A hole in the wall X4 - a liftout bridge (page 12)

[TrainNut]

Well, here I go again. Something fresh for the new site.
History -
Several years ago, I got fed up with the club and decided it was time to build a layout at home. My wife and I decided at that time that the best place to build a layout would be in the room that we used the least - our Dining room. There, I built an N scale, L shaped layout.

   

Half our family room was occupied by our office. My wife promised that when she moved the office out of home into a real "office", I could have the old space for a new layout. Thus, I designed a huge layout to fit the space. The design was so neat that I fine tuned it and submitted it to MR's layout planning contest (winners to be revealed in May). Some of you may remember that I posted pics of the design on this site ever so briefly before other members suggested I remove it to better my meager chances at winning.

In the last couple of weeks, my wife followed through on her promise and we moved the office out of home. As I began looking at the empty space, visualizing the new layout, I came to realize that it was just too big for our house. My wife was in full support of building it but I could not. Plus, our Dining room is now being used more and more frequently and it sure would be nice to have that little bit of extra space. That layouts gotta go.

As we sat down to discuss options, several ideas surfaced but I have to admit that the best one came from her. "Build a smaller one in the other corner of the family room and poke it through the wall into the Living room. And, since you need someplace to run your narrow gauge engine," she said, "why don't you build a shelf layout on the other side?" AMAZING IDEA! So, here we have the other corner of the family room.

   

And, the small area in the Living room where it will pop out.

   

Following is a rough, VERY ROUGH, plan of the new layout...

   

It's designed to be a double mainline all the way around with a large yard and two towns with several industries. I hope to model the transition era as closely as possible. Size and design dictates that the minimum radius be 12". On the right hand side, I am toying with the idea of making the bridge either a duckunder or a liftout. I just have to find a bridge large enough to span a 2'8" gap. I've been looking for an HO bridge in the hopes that I would have a better chance of finding one. I saw one similar to this a while back, but can't seem to find it again.

   

Any help in this area would be most appreciated. It needs to span the entire gap .

I have also enlarged the yard area so you don't have to squint so hard...

   

I tried my best to follow the guidelines for designing a proper yard. The structure up behind the roundhouse will be either a car repair facility or a diesel facility. Down towards the right, where the three stubs come out, is a fantastic place for a rather large industry. I'm thinking a gas refinery or something.

It's a work in progress and comments are definitely welcomed.

[Trucklover]

TN i love the plan and i think its even better that your wife is on board with you and suggested the idea to punch through the wall!!!

Seeing your lasy layout progress, and seeing the progress on your backyard G scale layout, im really looking forward to this one taking shape and seeing some trains run on this layout!! Keep us posted on progress

[Dan85]

Interesting design! I really like the idea of having it pop through the wall into another room and run for a few feet - I think it's akin to having a shelf with a collection displayed of some sort.

My only suggestion would be to remove the entertainment center for additional space - would make a nice work bench. As it's drawn, it seems like you would gain two or three feet of space. Also, I can't imagine anyone being able to really watch the TV in it's present location anyways.

Best of luck with the project, I look forward to seeing progress shots!

- Dan

[BR60103]

I have an OO "scale" bridge called the Grand Victorian Suspension Bridge by Hornby. Looks a little like the Golden Gate Bridge. It's about 54" long but the middle span is around 2 feet. I used it on an N gauge layout and it really dwarfs the trains. You might be able to drop the end pieces, although it would look unbalanced. I ran a single line of N through it,but it should take a double.
(I'm not close enough to take pictures; I'll see if there're any on this computer.)

Yes, there is one.
   

[TrainNut]

My only suggestion would be to remove the entertainment center for additional space - would make a nice work bench. As it's drawn, it seems like you would gain two or three feet of space. Also, I can't imagine anyone being able to really watch the TV in it's present location anyways.

That's a good idea except that space back in there is a very useful storage space. If I cleaned that out, I'd have to find someplace else for all the junk that's in there. As far as the TV, that's the nerve center of our home. I've got a whole security system with cameras that feed into that TV. We never really use it as a TV but rather as a monitor. If you look close enough, in the picture, you can see an image of my front yard on the TV.

I have an OO "scale" bridge called the Grand Victorian Suspension Bridge by Hornby. I used it on an N gauge layout and it really dwarfs the trains.

I was afraid even an HO bridge would dwarf the N scale but I was hoping it wouldn't look too out of place. Way back in college, I built a long bridge out of balsa wood and I think I will probably end up doing something similar here.

