Working around cabinet doors

[samurisid]

im planning on doing an HO scale train around my "man room" (aka, the basement) and am very new too all this, and basically still just thinking it all
through. The problem I can see im going to have is I am going to have 3 large
access doors to work around (2 of them are about 2 foot wide, and 1 about 4 foot wide. Ive been searching thru the threads in this forum and saw mention of detachable bridges and the like.. I was wondering where I might find more detail on this or possible solutions to my problem. I dont have any kind of drawings really, but the at the left corner, is the first 2' access door, and the next access door will be approximately 8' from that, and the big access door will be 2' past the second 2' access door. the 4' access door will actually be 2 2' doors. Hopefully I have provided enough info.

 

[60103]

Sam: I put up a thread over a year ago on spline roadbed. This was for the removable section over our basement access.
I made a stiff section that slots into the end of the permanent section and rests on shelves in the middle. You can use the removable sections as "view blocks" or "scene separators" and have something very different on the bits in the middle -- snow scene, different section of the country, factory diorama.

 

[samurisid]

soo, do you know the subject line of your thread? or perhaps do you have diagrams about what you are talking about? (i am very new, so new, i dont have a single track yet )

 

[Matthyro]

Here is the thread Sam
http://www.the-gauge.com/showthread.php?t=6583
Welcome to the Gauge

 

[60103]

Thank you Robin. My solution was complicated because I needed both a curve and a grade.

 

[samurisid]

hmm, i guess more of what I was looking for was the track.
Like, from what I remember as a kid was you have 9" peices of track
connected with some metal sleeves. How do you make it so the
track is easily removeable so you dont fumble around with the little metal sleeves. I bought a few trainsets on eBay, and i am waiting for their arrival so I can mess around with trying to accomplish what I am looking for.

 

[sammyd]

If you're going around your basement you will have to have a main power bus (like 14 gauge wire)from your power pack running with the track (under the benchwork) with smaller feeders(18-20 gauge wire) run up to the track every so often, 3-6 feet depending on who you listen to. This will ensure adequate power on the rails.
With your liftout sections you don't worry about the track joiners (little metal sleeves).
The main bus is made removeable as well as your liftout section using any of a variety of wire connectors. Making sure you have a feeder run from your bus to your track in the liftout section.

The best bet would be to make your liftout sections, lay the track normally then use a cutoff tool to cut the track at the liftout joints.

Another idea would be to use flextrack instead of the 9" snap track pieces.
Especially if you're going around a room. the smaller snap track will make lots of joints in the track and joints will equal problems down the road. Chances for misalignment, chances for shifting due to climate, chances of poor electrical contact causing dead spots.

 

[samurisid]

Great, hopefully, that will solve my problems, now i just haveta put up the walls and hopefully have some pictures and layout designs soon.
You have all been very helpfuly, and cant wait to get this project moving.

 

[60103]

If you lay your track carefully and if your carpentry is extremely precise, you can make the removable sections so they drop into place and the track lines up. Mine doesn't.
If you have a fairly solid roadbed (homasote or wood, not plastic or rubber) you can put a flathead screw under the rails at the joint and solder the rails to it. That eliminates much misalignment.
I use the rail joiners and slide them fully onto one rail for removal. I have some 1/4" phone plugs that back up the electrical system. And I make sure that one rail feeds from one end only all the way to the far end and feeds a section of a couple of feet on the solid land. Other rail is fed in the opposite direction. That makes a dead section if the middle is removed.

 

[samurisid]

is there a magazine, or perhaps book you could recommend that kinda lays out the basics for me. Like, i didnt realize you need to run wire along with the track to keep voltage to the track..

 

[60103]

I don't know what's currently available -- I have 40 years' worth of magazines in the basement. The extra wiring is because rail joiners don't carry current as well -- they become loose after a while. If you divide the layout into blocks the effect disappears. It is more severe if you use sectional track because there are 4 times as many joints. (If you use DCC instead of DC it is really necessary.)

 

[engineshop]

The problem I can see im going to have is I am going to have 3 large access doors to work around

Maybe you should work out the problem from the other side of the problem. Since I don't know what kind of cabinets you have, this idea might be completely absurd.
How about building sliding doors on your cabinets or those old type roll-down doors?

 

[samurisid]

ha, that would be neat..
that is certainly something I will look into.. thank you.