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10 Responses to How to Install Lift Out Section on Baseboard
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Ken, my layout is 18 x 8 so I needed 2 cutouts to reach the interior sections, The base layer is 1/2″ plywood with 3/4″ rigid foam board over that. what I did was cut an 18″ x 20″ section out of the plywood, then cut a 22″ x 22″ section in the foam board. That gave me the overhang I needed to hold the foam board as well as a couple inches to hold on to as I go in and out of my access holes. Since I’m popping in and out all the time, I couldn’t have anything “permanent” like track on those sections…so I made a soccer field on one section, and a Drive In Movie parking lot on the other. It also allows me to cut additional sections of foam board and change scenes if I want. The soccer field got swapped out for a frozen lake & Christmas Tree farm this Holiday season.
Hope this helps
Steve, Thank you for the prompt reply.I am proposing a twin track approx. 4m x 3m oval layout with branches fiddle yard etc. Your solution was one that I had not thought of ( soccer field & drive-in movie lift outs as the access points).
Ken, here are a couple of ways that I have used for access panels: The easiest is to use a jig saw with very fine toothed blade (for metal). Set base plate at 45% or greater so that the blade is angled in toward the center of the area that you want to be removable. Outline the area to be removed with a dark pencil. If the area to be removed is a rectangle, drill a hole in opposite corners just large enough to fit the saw blade. Cut along the outline to the next corner from each hole with the blade angled in. Change the base plate to the the same angle on the opposite side of the blade and again cut from the holes to the saw cut in the corners. Some jig saw blades have a slight backward angle to them so you may have to cut a little beyond the previous cut. This method will give you an access that will not fall through the hole and be supported on all sides. Because of the thickness of the saw blade you will have a slight depression that can be hidden or filled level when you add scenery. The other method is to make vertical cuts and then use wood or metal strips that are attached to the bottom of the baseboard that overlap the cuts to hold the panel up. If you have tunnels on the edge of your layout that need to be accessed from the back, I have found that three sides of a picture frame around the access hole will hold a piece of hardboard in place that can be quickly slid out of the way. Good luck with you project. Tim
Tim, Thank you for the prompt reply and the detailed construction methods. As I am proposing a 4m x 3m twin oval track my access will be through permanent track. I was proposing to cut the bus wires etc and join them with plugs at the access panel cuts. In order to ensure a level track at the access joins would it be necessary to use dowel locating pins through the joint. I realise this might be a belt and braces addition and possibly a pain each time the access panel is opened. Hopefully I would not be opening the access too frequently.
First is this an access that you will be going through a lot?, You said base board Your not talking the baseboard down along the floor are you? When a lift out is in place and you are running trains are you going to be able to get under it and while I am asking are you going to be able to get under it when you are older? I use a Pass through gate a 3 track gate that I pass through 20 times a day just to get tools. I can easily get through in between trains without stopping them . Lift outs are nice but you don’t want to be taking them out all the time especially through a main access with traffic. from Newman
Newman. Thank you for the prompt reply and the comments offered. I do not propose going through the access as frequently as you have indicated in your comments and yes age is already an issue. A gate sounds interesting and I will certainly look at the video on your youtube page. With such frequent access as you mentioned how did you solve the electrical continuity to the track etc?
