A few years ago I was facing the possibility of a change of homes so
I tore down my old layout and designed this one to be easy to relocate.
The yard and the switching area are independent and sitting on existing furniture - no legs.
The corner module connecting the two can be easily replaced as needed in a new location.
The switching area was intended for a 2X7 foam-core door
but the desire for under-layout switch machines (blue point) and wiring required a
frame. The deck is 1/8 plywood (door-skin) on a one-foot grid of 3/4x3 boards.
| Menu - choose one |
| Home |
| Layout diagram |
| Lift up |
| Bolt-on turntable |
| Eccentric turntable |
| Corner curve |
| Pallets |
| or scroll down |
Lift-up
I wanted to use the space available by crossing the door opening but wanted something to allow easy access. The lift-up is longer than most and includes a curve but it functions quite well. Since it is exposed and does not need scenery to hide it the construction and use are simplified.
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| Home |
| Layout diagram |
| Lift up |
| Bolt-on turntable |
| Eccentric turntable |
| Corner curve |
| Pallets |
| or scroll down |
My original plans did not include a turntable but when I started to run the layout I realized that operation would be more interesting with some way to turn engines. I decided I could add a turntable near the door at the end of an industry spur. I built a very simple one - manually driven and, because there are only two positions, registration is not a problem. The pivot is brass tube in a brass tube. The support is one sheet of styrene rotating against a fixed sheet of styrene. Track polarity reversal is through an MRC DCC reverser. I call it a bolt-on because the frame of the turntable is bolted to the end of the layout. When it is time to move the layout I can remove the turntable without disturbing the main benchwork.
| Menu - choose one |
| Home |
| Layout diagram |
| Lift up |
| Bolt-on turntable |
| Eccentric turntable |
| Corner curve |
| Pallets |
| or scroll down |
| Menu - choose one |
| Home |
| Layout diagram |
| Lift up |
| Bolt-on turntable |
| Eccentric turntable |
| Corner curve |
| Pallets |
| or scroll down |
| Menu - choose one |
| Home |
| Layout diagram |
| Lift up |
| Bolt-on turntable |
| Eccentric turntable |
| Corner curve |
| Pallets |
| or scroll down |
| Menu - choose one |
| Home |
| Layout diagram |
| Lift up |
| Bolt-on turntable |
| Eccentric turntable |
| Corner curve |
| Pallets |
| or scroll down |
Animation is from software sold by
Alchemy Mindworks
If you have not yet visited the internet magazine
Model Railroad Hobbyist
I urge you to do so. The magazine subscription is free and the contents of the
magazine and its supporting website are valuable.
For information on S-scale model railroading try:
http://www.trainweb.org/crocon/sscale.html
Thanks for your time.
aarmstro(at)charter(dot)net