As of lately, I've been messing with the track plan... fine tuning some of the details.

   

I've got an old mining scene on my current layout that I'd really like to bring over in one form or another and after messing with the track a little, it looks like it could fit in the space above the aquarium and provide for some simple switching. Off to the right of that, I'm thinking some sort of a mining camp. I need to do some research to see how these things were laid out. On the left side, you'll see a grey line extending downward over some rectangles. I was thinking of putting in some old piers as if the rail line had originally gone over a bridge straight but now all that's left are the piers.

   

I didn't like the linearity and conformity of this whole area the way it was before so I split up the mainline a little to simplify it and break it up. That will also leave more room for some structures in this area. I'm sure there is a prototypical example somewhere but I want a 45 degree crossing of the mainline back into an old quarry of some kind. I dunno.... still needs work.

[nachoman]

One potential problem - suppose you are running a train and as it goes into the next room it derails. I suppose it isn't much worse than a tunnel, but if the tunnel is in the same room you can usually hear it derail. Have the train derail in your living room, and not notice, and you could be sending a whole train to it's demise on the tile below.

[McGillicutty]

One potential problem - suppose you are running a train and as it goes into the next room it derails.

Sounds like a good reason to put in a few rerailers and maybe some low plexiglass along the edges of the layout.

[TrainNut]

So I thought I'd jump in without really jumping and I started on the small piece on the right against the back wall. On the plan, it looks like this...

   

So far, it's turned out to look like this...



You'll have to excuse the fact that it is in various stages of construction. Some of it still blue foam while other parts are plaster cloth and some of the plaster cloth has been coated with wall joint compound. One of my favorite scenes on the last layout was the mine scene and so I salvaged what I could and brought it into this one. On the right side, I'm using round toothpicks to try and simulate a pile retaining wall to support the water tower.



I also wanted a row of stone arches supporting the main line above the canyon and only recently figured out how to do that... Chooch tunnel portals. I had some laying around and I went and bought a few more and achieved exactly what I was looking for.

[Bigsteel]

wow TN,that looks fantastic :jawdrop: ! the tunnel portals really made a great bridge! this is still N right?--josh

[Jesso]

Great start! Very good job using the tunnel portals, make a nice looking bridge. This can be a fun way to build a layout, it almost becomes modular so that you have a definate area that you can work on and most importantly, finish. Can't wait to see more!

[Will_Annand]

Excellent start, looking really good.

[TrainNut]

Okay, nowwwwww let's get a little carried away! I've been thinking about adding another layout on top of this one. If I put the TOT (top of table) for the N scale layout at 37", do you think I would have enough room in between if I put an HOn3 on top of that with its TOT at 57"? I would have to put some lighting underneath the HOn3 to illuminate the N and I would probably support some of the weight of the HOn3 with cables suspended from the ceiling. How about some graphics to clear up this chaos a little bit?
The grey underneath is the expanse of the future N scale layout I will be building. The green stuff could be the HOn3. I have not played with a track plan hardly at all but rather drew in a few quick 18"R circles for reference sake. It does not have to pop out in the living room like the N scale does below but it could be neat if it did. However, I'm not sure how to tie it back into the layout once it comes back into the room on the right side... another bridge? Hmmmm...



Annnnnnnd a profile view might help as well so here she goes...



HOn3 operations would be very simple. I only have one engine and a few cars and all I'm really looking for is a complicated loop with a couple sidings here and there for interest sake. Thoughts? I also just gave some thought as to trying to reach the back corners of the HOn3. I think that might be a bit much of a reach for that height. Hmmmmmmmmm....

[Bigsteel]

1'4" is plenty of room in between levels for a two tier layout,but like you said,the HOn3 level might be a bit of a reach.id make it narrower than you have it if possible and plan from there.plus since its narrow gauge it could easily handle rather tight curves,and is it possible to cut a hole through the wall on the left side and run your HO stuff through there to eliminate the big loops?.i also wouldnt want to make a two level bridge,you could try but to get them both to either swing out of the way or lift up in unison would be a feat.if your keeping the HOn3 stuff simple,id just go with a point to point with either a wye or TT at each end.or you could just use the old 0-5-0 .--josh

[Jesso]

I would put a turntable and a runaround at the other end. And then have like an interchange track near there to offload onto, the interchange could just go into a tunnel and disappear

[tetters]

Sounds like a lot of fun. You've got a good start on that small section for the back wall. It looks great.