Copper Valley Railroad - A New Beginning


Thank you for the information on the TV stand. Looks like an expensive way to go, but definitely some good information there.
 
Dennis461 asked for a sketch. Here a rudimentary one, not sure if this helps or not, but here is what I’m thinking. 1FF9FE5C-C61A-4DF7-AE64-80A56AD447F6.jpeg
 
I've been messing around with the track plan and gotten rid of the turntables. I have added an interchange to the lower level to give me a connection to the outside world and allow different traffic once in a while to move onto the layout. I've also added in the industries I plan to have on the layout. Please let me know what you think.

Copper Valley 1.4.jpg
 
Dennis461 asked for a sketch. Here a rudimentary one, not sure if this helps or not, but here is what I’m thinking.View attachment 113518

Constructive criticism here...
Sorry to say I do not like the design. The jack is too wobbly, and the 'deck' will tilt and jam up in the rails.
It will never sit level in either direction, left right, and never be repeatable.

A better design, similar to raising houses or heavy equipment in the real world would be four lifting devices, one in each corner, and synchronized with mechanical linkage (gears and shafts in the old days, computer position sensors and hydraulic jack in todays world.

I would probably use four threaded rods, perhaps 3/8-16 thread to lift and a gear drive from a single motor so each rod turns the exact same number of revolutions.

Another way would be a drum, pulley configuration such that four wire cables wind up on a drum lifting the four corners. Similar to a pop up camper mechanism. Scroll to around 2:50 minutes here
.
You see the corner has square bars, but they are hollow and the pulleys within are set to pull the square tube ends together, which makes them go up.

Generator-Loading-448x300.jpg
 
Thank you for your input Dennis. I appreciate your honest opinion. I will have to look for an alternate plan to move the trains from one level to the other.
 
Having decided (with input) that the train elevator is not a good idea. I have decided to focus my layout to be based loosely on the town of Houghton, Michigan and the dock area. I have included a small yard at the dock area where the copper ingots are unloaded off the train and loaded onto ships and I am working on small industries for switching in Houghton. I've also included an interchange track so that coal and other commodities can be brought to town.

Please let me know what you think. I'm looking for suggestions to improve the switching operations on the layout. The plan is to have about 20 freight cars and 1 locomotive now that I am modeling the town. I am thinking an 0-6-0 or possibly an 0-8-0, though I'm leaning towards the 0-6-0.

Here is the current plan for input.

Copper Range 3.1.jpg
 
Scissor Y's save space. They are very rare on the prototype, as diamonds, even the railroad kind, are expensive.

I thought I knew of one here, but it turns out that rather than build a diamond, they re-aligned the track.

You mean there's that many tank cars in America?? Woe betide anyone waiting at a grade crossing. Hope they took food and water, and a razor too.
 
I'm familiar with the area your modeling. Have you ever had a chance to go through the website CopperRange.org.
It was created by a gentleman named Kevin E. Musser who unfortunately passed away. The family has kept the website going in his honor.
There is plenty of information on every aspect of Michigan's Copper Country railroads and mining and his attempt at recreating much of it in HO scale.
Good luck with your layout design and I hope this information will benefit you.
 
If your interested in modeling a copper mine site railroad google HAER , it's a division of The National Forestry.
At the site look for the "Collections" link and in the search box type in "Quincy Mine"
You'll be directed to a list, scroll down to Quincy Mine Company, Hancock, Houghton County, MI. There you will find all kinds of drawings that include rail line layout through different years along with many great drawings of mining and support structures.
 
I have actually gone a different direction for my model railroad and am modeling a small railroad in South Dakota. The Rapid City, Black Hills and Western. It fits my needs better and I have access to getting to the area on a semi regular basis. Thank you for the information and I hope someone will use it.
 



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