06-19-2009, 03:43 AM
I decided that my layout could work better with a transfer table as a staging area. While there are some resources available regarding the construction of these, there still are a few things seeming a bit problematic.
The first one is powering the table or rather only the active track (in case I want to use the table for engine storage; if the table is only going to be used for cars it could as well be always fully powered which probably simplifies things). Anyways, which is a good way of getting power to the traverser? I even thought of using a piece of mrr track which could both work as the roller (instead of using a drawer slide mechanism) as well as a power source (wire the track on which the transfer table runs as if it were a part of the layout), but whether it would work adequately is the question.
The second one is whether it might be necessary to hold cars in place on the transfer table (imagining that very smoothly rolling cars might start moving while manipulating the table (currently only considering a manually moved table, not sure how difficult or necessary it would be to power the table.) Or is it enough to make sure the layout is level (which is probably a very good thing in any case.)
Attached is a sketch of the traverser - at the far end of the table there is a track which holds one engine so that it can be moved to the other end of the train for when the train is returning to the layout. Although I'm going to run steam engines, I didn't include a turntable here.
The first one is powering the table or rather only the active track (in case I want to use the table for engine storage; if the table is only going to be used for cars it could as well be always fully powered which probably simplifies things). Anyways, which is a good way of getting power to the traverser? I even thought of using a piece of mrr track which could both work as the roller (instead of using a drawer slide mechanism) as well as a power source (wire the track on which the transfer table runs as if it were a part of the layout), but whether it would work adequately is the question.
The second one is whether it might be necessary to hold cars in place on the transfer table (imagining that very smoothly rolling cars might start moving while manipulating the table (currently only considering a manually moved table, not sure how difficult or necessary it would be to power the table.) Or is it enough to make sure the layout is level (which is probably a very good thing in any case.)
Attached is a sketch of the traverser - at the far end of the table there is a track which holds one engine so that it can be moved to the other end of the train for when the train is returning to the layout. Although I'm going to run steam engines, I didn't include a turntable here.
-norm