Hi Ken,
The gate was not hard to do but I will not lie it was time consuming. I spent 2 months building it and several of the NMRA members from are division have been over to look at it. There are 3 tracks and 2 of them are on a climb of 2 %. So different levels was involved for me and the other end of the gate was also at a different level. As you will see each rail is cut at a different length which the longer ones are the last ones to swing into place as the gate closes. Each of the rails also have a 45 degree side angle cut on the rail and as they come together with the hard set rails they blend the cut in the rail. In other words the wheels will be crossing over from the one rail to the continuing rail with out any gaps that will make a smoother transition to the permanent rail. In other words no gaps and no clickitty clunks across the gap. I also for each track have cut the rail at about a inch difference in the 2 rails and that makes the wheels cross the cut only on one rail at a time. On one track I have also installed guide rails along the solid rail so that the wheels will stay in alignment on the cut rail and at the other rail cut one inch farther I did the same on the other rail. I have not set guide rails on the other 2 tracks but will later now that I have the techniques to soldier the rails to PC ties that I have learned to do making my own switches. I do not depend on the power to feed through the breaks in the rail. Since I am running Buss wires parrelling the rails under each rail and connecting to the rail using phone wire drops every 4 to 8 feet . What I did was run the buss wires to the hinged end of the gate for each track (1 wire for each rail as I have 6 rails (3 tracks) At the edge of the gate near the hinge I did a loose loop of those wires so they would flex when the gate is opened and closed (the loop needs to have enough flex so that the wires do not pull tight and bend and twist the wires. mount the other end in a clamp on the gate side to hold in place. leave a little slack so to adjust the loop if necessary. Each wire on the gate connects from the buss wires buss to the its proper rail using wires from in house phone cable. (Not the wires from a phone connecting cord at the phone but the house phone wiring (usually found in a 4 or 6 wire phone cable. The buss wires feed and connect to the tracks about a foot and a half from the gate on each side and the tracks on the gate. These rails are insulated from the rest of your layout rails and connected as buss wires to that area. I have insulated the rails to include the distance on each side of the gate so that when I install the gate micro switches that the power will cut off when the gate is opened even just a bit. I have yet to install the micro switches as I just purchased them and have been running them hot with the rest of the layout. The installation of these switches will happen as I have had some close calls with guests opening the gate unannounced. Several times the gate was opened and the train could have gone off the cliff so to speak if I had not been watching the throttle. To add the micro switches All I have to do is cut the buss wires where they go past the rail insulators and feed them through the micro switches. Hope this gives you an idea of what I have done. Your gate might not have the complication of multiple of tracks.
That level is what I call the staging level. The main level will also have 3 tracks yet to build. The difference will be the lower staging level is a swing gate and the upper main will be a vertical swing. The cuts will be cut with the angles for going together for up and down rather than sideways cuts. The upper gate will have a counter balance rig connected so it doesn’t just drop on someone’s head and will stay in the up or down positions without a lot of locking pins to hold it. The current swing gate has a water bottle full of steel scrap and sand counter weight that hangs on a pulley that is connected to the end of the gate and pulls the gate shut slowly so as it comes near the closed position it begins to rest on a guide plate. The gate does not close completely by itself but with the gat unattended it will go back and rest on the plate and only a push to the stops will close the gate completely where the new micro switches will make up and power the tracks after the rails are aligned.
So operation to enter the train area is as easy as lift the upper level to the over center, push the gate open, walk through, close the gate to the stops and lower the lift gate to its stops. Note the cutoff micro switches will cut power to the level that is opened only as there will be 3 micro switches on each gate. (No struggling trying to align a locking pin where guests have lots of problems to find the hole) Hope that this is interesting enough to try and I have not confused you too much. The gate video on my page will show you the gate part of it. from Newman Atkinson
Newman. Thank you very much for the detailed description of the methods you have used. Your comments have given me plenty to think about in making and installing my gate.
Ken, here’s another option you may consider. My layout is about 14′ x 10′ and basically a multi-track circle with sidings and tunnels. I have two removable sections, one across a double window (about 6′ in length) that isn’t moved often. For that area I built a lift-out section, aligning the track so that a single 9″ straight piece could span the gap at each end and be removed when the lift-out is taken off the layout. I use pliers to slide the track joiners to one side on the permanently mounted track adjacent, and remove the one piece. The layout is built on a 1/4 frame with 1/8″ hardboard covered with 2″ foam. I kept the removable area only about 10″ wide so it would be easily lifted out when needed. For wiring, I installed both a track bus and an accessories bus, using common receptacles and plugs at each end. This allows the section to be unplugged and removed without disturbing track, scenery or wiring that is permanently attached. I built a simple 2″ shelf under the layout at each end to hold the lift-out at the proper height, and use barrel bolts from the hardware store to hold each end in place (so I don’t have to rely on the strength of the track to keep the alignment in check).
I also built a shorter (36″) lift-up gate for access in and out of the layout. Again, I kept the area narrow (only 10″) to make it easy to use – this part gets used more often. On the right end, I used three small cabinet hinges mounted below grade. I have a piece of painted material that lays over them, looking a bit like grass and dirt. The other end sits again on a small (1″) shelf to keep it in alignment vertically. The hinges maintain horizontal alignment, and I use the same idea of a single removable piece of track to span gaps.
In both cases, I’ve used Atlas re-railer track sections as they’re a bit heavier and more solid than plain track. If you’re using track with plastic attached roadbed like Kato or Atlas tru-track that would likely work well too. I hope this helps – this approach has been very successful for me. Best of luck with your layout.
Jerry. Thank you for your comments and details of your method. Along with the comments from other members I am getting a clear picture of what is needed for a lift out or gate.