Wye and Reversing Loop Extension - Final Update

The 1st step was to mock up the 12.5" "wedge" to mate the liftout to the existing layout. I screwed in a couple of mending braces to the existing shelving and then a scrap board to support the other end and laid in a piece of wood as the wedge. I then fitted up the new switches and the connecting track between them and it looks pretty close right off the bat.

The North/South straight on the edge of the existing layout had a 30" straight piece of FT in it, so that had to be removed and the O-36 switch and two 10" pieces inserted. The lantern switch stand also had to be relocated to the inboard layout side near the Roadway truck. After mocking it up, it looks like about only 1/3 of the piece of wood will be needed to make up the wedge.

I also installed the new O-36 switch at the top of the existing layout in place of where just a plain O-36 curve was in place. The new switch will allow trains to go straight through across the door and onto the extension rather than just curve around onto the straight on the existing layout. Sounds pretty straightforward, right - not - there was no room for the lantern switch stand on the "right" side of the switch because it would interfere with the existing sidings, so it had to be swapped to the left side. No big deal except for the fact that there is a wall there and no place for the switch stand to go. I ended up having to notch out a small section of the wall for the switch stand to lay into. Had to use a Dremel and cut off wheel cutting into 1" thick knotty pine paneling to create the notch. I'll go back and make it look a little nicer after everything is up and running.

I suspect nothing in this build will be easy.

It’s never easy retrofitting an existing layout because we always forget something, like the switch stand. You found a solution pretty quickly, but it’s never as easy as it looks on paper or in the software. Still, I think you’re going to be happy when it’s all done.

After installing two of the new switches and mocking up the wye configuration, the next step was to cut out rough openings in the sides of the closets for the track to pass through. My reciprocating saw got a good workout this weekend. The side nearest the door was pretty easy since there's no rear wall in that closet because the main plumbing stack is inside.

The other closet was not so easy because it has a rear wall and a sink and a lot of framing to hold everything together that had to be cut out to get clearance for the track to pass through cleanly and "sistered" back with new studs to keep everything structurally sound. I had to cut a 6" notch all across the rear closet wall to get access to everything and will have to go back after the project is finished and put a new panel in place to cover the notch.

The pic's show the rough openings with the 10' oak board in place and track temporarily laid on the board. The first pic shows the main stack closet with the board running through. The second pic shows the rough opening on the door side and the third pic shows the track coming out about eight feet later on the other side above my workbench.

I have some 1/4" foam roadbed made specifically for Fastrack width on order that will provide some needed height and sound deadening.

Looking good Richie

I assume cutting holes in the walls was cleared with the CEO first?

You probably need a small shield in the closet to keep the contents of the closet off the tracks. But not so big that you can't reach the trains on a derailment. 

RSJB18 posted:

Looking good Richie

I assume cutting holes in the walls was cleared with the CEO first?

You know it !!

gftiv posted:

You probably need a small shield in the closet to keep the contents of the closet off the tracks. But not so big that you can't reach the trains on a derailment. 

That's a good idea. The closet doesn't get much use but I'll put something there to make sure nothing falls onto the tracks. If a train derails in the closet, it's probably going to have a pretty good fall. Thankfully, it's a pure straight, so there's no reason it should - other than the train gods.  

Completed the "wedge" area along the existing layout which will allow the west leg of the curve to cross the doorway. Glued, butted and screwed the base pine board to the shelf and side of the layout after removing the edging and then added the 1/2" plywood and 1" foam all cut to the same shape to form the wedge and get it to the same height as the existing layout.

It's pretty solid and will be even more so once I cut back some of the wedge towards the edge of the new track. I figure about 50% of the wedge as it now sits will be cut away. I wouldn't stand on it, but it shouldn't need any further support, either.

Amazing what it takes to add such a small piece. Looks good, won’t be long until trains make their first run.

I like planning and figuring out the best way to do these build outs, so it's enjoyable for me.

Couple more pics of the wedge with the track mocked-up in place - looks pretty close.  All of the wedge from about 2" south of the curve track will eventually be cut away with a jig saw. I'll get more done this weekend.

Made some good progress this weekend. I cut the door molding supports out to the correct height - 7" overall, about 5.5" above the track height which should be more than enough for most trains to clear. It was a little tricky because the shelving is not level from side-to-side across the doorway, so the supports had to be cut at different heights. I then fitted in the liftout to butt directly up against the existing layout on the right side and the edge of the support on the left where the 1 x 4 will butt up against it.

Awesome job, loved the video.

Thanks - easy when you have great track designers !

BTW, the fitment of the wye turned out to be not that difficult. I think that's because I could move the switch back and forth across the liftout until I found a "sweet spot" where both the top of the wye and the curve could connect to it with stock FT pieces and I didn't have to squeeze everything into a defined space.

Rich,

You don't need to cut the liftout with straight parallel edges.  Make your cuts where the tracks join; you don't need to cut the track sections.

