Not that I've seen.

In addition to door access, removable sections, there was a thread here with fairly large removable sections but not multi-tiered. https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/middle-school-model-railroad-flexible-staging-connection-12212292

Hi Bud Thanks so far. I

Hi Bud

Thanks so far. I sketched what we have in mind and leave out the front right post as well as the three sublevel of the layout. But I guess it is clear?

The trolley and its "dock" will be composed out of these profiles:

https://aluprofile24.de/?cat=c25_Profile-I-Typ-Profile-I-Typ.html

Some additional thoughts?

Cheers,

Axel

Multi-layer Lifting Bridge

Not sure if this does any good, but perhaps you might get a few ideas from this discussion of a multi-layer lifting entrance bridge. One fellow even suggested utilizing an alum extrusion similar to the one you pictured.

https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/layout-room-entrance-swingdown-bridges-3-of-them-in-combo-12210684

https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/layout-room-entrance-swingdown-bridges-3-of-them-in-combo-12210684

Don't

Don't is a little strong, so "maybe not" would be better. We have a pair of Walthers Car Floats mounted on a rolling section which has been more than a pain. The plan was to be able to switch one float (load or unload) then roll out and rotate the module 180º and switch the other float.

Problems:

• There is way to much vertical and horizontal slop with most casters to allow reliable positioning and repositioning the module. Wooden or metal alignment pins or rails added during the original design may have helped. Alternatively accurately placed magnets may have assisted with alignment.
• A tall narrow module presents stability problems. We have had cars roll off the floats with disastrous results. Adding some form of wheel blocks would help, but a bigger issue is that the module has to be handled carefully to prevent the whole module getting dumped which would be a total disaster.
• Powering the module can be a problem if you want the supplies to connect and disconnect automatically and reliably. The magnetic contact trick works but the installation can look ugly.

Hinges?

Have you rejected a side-swing gate due to not having space for it to swing to?

There are people who've mounted shelves on doors and built 'thick gates' successfully. But ideally you need space for the gate to swing 180 degrees and lay flat against the layout when completely open, so as to completely clear the entrance way. 

Hinged makes it easier to solve the electrical problem as you can just use stranded wire with a little slack on the hinged end to permanently power the bridge. 

The hinged solutions solve the tip-over stability problems, but can have a sag problem. You could also combine the two (a hinged gate with castors under the non-hinged end to carry the weight).

I assume at least you won't have KenK's problem of rolling stock on the bridge when you move it. 

." We have had cars roll off

  That sounds like a pretty prototypical car float operation. They had to chock the wheels or chain the cars down and worry about stability so as to not get dumped into the bay....DaveB 

Building something similar right now

Wow, timely thread. I'm building a roll-out section right now. Not multi-deck, but multi-level and (thanks Ken K!) with a car float apron on the roll-out section and a cart-mounted car float in the works! 

Sorry that the photo isn't very clear, but the rectangular sled on casters supports a sort of light space frame with curved roadbed being attached right now. The curved masonite fascia will form an important structural element. 

The whole shebang gets spring-loaded when in operating position with a panic bar that pops it to full open. (Although there are no sidings or other tracks on the cart where rolling stock will be standing, in an emergency who cares about losing some model trains?)

I use the flex of the roadbed/benchwork frame as a wedge to stiffen the assembly when connected.

Jeff Allen

on edit: oh hey, how about that, this is the same layout referenced in the first reply! Consider it an update.

Hi Folks Thanks for your

Hi Folks
Thanks for your comments - I am in a kind of "men-in-the-middle" position... therefor I do not have answers to all questions... but

The rollout was prefered due to the multiple decks for staging. We came up with the idea to make it as small and ridgid as possible and with some solid posts left and right. The wedge shape allows to kind of pull the structure into its place and lock it there if you want to run the layout.

A small size would avoid twisting and wobbeling. The door concept is interesting but due to the fact, that the door is in one corner of the room and opens towards the wall into the room, it make no sense to use shelfs.

For the electrical connection my friend will use pultipin plug/sockets from the "Event/Entertainment Business". So you roll it into possition and plug one (big) plug. Starting with 6 Pins up tp 108 Pins (https://www.thomann.de/intl/multipinstecker_multipinbuchsen.html)

The picture above looks interesting. From my point of view the base looks very small but due to the various triangles It could be pretty ridget. The biggest difficulty might come from off-balancing it with the backdrop construction (too heavy on the top?). How will you do the landscape?

Here is the trackplan

The door/access will be at 5 o'clock where the word "Stadtkulisse" is written...

Zugspeicher means Stageing and Güterbahn KIB is also a name for a staging yard.

Cheers,

Axel

door

With that set up, I think the easiest thing is going to be to take the door off the hinges and store it somewhere else, or reverse the direction of swing of the door if you really want to close off the room (and a curtain won't do).

And your cart on wheels is probably best given the width of the layout at that point and having no room for anything side-hinged to swing to. 

A four-layer bridge all swinging up on one hinged edge (two strong hinges) is a possibility but would limit scenery on the top layer both on the bridge and adjacent to the bridge on the hinge end. Another would be two two-layer bridges, one that swings up and one that swings down. If these options aren't clear but sound interesting I can sketch something. The swing-down option depends on how close the bottom layer is going to be to the floor - it has to be farther away than the length of the bridge section to have room to swing down. 

And then there's Brian's Guillotine approach if the ceiling is high enough or the people short enough.

Multi level door

My instinct is that this would work best if you have a rigid box which contains all the tracks on all levels, and rigid frames in the benchwork at the two sides of the opening, ensuring that the tracks all line up with each other. Don't expect to mount each level separately to the wall! Then when it's inserted, provide the box with wedging action both vertically and horizontally, so that it's guided into place, clamped and locked. It might be a good idea to make this mechanism lift the box's casters off the floor completely, so it's the benchwork that sets the height and not the casters.

How Apout

A Metal Tool Box??  Is it short enough on top to clear the lowest level??