Size of hinged lift up section

You could put it on 4 legs and put wheels on the bottom of the legs, and just roll it in and out.......but here is what I did to get my "hinge up"....should work for what you want to do.

 

Go here to view...........Greg

https://ogrforum.com/d...nt/11285375712223667

I agree, size should not really matter. However, the bigger it is, the more I would worry about moving mass and balancing/counterbalancing. Greg has an elegant well thought out solution. I've also seen one that used a gas fill strut to assist with the lift.

 

Chris

LVHR

Tony, if you do a lift out or a hinge up, you might want to plan ahead as to what you are going to install on it for scenery.

 

Here is a link to where mine is being discussed https://ogrforum.com/d...nt/11848460533449160

 

If yours is going to be a permanent layout, you will probably have more options as to what you can "secure" to the raised section. Myself, I am limited. Dewey posted a neat idea there.

 

If my section were longer and heavier, I would have cantilevered it with weights on the far end. Being only 30" long, I did not feel the need for it now.

 

Good luck with whatever you attempt. Greg

6' long and 2' wide?  If yes, how tall is your ceiling?

2' long and 6' wide?  Hinges would be interesting.

 

These bridges might give you some ideas.

 

The section would be "hinged" on the 6 foot section, so the ceiling won't be an issue.  The ceiling will be 9 feet.  I do like the idea of the roll out section, or just bridges that lift up. 

 

Thanks

I like the idea of roll-outs too ala modular layouts, I'm just concerned my skills might not be up to ensuring a proper track fit. I'd actually like to do a completely modular layout, but I'm concerned the standards limit creative configurations.  I'm going to look into that though.

For a benchwork section that's 6 feet long, I think you're better off with a roll-out (or swing out supported by rollers on the floor.) When you factor in the weight and length, that would be a lot of strain on the hinges. If you really wanted lift-out operation, an alternative would be using bridges with counterweights but the alignment will need to be very precise.

Someone emailed me and asked me how I fit my joints using Realtrax. At first, I had decided to just saw sections, but some of the joints fell either on the crack or real close. So to save ruining 8 pieces of track, I just butchered four.

 

I cut the section that came down on the other section, so that it just dropped on top of it. To do that, I just cut away material, and since this is temporary, I was not real neat about it. Here is a photo of the underside after "trimming."

 

 

For the one on the crack, I just cut off the plastic protruding pieces and bent back the tabs. I could still use this in the future on another layout, as long as I screwed it down.  Here is what that looks like:

 

 

The final combination of track pieces gave me a good, overall fit.

 

 

 

Since the section was essentially "dead" I had to provide power to the rails. Not very elegant, but it works....here is what I did on the hollow core door lift out, it also allows you to see how the one butchered up section will drop over the other section without having to alter it, saving the track:

 

Just today I completed a 32 inch wide by 84 inch long hinged area.  I found that a lot of the problems of such a large hinged section are greatly reduced by hinging it down instead of up.  Another benefit of a hinged down design is it is out of the way when walking through the isle. 

 

Alan

Hi Tony....sorry, I didn't see this question until now.  If you don't mind, go over to the 3-Rail thread and see the pictures I posted on my thread "Photos of the new deep water harbor".  What you will see there is a fold up / down water feature I talked about in my post above...

 

Alan

Just for anyone who is thinking of doing this, the biggest problem to date with it is the chain holding it in the upright position. Works great, but when I lower it, the slack falls onto the track/area to the left of the hinge area, and gets pinned there, holding the gate from closing all the way....unless I reach under and pull the slack chain out to let it fall straight down.

 

I moved the chain attached to the base over more to the center, but that did not help. I added a spring to the chain and attached it to the gate, but that tended to pull the gate closed, and still left slack. Perhaps if the layout stayed up, I might be clever enough to rig a fix, but so far, the brain has not "stormed" and idea.

 

If you do a permanent layout w/ a gate, perhaps you will come up with something. I can tell you, it is a pain having to remember to reach around a pull the chain slack down each time. I am amazed at how many times  I open and use that gate!

 

Here is a photo of the gate in the early stage and late stage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAIN CAUGHT ON LOWERING UNIT:

How about attaching a string with a weight on it to pull the chain down. The weight could be laid on the layout when the gate is up to avoid pulling the gate down.

lift bridge at door but you could use with towers in open room   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nG5qv-mUv40

Dave,

I tried adding a weight, even took a coffee can and filled it w/ sand to try to fix it....no dice. Could not get things coordinated. HOWEVER.........

About an hour ago, I was out there looking at the problem after posting it, and immediately saw the cure!! Move the chain! I moved it to the outside, and now it goes up, and when gravity takes over and pulls the chain down, nothing is in the way, it just falls past the layout. Here is a pict. I guess talking about it, and posting about it, got me thinking more about it. Problem solved.

Thanks so much for your input, I really appreciate it. Greg

SOLVED!!

Great! An even simpler solution. I find "thinking out loud"  by posting often results in my finding the solution myself. Nice to know it worked for you too.  Oh, and thanks for trying my suggestion.