Layout Progress as of 7/26/2009

This week I completed laying the mainline track from the North End Emerson switch across the dropdown gate across the entrance to the layout room. With the installation of one Tortoise turnout motor and a bit more wiring, all of the trackwork in the Emerson area will be completed. This will allow scenery construction to begin in Emerson while track planning and construction progresses northward.

Before laying any additional track between North End Emerson and the dropdown gate, I had to superelevate the curve using strips of masking tape:



The first piece of Micro Engineering concrete tie flex track is affixed using latex caulk and held in place with several clamps carefully screwed down as to not damage the track:



While laying track on the gate, I temporarily screwed this scrap piece of 1x2" in place to make sure the gate could not be opened until the appropriate gaps had been cut in the rails:



The second section of flex track reached just a few inches short of the end of the gate roadbed for a near perfect fit:





This closeup view shows how both rails were gapped using a cutoff disc in a motor tool to allow the gate to be opened. The two sections of flex track have been soldered together (crudely since it was hard navigating the soldering iron around the gate rails!) so only one set of electrical feeders are needed along the span of the gate:



Here is the gate in the open position with the track in place:



I also applied Velcro patches to hold the removable end panels in place:







The lower level benchwork at the end of the aisle was modified to make the shelf 8" deeper. This will allow room for additional scenery to be built to disguise the non-prototypical horseshoe curve along the Emerson passing siding. The following two pictures show a before and after view of the benchwork addition:





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Layout Progress as of 1/18/2009

Over the weekend I completed two projects for the N-scale CSX Dixie Line. First, I completed the dropdown gate that crosses the doorway to the layout room on the lower level of the layout. I have included a detailed step-by-step account of how I built this gate in a separate HOWTO article. Here is a picture of the completed gate and a video showing the gate in action:





Finally, I overpainted a section of the backdrop with a solid light sky blue color:



This section of the backdrop had previously been painted with two shades of blue to simulate the lighter sky color at the horizon, but I subsequently decided I liked the solid light blue much better. I may try airbrushing white on the lower half of the backdrop to simulate the horizon, but that will be another project for another day.

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DIY: Install a Dropdown Gate

This post takes a highly detailed step-by-step look at how I built the dropdown gate across the doorway on the lower level of my N-Scale CSX Dixie Line layout. The gate will provide two functions: 1) allow trains to get from one side of the doorway to the other and 2) allow people to enter and exit the layout room easily. While the upper level can be ducked under fairly easily, asking a person to duck under the lower level would just be too much to ask!

Step 1 Looking back at an earlier picture of the layout, you can see where the gate will go. The distance across the doorway (between the wall bracket arms on either side) is 43.5", so the length of the bridge will be 46.5" to accommodate for the 3/4" width of each wall bracket arm and an additional 3/4" cleat on each bracket arm that the ends of the bridge will rest on:



Step 2 The bridge span is constructed of three 1x3" boards ripped from 3/4" birch plywood and cut to a length of 46.5". The three boards are held together temporarily using three drywall screws on each side so the assembly can be test fitted on the layout:



Step 3 A closer look at the end of the bridge span reveals the sideways I-beam arrangement of the three 1x3" boards. There are a few reasons I chose this construction for the bridge span:

1) The horizontal bridge deck will provide a nice wide, level surface for mounting the roadbed and track.
2) The vertical sides will prevent sag of the bridge deck.
3) The vertical sides will act as guard rails to prevent a derailed train from "taking the plunge."
4) When the vertical sides rest on the wall bracket arms, the surface of the bridge deck will be 1.5" above the tops of the wall bracket arms, which is an exact match to the top surface of the spline roadbed that will be used on the lower level of the layout.



Step 4 The backdrop on the right side of the doorway bends forward so the wall switches to the room lights can be accessed. This required the back side of the bridge to be notched so it would fit on the layout as far back from the front of the benchwork as possible. The track in this area runs quite close to the backdrop to accommodate the turnouts for the siding and house track at North End Emerson:





Step 5 The vertical sides of the bridge span rest atop the wall bracket arms on either side of the doorway. However, I had to build some "piers" on both wall bracket arms so there would be a good place to fasten the bridge ends and add support. I built the piers using scraps of the same 1x3" boards used to build the bridge span (this picture shows the left side pier; the right side is identical):



Step 6 These pictures show how the bridge span sits atop the bridge piers. I have fastened the bridge span to the pier using a pair of 2" angle brackets. The angle brackets hold the bridge span in place and also resist the downward forces on the cantilevered section of the bridge span when the gate is opened (these pictures show the left side pier; the right side is identical):





Step 7 I cut notches in the bottom of each bridge side so that the 4" gate hinge could be attached to the bottom of the bridge span using eight 3/4" #10 wood screws. Note that the square side of the hinge is actually screwed into the bridge deck and the bridge sides. I used a jigsaw to make these cuts, which explains why they are so ragged and the top of the notch does not line up with the bottom of the bridge deck as it should:





Step 8 I marked the locations of the diagonal cuts on each board of the bridge span and made the cuts using a chop saw. As I was about to make the cuts, I remembered to mark each board so I would know how the pieces would go back together:



Step 9 I reassembled the bridge assembly and held my breath as I put it in place...everything fit correctly!



Step 10 I used a sliding door bolt as the locking mechanism on the gate. The next few pictures show how this was installed. Note that the sliding part of the bolt actually rests on top of a drywall screw on the other side of the gap. This is needed to keep the bridge deck at the same height on both sides of the gap. Note how the diagonal cuts in the bridge sides do not line up with the diagonal cut bridge deck--this results in the bridge deck forming a "tongue" that fits between the bridge sides when in the closed position to maintain side-to-side alignment:







Step 11 A second door bolt was required to keep the bridge deck level when the gate is locked closed:



Step 12 I used 4" mending plates strengthen the attachment of the bridge piers to the wall bracket arms:





Step 13 I am using laminated spline sub-roadbed for the layout. After the gate was completed, I realized I failed to notch the ends of the bridge deck so a center spline of the roadbed could be attached to the ends of the bridge. I disassembled the bridge and cut 1/8" notches 1.5" deep into each end of the bridge deck. Since the splines will be 1/8" wide and 3/4" tall, these notches will keep the bridge and the sub-roadbed in perfect alignment:





Completed Gate Finally, a few shots of the completed gate in the open and closed positions:













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Layout Progress as of 1/14/2009

This week I started construction of the dropdown gate that crosses the doorway on the lower level of the N-scale CSX Dixie Line layout. I decided to go with a dropdown style gate rather than a swing in/out or lift-out style because I felt it could be easily built with minimal addition to the existing benchwork. So far, I have only managed to assemble the actual bridge. This is just a temporary assembly, since it will need to be disassembled for cutting and adding the hinge and bolts that will make the entire assembly work. By doing this temporary assembly, I was able to test fit the bridge on the actual layout and determine the best position.

The bridge is constructed out of three 46.5" long 1x3" boards ripped from plywood assembled in a "U" shape. The horizontal board serves as the bridge deck that the roadbed and track will be mounted on, while the vertical boards prevent sagging and warping of the assembly:



A closer look at the basic "U" construction of the bridge assembly. The vertical members also serve as guard rails that will prevent a derailed train from "taking the plunge":



The bridge has been set in place to test the fit onto the layout:



The next steps will be to cutout the movable portion of the bridge, attach the hinge to allow this portion to swing up and down, and attach the door bolts that lock the bridge into the closed position.

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