This Ever Happen To You..??

[Steamtrains]

Lately I've been in a kind of a RR'ing funk....But a couple of weeks back, I got off my duff and decided I needed to upgrade some of the electrical work I'd done originally when building the layout. In the rush to get trains running I didn't follow "standard practices" for good electrical performance...Trains were slowing down where they shouldn't (I didn't notice this 'till my brother asked if there was a grade in a certain section where trains were slowing down....)
And I had done a real "butcher" job in bridging the gap where a lift out section is located...So I spent all last weekend banging my head under the layout, dropping leads to the main buss, and finally bridging the gap at the lift out with something a little more "professional".

Here's how I had bridged the gap.....These are some old "Molex" (??) connectors salvaged from my previous layout....


This is the new "me"....


And this is the connector I had used to feed power to the lift-out section...


Now comes the good part....I had often thought that when that lift-out section is scenicked, I wasn't going to be able to reach under the scenery to disconnect that connector....So how to do it....??? I thought & thought, thinking of many possible solutions to "automatically" feed power when the lift-out was put in its place. From "powered" bolt heads, to relay switches, to bayonet plugs....to THIS...!!!!



It dawned on me that the latches that hold the lift-out in place were metal...! And that the connection was good enough to conduct the juice....So I quickly ran to the layout...got my wire cutters and did the old connector in....Wired up the latches...and PERFECT...works like a dream...!!!

Funny how the mind works...It kind'a leads you down a rocky path 'till it says.."Hey dummy...remember this..??"

[TrainNut]

I don't think my last layout ever made it past the preliminary "let's run some quick wires and see if it works." As the layout progressed, the wiring did not. My new one is starting off the same way. So far, everything gets power from one set of feeders. :oops:

[Charlie B]

Steam trains, I have avoided lift out sections because of power feeding, I won't anymore, thanks for sharing, you just added new dimensions to my future layout.
Charlie

[nomad]

I have seen a lot of solutions on the net, but yours is by far the easiest.

Loren

[Steamtrains]

Thanks guys....
Just one of those things....You can have the solution right in front of you and not see it....I think I was more focused on doing something, rather than actually looking to solve the problem...

Most of what I've been doing has been a good excuse to stay away from ballasting umpteen feet of track I've go to do....Having run out of things to do, i finally started ballasting this morning....

[BR60103]

I made 2 dead sections around my removable section. The N rail is wired from the E side and then 2 feet of it on the west side is wired through the liftout. The S rail is wired from the W side and 2 eet of rail on the east side is wired through the liftout. So when the liftout is removed I have a dead zone on each side. Doesn't stop you backing a long train through.

[Trolleyfan]

Building a spring loaded pin that raises between the rails when the liftout is removed will keep you from backing a train into the abyss. I built a pair for a friends layout that would retract, when the weight of the liftout was on them, out of some flying model airplane control parts, a spring, a pushbutton switch (normally open), a screw and some brass stock. I think I got the springs from a hardware store, the push buttons from Radio Shack and the brass and model airplane control parts from a hobby shop. The rod was a piece of metal pushrod that threaded into a metal clevis (Du Bro or Sig IIRC) and this in turn pivoted in a hole drilled in the brass strip. One end of the brass had a hole drilled in it so that it would pivot on a screw that was run into a piece of the benchwork. The spring would push the bar up when the weight of the liftout was removed releasing the push button to open the track power circuit and raising the rod to stop any wayward trains headed for the gap. Worked like a charm with only about an hour of work to fit the pieces together, drill the holes in the roadbed, put them in place and add the wires so the cut-out would turn off the power to the approach and do some final tweaking to make it work without binding.

[Steamtrains]

David...I did make a "dead" section from what will generally be the approach side of the liftout, but the "exit" end presented some problems.....Trolleyfan's mention of a N/O pushbutton lit the ol' bulb, and I'll use it cut power to the exit side, just in case some half-crazed engineer approaches from the "wrong" side.....

[ngauger]

So COOL!!!!!

Great Idea!!! Did you remember to sand the area behind (under) the screw head where the wire connects to the latch??? and also - sanding where the 2 parts of the latches meet, wouldn't hurt either Better conductivity on clean surfaces...

Also - you "may" need to maintain these areas over time as they may tarnish.. But it's still such a cool idea!!!!!!!

[Steamtrains]

I hadn't thought of maintenance as being a problem, as the layout is in a controlled environment...But I'll keep my eyes open just in case....Thanks for the tip....