Duck unders?. Yuck!

They are a nuisance. Is it absolutely impossible to rip a hole on the wall next to the track?. Because if there is consensus to allow you to build the extension, then is easier to put a hole on the wall than doing the gymnastics for the entire lifetime of the layout. Even leaving a column is preferred. Removable layout sections tend to became permanent, either installed or stored.

Rename

Duck-unders should be renamed to "Head Smashers" or "Back Scrapers".  In my humble opinion they should be avoided like the plague!  See if there is anyway to avoid them.

Rick

I think the extension would

I think the extension would be a major mistake,  Would you say your present layout is finished?  You have a nice layout that you could spend five years perfecting and operating.    The proposed extension would be a nice challenge to design and build but it rather selfishly takes over more of the house  and does not really improve the layout - just expands it.  You mention "removable benchwork" - this activity  kills any fun you will get from using the extension.  It's unfair to the rest of the family (wife?) and interrupts your enjoyment of the layout you have. As we all know , layouts are never complete and also require some maintenance.  Don't get committed to a major project that is not really necessary.

I have tried this kind of temporary extension to compensate for small layout space and they never provided the enhanced operations I was hoping for.

Art

Thanks for the advice

To all of you that have replied, thank you.  Your comments mirror my own private concerns.

To further explain my plan, I had intended to finish the layout as it exists now, at least to the point of being somewhat presentable.  The extension would come afterward.

I think that, based on my own thoughts and the advice here, I will put this on hold for the foreseeable future.  I may revisit it in the future, if and when I am in a position to begin work and know better whether or not the extension would really be needed.

Extension in the hall

I did essentially the same thing in the hallway at my house to install a staging yard representing Reading, PA.  It has a 3x3 corner and two 5'6" long yard modules.

The major difference was I oriented the S curve into the hall so it passed through the door on one side, narrowing the 36" door to about 30" and creating no duck unders.  That would be my suggestion.  It required me to rarrange some of the tracks on the permanent layout to get a favorable alignment.  Start the curve on the permanent portion of the layout.  You might have to rearrange everything from the diamond to the end of the permanent benchwork and consider tightening down the radius on the S to 22 or possibly 18".  It doesn't look like you will be operating long trains or engines on that portion anyway. 

Now why didn't I think of that?

The west end of the layout is just track on ceiling tiles at the moment, so rearranging things would be relatively simple.  My gut reaction was to say it has to stay as is, but the more I think about it, the more I like the suggestion.  I will have to see if there is a way to keep the same operation in a revised track plan.  That way, I can go ahead with the extension some time in the future, if the other concerned party (my beloved wife) is agreeable.  It will help a lot in making the case when I say I won't have to block access to the train room, I think

Modules are movable...

Hello,

As a member of a modular club ( http://www.hotrak.ca/) I can tell you that the extension is very doable so that it can be moved at a later time.  

One of the comments here asked if what you had done was finished, I would finish what you have started before laying track into the extension.

As a side note, I am surprised that you do not have a connection in front of the red building in "Danville" from what appears to be your main yard track to your branch line. Nice layout.

Cheers,

Peter G.

Wet Extension

I don't remember where I saw it, but a long time ago I remember seeing a guy who had built a "car ferry" on wheels to move traffic out an "island".

Rod Goodwin
indexguy

Changes happen

Thanks for the compliment.  As originally planned and built, the main line and branch line came together at a switch at the west (right) end of the yard.  What is now the main line was a tail track off of the runaround/siding, and served as a secondary switching lead for the yard.  Unfortunately that resulted in a sharp kink in the curve on the main line, which was consistently derailing cars and locomotives.

As a result, I decided to separate the D&W (main) and Southern (branch) lines.  A train leaving the yard can still go either way, so I don't consider it a major issue.  We shall see how things work out as I ramp up operations, but for now I do not expect any problems as a result of the change - and the gentler curve and lack of derailments are major improvements!

Revised plan

Based on the comments here, I revised the pan to eliminate the duck-under.  It would still have to be removable, of course, because it still blocks and narrows the hall.  Fortunately, the only other things on the hall are a guest bedroom and guest bath, neither of which is used very often in our daily comings and goings.  Still, I cannot leave something blocking the path all the time.

I have absolutely no intention of beginning this until such time as the rest of the layout is at least somewhat presentable.  It will make asking for funds and permission a lot easier if I can point to a beautifully scenicked layout, instead of a plywood and plaster mess.

It is difficult to see because of the reduced resolution, but there are a total of four tracks at Stuart (bottom left), not counting the turntable, and a crossover in Fieldale where the road crosses, forming a runaround track that will just clear 5 40' cars.  I especially like the addition of a turntable in Fieldale, a prototypical feature which was missing in the plan to date.  I have tried, and it is possible to run around a train of 5 cars and a caboose (including turning the locomotive), without going onto the Stuart extension - takes some fancy switching, though.

Doorway connection

Here are some pictures of my doorway connection.  Here is the connection back to the permanent layout.  I included a turntable so when the staging yard wasn't in place, I could still operate on the permanent portion.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b387/haminahbob/Layout%20Construction/IMG_5980.jpg

Here is the view looking through the doorway towards the staging yard.  Currently the connection is painted fascia color, it will probably get sceniced at some point:

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b387/haminahbob/Layout%20Construction/IMG_5988.jpg

My brain is on fire!!!

What if you take the car ferry idea and make the section against the wall to move UP for storage on tracks attached to the wall?.

David Barrow

I think the guy with the "car ferry" (on wheels) was David Barrow.

Charlie

Removable layout extension?

I was thinking about those horizontal draw bridge types that raise & lower vertically but here's what this guy did:

https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/layout-7-the-lift-bridge-12188337

Bill