Layout Room Access

I've reached the part of layout construction where the bench work meets the access to the room.  I've been going back and forth in my mind for some time now over the various options of how folks will get into the layout room at the point where the alignment crosses the door opening.  I had one hard and fast rule - NO DUCK UNDERS!  I'm not getting any younger and neither are my guests so that option was ruled out quickly.  Beyond that there are a multitude of options and I needed to choose one that best suited me.

My first obstacle was the fact that the track alignment is on a curve at this location, and there was no way around that.  Plus I wanted to have some scenery on each side of the track so that it blends in well with the adjacent segments of the layout.  The first option that I considered was a roll in/out section.  It would resemble a rolling cart and would slide in and out and roll out of the way when access to the room is needed.  This option would enable me to fully scenic the top of the cart and when in place it would look like it was part of the layout.  This idea really appealed to me but the drawback is that it would be supported on casters rolling on an uneven concrete floor and alignment at track level could be challenging.  Besides, someday I may want to install carpeting and further adjustments would be necessary.

I then considered a swinging gate.  These have become quite popular and I really gave it a lot of consideration, but the curved track alignment was what convinced me to look at other alternatives.  Next, I considered a lift out section, but with a 26-in. span the section would be quite heavy and I wasn't sure where the section would go when it wasn't in place.  Most likely it would just stay there and it would by default become a duck under.

So that left the classic hinged drawbridge.  I first considered a bridge that would lift up, but that would require something to hold it in place when it's in the upright position.  In addition it would need some counterweights or locking mechanism so that it didn't swing down with all its weight and possibly hit someone.  I ended up with a hinged drop leaf section:

The bridge section is hinged and drops down to clear the opening.  It's constructed from 3/4" cabinet grade plywood and secured to two sections of 2x2's underneath to give it plenty of rigidity.  When hanging down all of the weight is supported by the hinges and when its raised two sliding dead bolts lock it in place and provide sufficient indexing to keep the rails in alignment.  A curved facia helps the section look less like a bridge and more like a piece of the layout.

Here's a photo of it in the raised position:

The photo shows the sliding dead bolt that holds the bridge section in place.  This is the second set of dead bolts that I installed.  The first set was a cheaper version called a barrel bolt.  It seemed that the barrel bolt housing had a lot of slop to it and didn't provide enough indexing to keep the rails in alignment.  I quickly removed them and installed two of the dead bolts shown in the photo on each side of the bridge and when locked in place, the bridge is very secure.

This photo shows the gap at track level:

I secured the track to the roadbed and then cut the gaps in the rails.  Next I'll remove the ties on each side of the gap and install PC ties with the rails soldered to them for a little better protection at the ends.

There's no power on the bridge section yet but I did back a train over the gap and alignment was very smooth.  I'm really please with how well this turned out.