Traverser Staging - A Space Saving Alternative
An often-overlooked, space-saving solution for staging is a traverser table - a sliding shelf with multiple tracks that line up with a track on the layout
This approach to staging has several advantages:
1) Saves the space and cost of staging yard ladders
2) Allows all staging tracks to be equal length - thus increasing capacity over a laddered staging yard
3) Allows closer track spacing than with a ladder - again, increasing capacity
4) Can be built to fit a planned operating scheme
5) Automatically cuts power to trains not in use
6) Easy to maintain
7) Allows continuous running
The example below shows how I used a staging traverser in my layout, and I hope that this may be of use to others.
The whole thing is a 1 x 5 foot shelf with a space for it built into the benchwork, reinforced with a pine spine;
The threaded rod at the middle provides smooth movement. The rod is held in place at either end with a washer and a nut that's had a hole drilled through it and the rod, with a piece of wire put through;
The gap at the bottom is to allow vertical movement. The runners I've got it on were designed for kitchen drawers, and so they lift slightly as you move them out. The tracks are elevated to compensate for this.
The handle that turns the rod is a simple affair;
The main part of it is a pipe cap from the local hardware store. The nut in the middle of the handle is CA'd to the pipe cap, and is tightened enough against the locking nut on this end that it won't unscrew without the aid of a pair of pliers. The small finger grip is a screw, filed down at one end, with a bit of brass tubing over it - the tubing is loose, so that it rotates around the screw as the handle rotates. The lock at the top is a hinge with two pieces of spare PCB, with a 1.5mm styrene piece between them. A corresponding piece is glued into a slot in the 'top' of the handle. The track is lined up on this top alignment, with a certain number of turns (can't remember how many) between each position.
To transmit the movement to the traverser, a nut is superglued to the underside. After this fell off a couple of times, I secured it with a couple of nails bent over;
After struggling with track alignment - there's enough play in the rod that they won't align properly every time - and electrical connections, I hit upon a simple solution that will guarantee track alignment and electrical connectivity each time. I cut two pieces of PCB to the length of two rail joiners, then soldered two rail joiners on each side. These slide onto the layout side of the rails, one at each end;
Once the handle has been used to line up the tracks, the connectors are slid onto the traverser rails at each end, like so;
This provides the electrical connection and track alignment. Note that the rail joiners are soldered on both sides - this prevents them from being pushed out of shape.
A small traverser (3-4 tracks) could be built in the same or slightly more space than a single staging cassete, and combining the two may allow greater capacity both on- and off-layout.