Stormfather
New Member
Hello everyone, I’m new to this site. Been interested in the hobby for two years now, but I’m still young and spend too much time chasing… jobs… to have really invested a lot of time into a layout. I’ve built a few ‘diorama’ style bits to get the hang of it, and now I really want to put something together that can hold some operational interest.
I live in a tiny apartment in the Bronx. This layout has to be small enough to fit in the apartment, and more importantly, small enough to fit out the fire escape window- I’ll most likely be moving somewhere a little more permanent this August. I’d like to keep it smaller than 2’x8’. Temporary fiddle tracks are A-ok; eventually it will be integrated into something much larger. Probably. I’m going to be using DCC once it’s up and running. It's going to be HO because I like the size and have a lot of HO stuff already.
The layout represents the Albany and Susquehanna, a freelanced railroad based on the Delaware and Hudson, operating a line between Scranton, PA and Albany, NY, in the post-transition era. Good scenery and operational interest trump adherence to authenticity. The A&S hauls a variety of freight, as well as limited passenger service, including a mixed freight/passenger local train that terminates in lovely industrial Stillneedsaname, Pennsylvania. Actually, pretty much all the operations in this little unnamed town are handled by the A&S’ subsidiary, the Sawkill River Railroad. But that’s neither here nor there.
Here is a rough sketch of what I’ve got planned. I say rough because nothing’s to scale, yet. In fact, I put this together at work, so obviously I'm going to have to do a lot of stretching, compacting, and bending to fit everything I need where I need it. I have a HO template that I’ll use to put something a little more accurate together once I get the chance, but I’ve also got to measure the lengths of the rolling stock and locomotives I plan on using. So, without further ado, here’s what I’ve got in mind.
A: Power plant. These 2 tracks are each long enough to hold three coal hoppers.
B: Passenger Station. This track is, at the very least, long enough to accommodate a diesel (F40PH) and 2-3 passenger cars. It can be extended to the right, off the layout, if need be. As of now, it’s only going to need to accommodate a single coach.
C: Industrial Park. These sidings must function as an ‘inglenook’ switching game when I’m bored. The bottom left track can hold 5 boxcars, plus a SW1. For the tracks on the right, two can hold three boxcars, and one can hold 5.
D: This siding is for coal coming in from the coalfields, or for coal cars returning to the coalfields. It isn’t very relevant to the rest of the element.
Likely operating schedule:
Early Morning
3 boxcars are spotted in the industrial park (C). The SW1 is on the left spur.
3 coal hoppers are in the power plant (A)
An entire string of coal hoppers are on siding D, either full and waiting to be hauled to the left, or empty and waiting to return to the coalfields (aka to the right.)
Morning Inbound Train
A single F unit arrives from the right, pulling (in order) a passenger car, 3 coal hoppers, and 5 boxcars. Everything but the passenger car is cut on the mainline, the F unit proceeds to pull into the passenger station (B) with the passenger car.
The SW1 goes out onto the mainline, picks up the coal hoppers, and spots them at the power plant (A). It then takes the 5 boxcars and pulls them into the industrial park (C). The 5 boxcars are then spotted at the appropriate industries.
The F-unit leaves the passenger station (B) and then goes for service and turning (this will likely occur on a fiddle track, since I don’t want to model service and turning facilities in this specific town.)
Finally, the SW1 pulls the empty passenger car off the station track (B) and back to the industrial park’s drill track (C) to get it out of the way.
Evening Outbound Train
The SW1 delivers the passenger car back to the station (B). The F unit returns, now facing the right. It goes to the far side of the station, then backs in, coupling the passenger car.
5 of the 8 boxcars from the industrial park (C) are outbound. The SW1 pulls the 5 and puts them in the proper order (the cut of cars will be left on a siding further on for a peddler freight to pick up and must therefore be put in order here.) Once in order, the SW1 pushes them out onto the mainline, coupling them with the 3 outbound (empty) coal hoppers from the Power Plant (A). Finally, it backs up a bit, and then couples the entire line of cars to the back of the passenger car that is currently waiting at the passenger depot (B.) Once the train is coupled and the passenger car is loaded up, the SW1 returns to the industrial park (C) and the F unit pulls out with the train in tow, leaving the layout to the right.
Late Night
3 boxcars are spotted in the industrial park (C). The SW1 is on the left spur.
3 coal hoppers are in the power plant (A)
An entire string of coal hoppers are on siding D.
