HO Scale Vertical Staging Yard


vanburen

New Member
Hello everyone!

I wanted to share an upcoming project, solicit advice and share progress along the way. I am building an 8 foot long, 4 foot high staging elevator with about 10 tracks to store trains.

It will be lifted by a dc linear actuator controlled by an Arduino. Riding on 8 foot long track with roller bearings.

I plan to have laser occupancy detectors on the elevator - shooting up through holes in the end of the floors on each end that will tell me a train is safely aboard. Likewise on the approach track to make sure the unit doesn’t move when a train is loading.

The heavy elevator will be counterweighted w cables and pulleys.

Most parts are on their way. Some details remain, plus the coding of the control circuit.

It’s probably overkill but is an all inclusive sort of holiday project. All comments welcomed. Many thanks in advance.


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Good luck with the project and keep us up to date. I have had the pleasure of seeing one in operation while on a home-layout tour a few years back. Pretty neat set-up.
Welcome to the forum.

Willie
 
Good luck with the project and keep us up to date. I have had the pleasure of seeing one in operation while on a home-layout tour a few years back. Pretty neat set-up.
Welcome to the forum.

Willie

Thanks Willie! Looking forward to breaking ground on this project!


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Made a lot of progress this weekend. The elevator carriage is complete! I drilled the ends of the floors for my laser detector beams - figured that it would be impossible once assembled.
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Added the shelves using spacer blocks. It’s overbuilt but was simple to assemble.
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Next step is the sliding hardware and to finish painting this beast.

It is heavy! Phone died before I got a finished shot. But coming soon!


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How do you plan on 'locking' the levels in place to align with the incoming/outgoing tracks? Once positioned, gravity should be enough to keep it in place, assuming positional accuracy.

Also, even before you add tracks, wiring AND trains/consists, it's going to be heavy......tell me about how it will be moved.
 
I’m going to use a linear actuator to move it and hopefully it will sit peacefully at each level without a solenoid to lock it.

I am planning on counterweighting it to offset the weight which isn’t insignificant. The plus will be that each train shouldn’t make it move!


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While not painted fully, I got it mounted on the wall. It weighs ... 80 lbs empty. Slightly more than I had anticipated...

Now I need to find 40 pound counterweights! The pipe clamps don’t cut it!

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Or counter weights from a theater's fly system. They come in 10, 20 and 40 pound iron bricks.
I will look for those. I spoke with a metal dealer who can cut bars of 1/2” steel that I could use. So I have one source at least


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I'd have thought some selection of bricks from the hardware store would be the cheapest kind of counterweight.

I'd be interested to hear the plan for an alignment sensor. This could be a real technical challenge, like the same kind of thing for a turntable. Will there be a locking device, or is it just going to be driven to the right place and held there by the motor?

Oh, and track power. Sliders down the side, or just a flexible cable dangling, maybe.
 
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I'd have thought some selection of bricks from the hardware store would be the cheapest kind of counterweight.

I'd be interested to hear the plan for an alignment sensor. This could be a real technical challenge, like the same kind of thing for a turntable. Will there be a locking device, or is it just going to be driven to the right place and held there by the motor?

Oh, and track power. Sliders down the side, or just a flexible cable dangling, maybe.

John, great ideas and questions. I went with your bricks - thanks! $20 at 3.4ibs per brick.
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The linear actuator has a position driven potentiometer. It appears repeatable. Hopefully within acceptable tolerance. Once I get it connected to the elevator I will know.

The controller is programmed. 10 stops. A few LEDs and a safety input. It works well- hope it does when rigged to the elevator!

Track power tbd. Your suggestions are what I’m considering.

The actuator locks when off based on the gear train. Should hold based on response from vendor.

Lasers arrived so need to build the detectors. And I need to shorten up the counterweight mounts. Also need to rig some guides either on the counterweights or on top of the elevator to guide them behind if for some reason they drift forward or twist. But so far so good.

Do I need to kill power to the non selected tracks?

Please keep the ideas coming! Will post a video soon.


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Progress continues. I have modified my mounting by cutting the eye bolts open so I can skip the S hooks, which gives a little more clearance at the top end. Likewise I moved the electrical cable that ran behind the elevator down lower and got an 18” of room for the counterweights and an extra outlet at the same time.

There is about 1/8” front to back slop from space inside the roller track. At the top the elevator has that slop “pushed in” but at the bottom it is “pushed out. I think I can use some rollers I have from a drawer or something to just make sure the slop is pushed in by the approach track. Likewise I can use another roller to push out left /right slop.

I’m dying to get the actuator on but want to get the lifting and moving parts set beforehand!

And I broke out my new “digital” weller soldering station. It’s awesome!


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Maybe I should apologize for suggesting the bricks as a counterweight, seeing that they cost you $20!

I can't find any description of the "roller track" that you plan to use, but obviously whatever guides the carriage needs to have some precision to it. If you haven't got some suitable hardware already, you might consider inline skate wheels. If you could set up an exterior frame that had accurate parallel sides, with some sort of groove for the wheels to roll in, you could probably get by with a single wheel at each corner of the carriage. Or I suppose another way to mount it would be with all the wheels near the center of the carriage, rolling on both sides of a single "rail". That would eliminate any issues of having two rails 8 feet apart, and having to ensure that they were exactly parallel. In fact I like that better--you could construct a system on the workbench, with (let's say) a plywood slab with wheels on it, which you'd get rolling along a track system attached to a 2x4. When you have that working, you mount the 2x4 vertically, and bolt your set of shelves to the plywood piece, then attach the hoisting mechanism. I can imagine that getting the mechanical system working with the full-size large heavy cabinet attached, would be a major hassle.

But then again, it's the end of the carriage, where the trains enter and leave, that has to be precisely positioned. So maybe that's where the accuracy needs to be applied!
 
Well here it is in action! We are still in prototyping / test mode but the control and mechanics work so far! I need to get the lasers built and the track installed. Also some alignment adjustments but so far it looks like it’s going to work!!

https://youtu.be/D-P2qOli6tE


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