Layout Tour

TrainNut

Ditat Deus
The swinging staging area - that's a neat idea but I have some thoughts of caution (all of which you have probably already thought of)...
- As I noticed that your room door swings in, you might want to rig up an "in use" red light (or a simple knock first sign)on the outside of the room to let other occupants of the house know when the doorway will be obstructed with the staging swingers so as to prevent locos and cars from accidentally being bumped from the staging. I saw that it locks in place but sometimes it doesn't take much.
- Will you be staging when the swinger is in the open position? If so, it might be a delicate operation to swing the arms into the closed position with locos and cars on there without having them roll off.

I like that Japanese 7-11. I'm sure somewhere in the U.S. you could find a prototype example!
Do you have bottom access inside the helix? If so, you may want to add a temporary net when not accessing so as to catch the inevitable derailments. If not, a simple chunk of soft foam would accomplish the same purpose.
Thanks for the video. I wish I had the ability to do the same.
 

nolatron

Member
The swinging staging area - that's a neat idea but I have some thoughts of caution (all of which you have probably already thought of)...
- As I noticed that your room door swings in, you might want to rig up an "in use" red light (or a simple knock first sign)on the outside of the room to let other occupants of the house know when the doorway will be obstructed with the staging swingers so as to prevent locos and cars accidentally being bumped from the staging. I saw that it locks in place but sometimes it doesn't take much.

I'm still really thinking about that staging bridge actually. This is version 1. :) I may eventually remove that office door totally too, just to open up the room. Not sure yet. I'll probably also add some sides to each level to prevent stuff from falling 5-6 feet to the floor.

- Will you be staging when the swinger is in the open position? If so, it might be a delicate operation to swing the arms into the closed position with locos and cars on there without having them roll off.

Probably. Trains will be parked here and swung out against the wall when not in use. I'll certainly take steps to ensure things won't take a tumble though.

Do you have bottom access inside the helix? If so, you may want to add a temporary net when not accessing so as to catch the ineveitable derailments. If not, a simple chunk of soft foam would accomplish the same purpose/

Not yet. adding an access hole is on my to-do list before it gets enclosed (whenever that may be). But yeah, some foam sounds like a good idea access hole or not. Thanks!
 

logicman

Greybeard
Ahhh, so many great ideas to steal from, so little time!! sign1 Great job Shaun.... __________________
Cheers,
Richard

I'll second that !

A small point about the swinging section:

Those shelf brackets are inherently weak and flexible.
May I suggest at least a diagonal strut underneath?
Better yet, some cross-braced struts to give a suggestion of a trestle bridge.

btw, being substantially deaf, I really appreciate the total lack of overloud music which seems everywhere to dominate the channels and mask the speech.

Nice one!

:wave:
 

nolatron

Member
Those shelf brackets are inherently weak and flexible.
May I suggest at least a diagonal strut underneath?
Better yet, some cross-braced struts to give a suggestion of a trestle bridge.

Yup. I was thinking the same thing. It currently has a little bit of sag to it, so some additional support is definitely needed.
 
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