[cv_acr]

Thanks for the replies all

The lift-out section does have me worried and I had not thought about the tracks not being perpendicular to the seam and I can see how that could make life difficult. I'll have to rethink that. Maybe I suck it up and make it a duck under.

If you work carefully it can work, but you can't afford to be sloppy. Tracks need to be well secured and lined up perfectly. It can be done, but you'll probably want a good solid wood frame around the liftout, and not just foam surfaces at this point which can be easily dented and deformed.

This is the industrial strength solution we employed at my club:

The entire liftout track is actually on a super-elevated (banked) curve. The roadbed is made by laminating thin strips into a continuous curve, and then cut after the fact to make it lift. (google "spline roadbed construction" for more info on the roadbed technique.)

 

[cv_acr]

And everyone learns something, xrunner learned ( I think) that water can be all different colors, but the true color is Blue.

Water is colourless. Lakes are blue because the sky is blue.

Different stuff suspended in the water (silt, algae, etc.) also adjusts the colour and visibility. Clean water is perfectly clear.

 

[cv_acr]

CV,

I'm a big fan of a tapered "keyway" fit on a liftout. Smart. Self-centering, tight tolerance, but easy to remove, etc.

TJ

The bevelled side blocks that receive the end of the lift-up are also screw-adjustable on that setup to make sure that it will always be perfectly aligned.

 

[cv_acr]

Our previous gate, which that lift-up arrangement replaced, was a big heavy swinging thing that:
a) had to be overbuilt to keep things from twisting
b) was difficult to get & keep perfectly aligned so you really had to watch your train which crossing it.

With the new lift-up you can run full speed across it without worry.