Rip it to pieces, tell me what you would or wouldn’t do, give me all the feedback you can bear to type. Thanks!
I live in a tiny apartment in the Bronx. This layout has to be small enough to fit in the apartment, and more importantly, small enough to fit out the fire escape window- I’ll most likely be moving somewhere a little more permanent this August. I’d like to keep it smaller than 2’x8’. Temporary fiddle tracks are A-ok; eventually it will be integrated into something much larger. Probably. I’m going to be using DCC once it’s up and running. It's going to be HO because I like the size and have a lot of HO stuff already.
The layout represents the Albany and Susquehanna, a freelanced railroad based on the Delaware and Hudson, operating a line between Scranton, PA and Albany, NY, in the post-transition era. Good scenery and operational interest trump adherence to authenticity. The A&S hauls a variety of freight, as well as limited passenger service, including a mixed freight/passenger local train that terminates in lovely industrial Stillneedsaname, Pennsylvania. Actually, pretty much all the operations in this little unnamed town are handled by the A&S’ subsidiary, the Sawkill River Railroad. But that’s neither here nor there.
Here is a rough sketch of what I’ve got planned. I say rough because nothing’s to scale, yet. In fact, I put this together at work, so obviously I'm going to have to do a lot of stretching, compacting, and bending to fit everything I need where I need it. I have a HO template that I’ll use to put something a little more accurate together once I get the chance, but I’ve also got to measure the lengths of the rolling stock and locomotives I plan on using. So, without further ado, here’s what I’ve got in mind.
A: Power plant. These 2 tracks are each long enough to hold three coal hoppers.
B: Passenger Station. This track is, at the very least, long enough to accommodate a diesel (F40PH) and 2-3 passenger cars. It can be extended to the right, off the layout, if need be. As of now, it’s only going to need to accommodate a single coach.
C: Industrial Park. These sidings must function as an ‘inglenook’ switching game when I’m bored. The bottom left track can hold 5 boxcars, plus a SW1. For the tracks on the right, two can hold three boxcars, and one can hold 5.
D: This siding is for coal coming in from the coalfields, or for coal cars returning to the coalfields. It isn’t very relevant to the rest of the element.
Likely operating schedule:
Early Morning
3 boxcars are spotted in the industrial park (C). The SW1 is on the left spur.
3 coal hoppers are in the power plant (A)
An entire string of coal hoppers are on siding D, either full and waiting to be hauled to the left, or empty and waiting to return to the coalfields (aka to the right.)
Morning Inbound Train
A single F unit arrives from the right, pulling (in order) a passenger car, 3 coal hoppers, and 5 boxcars. Everything but the passenger car is cut on the mainline, the F unit proceeds to pull into the passenger station (B) with the passenger car.
The SW1 goes out onto the mainline, picks up the coal hoppers, and spots them at the power plant (A). It then takes the 5 boxcars and pulls them into the industrial park (C). The 5 boxcars are then spotted at the appropriate industries.
The F-unit leaves the passenger station (B) and then goes for service and turning (this will likely occur on a fiddle track, since I don’t want to model service and turning facilities in this specific town.)
Finally, the SW1 pulls the empty passenger car off the station track (B) and back to the industrial park’s drill track (C) to get it out of the way.
Evening Outbound Train
The SW1 delivers the passenger car back to the station (B). The F unit returns, now facing the right. It goes to the far side of the station, then backs in, coupling the passenger car.
5 of the 8 boxcars from the industrial park (C) are outbound. The SW1 pulls the 5 and puts them in the proper order (the cut of cars will be left on a siding further on for a peddler freight to pick up and must therefore be put in order here.) Once in order, the SW1 pushes them out onto the mainline, coupling them with the 3 outbound (empty) coal hoppers from the Power Plant (A). Finally, it backs up a bit, and then couples the entire line of cars to the back of the passenger car that is currently waiting at the passenger depot (B.) Once the train is coupled and the passenger car is loaded up, the SW1 returns to the industrial park (C) and the F unit pulls out with the train in tow, leaving the layout to the right.
Late Night
3 boxcars are spotted in the industrial park (C). The SW1 is on the left spur.
3 coal hoppers are in the power plant (A)
An entire string of coal hoppers are on siding D.
Rip it to pieces, tell me what you would or wouldn’t do, give me all the feedback you can bear to type. Thanks!
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