# Gotta have a gauntlet



## Festus (Jun 28, 2010)

Once I read an article about a gauntlet in a man's garden I knew I HAD to have one in MY garden railroad also. I am also planning to build a bridge to span a stream which will empty into my 3,000 gallon pond (another posting). This bridge is the perfect spot to put my gauntlet, which will include my mainline near one end of my 3-4 sidings, and a double or triple dead-end line for hand cars, trolleys and the like. 

With all that decided, I need to find the original article that started all this trouble so I can remember who to blame. Because the hand car/trolley line will be manually controlled, the gauntlet will be a fun spot to traverse, especially if the mainline controls are in the hands of another and I'm just trying to get my trolley passengers across the bridge safely, then here comes that military train with HOW MANY TANKS? And a Black Hawk helicopter too?

I no longer have a subscription to Garden railways magazine where I believe I first read about gauntlets and wiring one for automatic control. "Wiring a Gauntlet for Automatic Control." may have been the title of the article. 

WOULD SOMEONE WITH A SUBSCRIPTION TO GR MAGAZINE GO TO THEIR WEBSITE AND ENTER "gauntlet" INTO THEIR SEARCH ENGINE TO LOCATE THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE I READ ON THE SUBJECT? I believe it's pre 2000 but I'm not certain any more. I have nearly all their magazines from the start up to about 3 years ago when money got tight because I'm on LTD. I've been looking but it'll take forever this way. If someone can find it and give me the month and year I can go right to it. 

And if anyone has built a gauntlet, feel free to give me a list of tips/tricks. I found one guy who made a gauntlet that isn't used as originally intended, but that's the only one. THANKS, Festus

P.S. If you enter wiring a gauntlet or any variations thereof, my original post here will come up more than a few times. Here's a drawing IF I can get it to attach and upload.


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## CliffyJ (Apr 29, 2009)

Festus,

I didn't see the article on the GR site (not sure how to search older issues), but here's the related thread you began a few years ago, to give others some background.

http://forums.mylargescale.com/29-beginner-s-forum/19240-gauntlet-wiring.html


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

There are at least four possibilities for gauntlet tracks.

1) The two rails are totally independent and simply laid side by side, but there is only enough room for one train to squeeze through at a time.

2) The two rails "lay over each other" (i.e., four rails where the "left" rail from one line will straddle the "left" rail from the opposing line.

Either of these would be wired just the same as two independent sets of tracks. With the second, you would need to be sure that the frog is insulated on either side where the tracks cross.

3) One rail is shared by both lines.

4) Both rails are shared by both lines.

These both take a bit of additional creative wiring. If you express which way you want to go, we can work something out.


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## Festus (Jun 28, 2010)

This is what I want my gauntlet to look like:

http://s1195.photobucket.com/user/Delta969/media/Gauntlettrack.jpg.html?sort=3&o=7

I believe I read an article in the early years of GR magazine that was titled: "Wiring a Gauntlet For Automatic Operation" or something similar. It ha to be in the 90's or so because it doesn't come up when doin a search on GR so 10-22 or never mind anyone else trying it. I'll go do it the hard way tomorrow. In the article, he wired it for automatic operation but now, all I want is to see how he made the gauntlet section of track. I THINK, if I took one rail out of 2 sections of 4 foot track (LGB probably), assuming I can do so as easily as I can with the 1 footers and the curves. The trick will indeed be the frogs. Luckily, I have an excellent welder ready to go. Your help is requested and needed.


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## Garratt (Sep 15, 2012)

Festus, you could cut out the center part from a crossing and use the two sections containing the frogs to make your gauntlet. Maybe just cut out the three middle ties and re-lay the rails between the plastic frogs etc. 
Need to draft it up with min radius to see if the frog angle will work.










Andrew


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

The wiring should be easy once you get the track made. There is nothing special about it other than keeping the wheels from shorting at the frogs. If you wanted to use "live" frogs, that too could be accomodated in the overall plan.


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

I was looking at my LGB 1600 turnouts, and if you don't mind that the frog sections are not symmetrical (i.e., one train enters straight and the other curves in) it would not be difficult to accomplish.

Simply replace the upper "point rail" with a new short section of track with a bit of an "S-curve" that will allow the train that is entering from the straight path to run along the new rail that you mount just inside the fish plate.

You do the same thing replacing the lower "point rail" and this piece curves down a bit to the new straight that mounts along the outside fish plate of the lower rail. You would use the existing point rail to complete the curve for the track entering from the curved path. The train taking the straight path would actually be the train traveling on the two new rails.


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## kormsen (Oct 27, 2009)

Todd, this is the way to go:
(easier to build, and cheaper too)


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

Very cool Korm.


