Wye and Reversing Loop Extension - Final Update

The 1st step was to mock up the 12.5" "wedge" to mate the liftout to the existing layout. I screwed in a couple of mending braces to the existing shelving and then a scrap board to support the other end and laid in a piece of wood as the wedge. I then fitted up the new switches and the connecting track between them and it looks pretty close right off the bat.

The North/South straight on the edge of the existing layout had a 30" straight piece of FT in it, so that had to be removed and the O-36 switch and two 10" pieces inserted. The lantern switch stand also had to be relocated to the inboard layout side near the Roadway truck. After mocking it up, it looks like about only 1/3 of the piece of wood will be needed to make up the wedge.

I also installed the new O-36 switch at the top of the existing layout in place of where just a plain O-36 curve was in place. The new switch will allow trains to go straight through across the door and onto the extension rather than just curve around onto the straight on the existing layout. Sounds pretty straightforward, right - not - there was no room for the lantern switch stand on the "right" side of the switch because it would interfere with the existing sidings, so it had to be swapped to the left side. No big deal except for the fact that there is a wall there and no place for the switch stand to go. I ended up having to notch out a small section of the wall for the switch stand to lay into. Had to use a Dremel and cut off wheel cutting into 1" thick knotty pine paneling to create the notch. I'll go back and make it look a little nicer after everything is up and running.

I suspect nothing in this build will be easy.

It’s never easy retrofitting an existing layout because we always forget something, like the switch stand. You found a solution pretty quickly, but it’s never as easy as it looks on paper or in the software. Still, I think you’re going to be happy when it’s all done.

After installing two of the new switches and mocking up the wye configuration, the next step was to cut out rough openings in the sides of the closets for the track to pass through. My reciprocating saw got a good workout this weekend. The side nearest the door was pretty easy since there's no rear wall in that closet because the main plumbing stack is inside.

The other closet was not so easy because it has a rear wall and a sink and a lot of framing to hold everything together that had to be cut out to get clearance for the track to pass through cleanly and "sistered" back with new studs to keep everything structurally sound. I had to cut a 6" notch all across the rear closet wall to get access to everything and will have to go back after the project is finished and put a new panel in place to cover the notch.

The pic's show the rough openings with the 10' oak board in place and track temporarily laid on the board. The first pic shows the main stack closet with the board running through. The second pic shows the rough opening on the door side and the third pic shows the track coming out about eight feet later on the other side above my workbench.

I have some 1/4" foam roadbed made specifically for Fastrack width on order that will provide some needed height and sound deadening.

Looking good Richie

I assume cutting holes in the walls was cleared with the CEO first?

You probably need a small shield in the closet to keep the contents of the closet off the tracks. But not so big that you can't reach the trains on a derailment. 

RSJB18 posted:

Looking good Richie

I assume cutting holes in the walls was cleared with the CEO first?

You know it !!

gftiv posted:

You probably need a small shield in the closet to keep the contents of the closet off the tracks. But not so big that you can't reach the trains on a derailment. 

That's a good idea. The closet doesn't get much use but I'll put something there to make sure nothing falls onto the tracks. If a train derails in the closet, it's probably going to have a pretty good fall. Thankfully, it's a pure straight, so there's no reason it should - other than the train gods.  

Completed the "wedge" area along the existing layout which will allow the west leg of the curve to cross the doorway. Glued, butted and screwed the base pine board to the shelf and side of the layout after removing the edging and then added the 1/2" plywood and 1" foam all cut to the same shape to form the wedge and get it to the same height as the existing layout.

It's pretty solid and will be even more so once I cut back some of the wedge towards the edge of the new track. I figure about 50% of the wedge as it now sits will be cut away. I wouldn't stand on it, but it shouldn't need any further support, either.

Amazing what it takes to add such a small piece. Looks good, won’t be long until trains make their first run.

I like planning and figuring out the best way to do these build outs, so it's enjoyable for me.

Couple more pics of the wedge with the track mocked-up in place - looks pretty close.  All of the wedge from about 2" south of the curve track will eventually be cut away with a jig saw. I'll get more done this weekend.

Made some good progress this weekend. I cut the door molding supports out to the correct height - 7" overall, about 5.5" above the track height which should be more than enough for most trains to clear. It was a little tricky because the shelving is not level from side-to-side across the doorway, so the supports had to be cut at different heights. I then fitted in the liftout to butt directly up against the existing layout on the right side and the edge of the support on the left where the 1 x 4 will butt up against it.

Awesome job, loved the video.

Thanks - easy when you have great track designers !

BTW, the fitment of the wye turned out to be not that difficult. I think that's because I could move the switch back and forth across the liftout until I found a "sweet spot" where both the top of the wye and the curve could connect to it with stock FT pieces and I didn't have to squeeze everything into a defined space.

Rich,

You don't need to cut the liftout with straight parallel edges.  Make your cuts where the tracks join; you don't need to cut the track sections.

Jan

I agree with Jan - bend the tabs under track, lift the rails and pull the joiner pins at the locations indicated - use 2 - 5" sections on the divergent straight and pull the pins between them.

Pull the pins at the other end where there is a track joint 

Then make power jumpers with plugs

I wouldn't hesitate to simply cut the track to match the lift-out split. Fastrack cuts easily with whatever your preferred tool is, be it a Dremel-style cutoff wheel or an old-fashioned hacksaw. For me a  hacksaw-kerf left the correct gap to allow placing and removing the lift-out.

One thing about an irregular cut is that it becomes self-aligning.

Jan

I like the idea of just pulling the pins and will try that first - I can always go back to cutting the track if the alignment doesn't work out for some reason.

I'm waiting for a wire order and connectors from Del City to come in, so it may be a few days or the weekend until I can get to that part. In the interim, I still have to stain the long oak board running through the closet; paint and turf the wedge; and hard wire the 30" sections of track in the closets. That will keep me busy for a awhile.

I've never added a lift-out, but it seems to me you could just add a cleat (outlined in Red) to the underside where the Lt Green lift-out meets the Green/Yellow main bench work. In your photo, there appears to be about 1.5" of door jam between the edge of the benchwork and the actual door with the new plywood lift-out. If you replace the 10" track with two 5" tracks like Carl suggested and pulled the pins on the 3 Red tracks that extend just past the edge of the lift-out, you wouldn't have to cut anything, bench work or track. Add a similar cleat to the other side and the lift-out would simply rest on the cleats. I don't see any reason whole tracks need to be on the lift-out, especially with FasTrack. If I'm wrong, I'm sure Carl and Jan will let me know.