Jan

I agree with Jan - bend the tabs under track, lift the rails and pull the joiner pins at the locations indicated - use 2 - 5" sections on the divergent straight and pull the pins between them.

Pull the pins at the other end where there is a track joint 

Then make power jumpers with plugs

I wouldn't hesitate to simply cut the track to match the lift-out split. Fastrack cuts easily with whatever your preferred tool is, be it a Dremel-style cutoff wheel or an old-fashioned hacksaw. For me a  hacksaw-kerf left the correct gap to allow placing and removing the lift-out.

One thing about an irregular cut is that it becomes self-aligning.

Jan

I like the idea of just pulling the pins and will try that first - I can always go back to cutting the track if the alignment doesn't work out for some reason.

I'm waiting for a wire order and connectors from Del City to come in, so it may be a few days or the weekend until I can get to that part. In the interim, I still have to stain the long oak board running through the closet; paint and turf the wedge; and hard wire the 30" sections of track in the closets. That will keep me busy for a awhile.

I've never added a lift-out, but it seems to me you could just add a cleat (outlined in Red) to the underside where the Lt Green lift-out meets the Green/Yellow main bench work. In your photo, there appears to be about 1.5" of door jam between the edge of the benchwork and the actual door with the new plywood lift-out. If you replace the 10" track with two 5" tracks like Carl suggested and pulled the pins on the 3 Red tracks that extend just past the edge of the lift-out, you wouldn't have to cut anything, bench work or track. Add a similar cleat to the other side and the lift-out would simply rest on the cleats. I don't see any reason whole tracks need to be on the lift-out, especially with FasTrack. If I'm wrong, I'm sure Carl and Jan will let me know.  

The liftout rests on the bottom part of where the door jam supports were cut-out to allow the train to pass through the doorway. They are about 5/8" wide, but only extend out about 4". That's fine for the left side of the liftout, so it sits right on the door jam support. See pics attached.

The right side sits on the door jam support but since the right side of the liftout is about 12" wide, that would not have been enough support and to insure correct alignment.

I don't have a picture of it, but I have already added a cleat to the side of the wedge extending from the end of the door jam support to the end of the liftout at it's widest point. In addition to extra support, I also needed something to drill into to install the pins and dowels on that end to keep the liftout in alignment. 

The cleat had to be screwed into the side of the wedge and not underneath because the existing shelving is about a 1/2" off from level across the door. That also meant the existing right-side door jam support at that end of the liftout had to be cut 1/2" higher than on the left to get the liftout level.

I'll post some more pics which will make it clearer, but you can also see it from the attached sketches.

I think Jan and Carl are right, too - I just always pictured a liftout as needing to be cut right at the edges and never had the foresight to think out of the box that you could eliminate any cutting by just disassembling the track on either side of the liftout - it takes a village !! 

Couple more pics showing left and right side supports for the liftout and the cleat I added to the side of the wedge.

Not too much done this past weekend - life and family obligations.

I did drill the holes to mount the alignment pins and dowels for the liftout (not all the holes on the right side were actually used) and inserted the metal receivers and pins. I also painted and turfed the wedge and stained the long board that runs through the closets to match the knotty pine.

Also, trimmed, re-installed and filled in the luan edging board that I had removed at the wedge.

The wire, connectors and terminals came in from Del City and I ordered some more quarrystone paper tile to put on the wall behind the wedge.

Hopefully, I'll get more done this week.

Got the liftout itself completed. Once everything is up and running, I'll go back and install luan edging or veneer strips along the edges of the wedge and liftout for a finished look.

Next step is to complete the fit-up of the 10' long oak board running through the closets. I'll glue down the special FT foam roadbed and solder all the 30" FT straights together to insure no loss of continuity in the closets and screw the track to the board in a few places. I'll also install some plastic clamps underneath the board to carry all the wiring to the other end of the playroom for the reversing loop and accessories.

I'll then disconnect the FT trackpins where shown and start the wiring.

Can’t wait to see how it all works. I assume what you labeled as “cuts” were actually where the tracks ended.

Looking good!

Yes - that's what I meant by "cuts". One of the unanticipated issues with pulling the pins where two pieces of FT will meet for a liftout (rather than just cutting the track) is that even after pulling the pins, there are still plastic nubs and connectors that snap together to hold the FT together and they have to be removed to allow the track to simply lift straight up w/o having to disengage one piece of track from the other. There is also a small "tab" and "slot" on each side of the roadbed that also helps join two pieces of FT together. You have to cut off the one on the track piece that is on the layout, but you can leave the one on the liftout section to help align the track.  It was short work with a Dremel and grinding stone and the three places where the track meets align very well, both horizontally and vertically.

A few more pics and video.

You can see where the board and track go through both closets and where the power drop wires come out at my workbench. The wires will be tucked up underneath the lip of the shelf and not visible and eventually connect at three locations.