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## Ironton (Jan 2, 2008)

Or you could start off with a wye switch at each end. Cut them off where the points are hinged and you will have four perfectly spaced tracks. Then just connect the two pieces. A little more expensive than Korm's, but possibly easier to do.

Just an idea.


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## Festus (Jun 28, 2010)

EUREKA!!!! I FOUND THE ARTICLE ON "BUILD A BRIDGE AND GAUNTLET." It's in the July-August 1993 edition of GR Magazine on pages 20-23. It's a VERY GOOD article and is the one that got me going on not only building a gauntlet, but building it on a bridge. This article tells how to do both, plus mentions automatic control but that is rather outdated now and there are many choices including DCC. I love the article however and all the photos. His two choices for track design match those on this thread so we done good. I'm not sure what the rules and regs are in regard to sharing the article here but I'm certain someone won't like it. I for one am glad I have it however and I scanned it and turned it into a PDF file for my own convenience. 

I was lucky in finding this article. I kept the older GR mags in the older green binders, which are flexible plastic and as I found articles that covered projects I wanted/needed to do myself, I wrote on a post-it note and left it half sticking out of the top off the magazine, HOWEVER..................................Murphy's Law is still very much in effect here. It was the very last binder I perused. It was at the bottom of the stack. I should have known better after 62 years of dragging Murphy's worthless carcass around and just started at the bottom. In any case I found it. Lots of good ideas. Thanks. And it's all in stock. MOSTLY.


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

Cool.  It's nice to see how they interlaced the LGB sections to get the four rails. No sense in "reinventing" this method or even having to stake the rails to existing track.

Notice that the "Prototype" displayed in Figure 1 is pretty much how I proposed it using the LGB turnouts except that the section that curves in gets the new rails rather than the straight section. :

BTW, he doesn't discuss the circuitry other than to note it uses reed switches and relays and if you drop a line, will send the schematic (21 years ago). This is certainly the easiest way but would require that you mount magnets under your trains and there are other ways to accomplish this.


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## Festus (Jun 28, 2010)

Yes, and I wrote to him about the wiring diagram and that's it. Now, there are lots of choices for control on a gauntlet.


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## Festus (Jun 28, 2010)

I'm gonna strip a pair of 13000 crossings, add his straights method and I'm off to my friend the welder, right?


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

Festus said:


> I'm gonna strip a pair of 13000 switches, add his straights method and I;m off to my friend the welder, right?


You are confusing me. "13000 switches" don't exist. It is either 12000 or 16000 "switches". But 13000 represents the 30 degree crossover if that is the route (pun intended) that you are proposing to go.

If I were to go the route of using the crossover (ala Korm), I would use the 22.5 degree, and not the 30 degree crossover as this will allow the trains to transition a more gentle angle as they merge onto the gauntlet track. But the 22.5 degrees crossovers are typically harder to find.

BTW, you realize that you will only need to slide out and replace one of the four rails from the tie strips to make the gauntlet. That should be fairly easy.

What is the intent of the welder?


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## Festus (Jun 28, 2010)

Sorry; 13000 crossings were used to create the tracks separating at both ends. My bad. I've been looking for a 13200 crossing and found a friend who'll trade one to me for a 90 degree: 13100. Now I'll need three. I was referring to Korm's photo. I have LOTS of 16000 switches AND 12000 as well so I'll use 16000 because they'll be on the mainline or the 13200 crossovers. 

DUH!!! I would have figured out the one rail only (I hope) to put them together. 

And I guess I can use those screw-down track connectors to put it all together at both ends? I just wished it was all one piece, from where the tracks merge, to where they separate again. 

Still, I can just see me with BOTH 4' tracks with a rail taken off and THEN sitting there wondering if I should take a, what do they call those pics you take of yourself with your own cell phone? Wondering if I should take a SELFIE with both tracks taken apart to post here. DUH!!!! 15 years taking photos in the Crime Lab here locally and I can't take a selfie worth a darn. It just doesn't fit my hand as well as those Nikons. 

Bottom line for me? I need to reread all these very helpful posts and make sure I do it right the first time.

Back to the reason I came back to write again I the first place: If you happen to have the Sept-Oct 1993 issue of GR Magazine, the centerfold is one beautiful bridge photo.


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## Garratt (Sep 15, 2012)

You could do it with one crossing and either hand lay or overlay regular track allowing the last few ties to float so you can get them together approaching the frog.










Andrew


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## Festus (Jun 28, 2010)

With my mainline already down where the stream goes, and I need to keep it straight, my gauntlet will have to look rather like this one:

http://s1195.photobucket.com/user/Delta969/media/Gauntlet-MSTER.jpg.html

And the entire project will look like this:

http://s1195.photobucket.com/user/D...ER-waterfall-bridge-gauntlet.jpg.html?filters[user]=123422541&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=2

Not sure where that leaves me with making my own gauntlet.


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