Neal

There is a third

There is a third option!!!!

just like the folded dogbone option accept the peninsula starts from the door side of the room.  this eliminates one of the blobs in your bottom plan. 

Steve

Opted for a swing gate instead of a lift out

After weighing all of the information I opted for a swing gate instead of a lift out.  I believe that it required more work to fabricate, but is easier to store & operate.  You can see Part 1 of my postings HERE

and Part 2 HERE.

and Part 3 HERE

A lift out section is awkward

  A lift out section is awkward to handle and needs a lay down space. A geriatric bridge is as easy to go through as a door, open it, go through and close it.

We used to have a crawl under but I gave up crawling when I learned to walk so we built this hinge up section of layout, it's got five curved tracks on two levels is nearly 2ft wide and is fully scenicked so calling it a bridge is somewhat of a misnomer, it's a hinged up section of the layout. It's hinged at one end with the hinges raised above the tracks for simplicity though some of the scenery is higher. The non hinged abutment uses pattern makers dowels to ensure accurate location though I think they're a bit of overkill. To make it easier to lift and to make it unnecessary to hold up while passing through it's counterbalanced in such a way that it's stable in both up and down positions though there are standing instructions that it should be locked down when not being used.

Archie 

A lift out section is awkward

  A lift out section is awkward to handle and needs a lay down space. A geriatric bridge is as easy to go through as a door, open it, go through and close it.

We used to have a crawl under but I gave up crawling when I learned to walk so we built this hinge up section of layout, it's got five curved tracks on two levels is nearly 2ft wide and is fully scenicked so calling it a bridge is somewhat of a misnomer, it's a hinged up section of the layout. It's hinged at one end with the hinges raised above the tracks for simplicity though some of the scenery is higher. The non hinged abutment uses pattern makers dowels to ensure accurate location though I think they're a bit of overkill. To make it easier to lift and to make it unnecessary to hold up while passing through it's counterbalanced in such a way that it's stable in both up and down positions though there are standing instructions that it should be locked down when not being used.

Archie 

A swing gate

Hi CoolRuehle, IMHO a swing gate is the smart way to go. As said before, once your lift-out is lifted, it all of a sudden becomes a darn thing you don't know what to do with it. It may even become a burden as time goes on, because you happen to be sick to have to lift the thing and adjust it back every time any bones come in and out.

The slide-up solution is very smart, but more difficult to build and, I believe, perhaps more tricky to adjust the rails perfectly aligned on the fixed and the movable part.

Just for fun, I would cite the public Schwarzwaldmodellbahn ("Model railway of the Black Forest", in Hausach, Southwest Germany), where they have an helix each side of the public entrance door, to bring the tracks to go up over the door and then down, and keep continuous running. Since they were at it they made the helix three or four tracks wide and use them as storage. They are behind windows, so the climb is visible as are the stored trains waiting for operation. A nice layout to visit for anyone planning some vacation in the area. And to be exhaustive, when staying in hotels anywhere in the Black Forest, you get a host card that allows free ride on all regional trains and cities transportation, and they are many! (check 'Konus' on Google)

As for myself, I have a layout situation similar to yours. My choice is for a swing gate. That's I believe the easiest to build, the easiest to get tracks alignment, no storage problem, and it can be as broad and heavy as the scenery dictates while necessitating no more effort. Good luck!

Phil D