You can also see where the track itself will run along my workbench and turn left up the side wall. I have to make a run to my LHS to get more track and switches.

Also, some pics of the liftout showing the underneath wiring and connectors.

What a great project. Love it!

RSJB18 posted:

What a great project. Love it!

I cut it a little close on the video, but it's coming along nicely, I think - thanks.

Not only do you have a wye for reversing but you have a route to drive directly to the shop! 

I love the Anderson Power Poles - I went for the crimper tool out of the gate - why did you use more than one Red and one Black?

Hi, Carl - thanks.

Never thought about that, but you're right - I can just drive trains over to the workbench and lift them off for service and then back on again !

I have to provide power to the liftout, plus about 60' of track and a couple FT switches past the liftout (4 more power drops) and the power is coming from a transformer and distribution block that is another 15' away from the liftout on the main layout side and I was concerned about voltage (and possibly command signal) loss and figured I would have less power loss if I split the 5 drops between three wire pairs each coming from a separate distribution panel block as opposed to just running one wire and tapping it for all 5 drops. I could be wrong, but that's how I figured it and it wasn't that much more effort to run the three wire pairs.

The real Anderson crimper tool is great, especially if you're doing a lot of connectors, but it's a little pricey and I've done so much soldering over the years it's easy for me. I knew some guys who used to crimp and solder ! 

Got a fair amount done over the weekend. Picked up a 4 x 8 x 3/4" sheet of plywood Saturday with my son-in-law's truck and spent the weekend building the extension layout (pics attached) and designing the wye. I put mending braces on the bottoms of shelf to the left of the layout and also to the shelving along the long side and simply "laid" the sheet in place on the mending braces and butting up against the shelving and used some 2 x 4 legs for temporary support on the near sides. Ordinarily, I would only use 1/2" ply, but the shelving is 3/4" thick so it lines up exactly with the ply and gives me an additional 5" for wider curves. Adding the 1" foam on top will perfectly mate the layout to the 3/4" oak board and 1/4" roadbed that the track tests on coming out of the closets and around the corner.

I'll start painting the legs tonight and re-assembling the track. I need a 1 3/4" fitment piece that I'll have to run over to my LHS to get. I'll also mount the two terminal blocks to the underside of the layout where the power drops are going to be made and connect the power wires first along with TVS suppressors.

Almost done ! Got the red and black power wires to the reversing loop strung under my workbench shelf and run under the layout to terminal blocks and then up to solder joints under the Fastrack.  I used these black , soft plastic wire clips I got on Amazon. They come in a mixed bag of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 wires per clip and also have different wire sizes. I needed 3's and 2's and cut the 4's and 5's down so I would have enough. They have a sticky pad on the reverse side to adhere to the surface of whatever you're working on. In the picture, there is an exposed brown/copper wire. That is the wire that is going to go from the KW on my workbench to the MTH distribution block under the layout to provide 14v accessory power to the layout, but I haven't hooked it up yet, so it's exposed.

Note the TVS suppressors soldered to the terminal blocks on the underside of the layout. The pics also show the basic construction method I used.

I laid all the track work out and the fit it came together nicely. A neat feature I never thought about is that because of the non-derailing feature of the FT switch at the base of the loop, an incoming train will automatically go up one side of the loop and flip the switch the other way coming back so that the next incoming train will automatically go up the other side of the loop and continuously alternate. Of course, I can flip the switch via the Legacy remote if I want to change the sequence.  

I also cut, stained and poly'd the edging and am just waiting for the many coats of poly to dry before attaching it.

I was able to run trains and everything runs great across the wye and liftout; through the closets; and around the reversing loop and back onto the main layout but didn't have time to take a video. The only issue is that having so many FT switches (5) stacked on the main layout together is creating a continuity/shorting issue for a couple of trains, so I'll have to work on that.

I should get the edging and detail work completed this week and will post more pics and a video when completed.

Looks great. What's going inside the big reverse loop?

Bob

Thanks, Bob - that's the $64,000.00 question.

I'd like to eventually put in a Millhouse turntable and roundhouse, but they're expensive so it may take awhile to re-load the train budget. In the meantime, I have an old Plasticville Union Station and a couple other things to put there so it doesn't look so empty.

I'm also going to cut out a 25" diameter cardboard circle and move it around in the middle of the loop to experiment with different locations for installing the turntable and laying out whisker tracks, etc., so it will be ready to go when I do pull the trigger on the turntable.

Richie, before you get too excited about a turntable, here's a photo of a Millhouse 24" TT with a 25" whisker track.

Thanks, Dave.

The width of the loop is 53" - the length is 101" - it has an O-48 curve (not O-36) - and the switch at the bottom is O-72.

That should give a little bit more room for a turntable.

I’ll change my file and redo it.

That does make a difference, though I'm not sure my loop is the same as yours.