Trucklover
BNSF SD70MAC's
Hi guys,
Some of you may remember my Ford Auto Module I have been working on and off on. Well the chance has come to sell the buildings and keep the same idea layout for my client who bought it from me. He wanted me to incorporate a 2 track mainline with a crossover so he could connect it to his layout. He also wanted me to modify the tracks I originally had and make them all connect together (mine were just straight tracks as I never intended to connect them to a layout, just for looks). So I played around with an idea in my track planning program, scaled the buildings and such out, and here is what I came up with...
The basics are obvious. Stamping Plant and Assembly Plants are named and drawn out to full size.
Red Tracks are Mainlines
Blue Tracks are Plant Tracks
All Spacing is 2" between tracks, standard in HO Scale.
Minimum Radius for all curves is 30". This means Tracks that curve from turnout to turnout are at least 30" giving them a nice flow even for large 89' auto-racks
Turnouts are Walthers Code 83 #6's (there are 6 turnouts total, 5LH, 1RH)
Double Crossover is a Walthers Large Radius
All Track is Code 83
Gray Box on the lower right simulates the road into the plant as well as the grade crossing over the mainline.
Employee/Customer Parking for the Office Portion of the plant is located up in the top right
Guard Station with gates just to the left of the road into the plant.
Chain-Link Fence with Barbed Wire separates road into plant from the Auto Loading Racks Area.
Now for the switching operations of the plant.
**The top track is just a dummy track and has no access to the backside of the Assembly Plant, its just for looks and added realism. Disappears behind the stamping plant.
**The Stamping Plant is switched by first clearing the top Auto-Rack Track. Boxcars for the Stamping Plant must be stored on a holding track somewhere off the module as there is no room for a holding track for them on the module. Once the Auto-Rack has been cleared and put on the holding track labeled "Rack Holding Track", boxcars can be retrieved and the locomotive can pull in (should be long enough to hold 3 boxcars and a small locomotive on the Stamping Plant Lead Track) and backed into the docks.
**Now for the Auto-Rack Loading Tracks. This is a little more complicated which to me will make it fun for you to switch and keep you busy. Keep in mind you can run a train on the mainline while you do this operation as you do not need to have the train switching the loading racks go out onto the mainline...
This is with a Rack already in both tracks at loading ramps. Drive locomotive into the Stamping Plant Lead Track (head first) pulling an empty auto-rack car from the Intermodal Yard (pulled from a holding track of empty racks). Use the Stamping Plant Lead, back empty rack into spot number 1. Uncouple from empty rack and drive locomotive head first into loaded rack in top track at loading ramp spot number 2. Couple and back locomotive out with loaded rack coupled into spot number 3. Uncouple loaded rack and use run around to go back around to spot number 4. Back locomotive into loaded rack in spot number 3 and push it into the rack holding track at spot number 5. Uncouple from loaded rack and continue back into the Stamping Plant Lead to back into the empty Rack in spot number 1. Pull rack out into run around, uncouple and use run around track to go around empty rack and push it into the top loading rack track at spot number 2. Back locomotive out and continue to pick up the loaded Rack in spot number 5. Pull loaded Rack out, and push it back out to the mainline and into the intermodal yard to build your loaded rack train. The bottom Loading Ramp Track can be switched the same way. This will give you a ton of switching and a good little switching puzzle to play with when switching this facility. It isnt necessarily prototypical, but if it was make prototypical it would take 3 times the space and not be any fun (quite boring actually) to switch.
Let me know what you guys think of the plan?
Thanks
Some of you may remember my Ford Auto Module I have been working on and off on. Well the chance has come to sell the buildings and keep the same idea layout for my client who bought it from me. He wanted me to incorporate a 2 track mainline with a crossover so he could connect it to his layout. He also wanted me to modify the tracks I originally had and make them all connect together (mine were just straight tracks as I never intended to connect them to a layout, just for looks). So I played around with an idea in my track planning program, scaled the buildings and such out, and here is what I came up with...
The basics are obvious. Stamping Plant and Assembly Plants are named and drawn out to full size.
Red Tracks are Mainlines
Blue Tracks are Plant Tracks
All Spacing is 2" between tracks, standard in HO Scale.
Minimum Radius for all curves is 30". This means Tracks that curve from turnout to turnout are at least 30" giving them a nice flow even for large 89' auto-racks
Turnouts are Walthers Code 83 #6's (there are 6 turnouts total, 5LH, 1RH)
Double Crossover is a Walthers Large Radius
All Track is Code 83
Gray Box on the lower right simulates the road into the plant as well as the grade crossing over the mainline.
Employee/Customer Parking for the Office Portion of the plant is located up in the top right
Guard Station with gates just to the left of the road into the plant.
Chain-Link Fence with Barbed Wire separates road into plant from the Auto Loading Racks Area.
Now for the switching operations of the plant.
**The top track is just a dummy track and has no access to the backside of the Assembly Plant, its just for looks and added realism. Disappears behind the stamping plant.
**The Stamping Plant is switched by first clearing the top Auto-Rack Track. Boxcars for the Stamping Plant must be stored on a holding track somewhere off the module as there is no room for a holding track for them on the module. Once the Auto-Rack has been cleared and put on the holding track labeled "Rack Holding Track", boxcars can be retrieved and the locomotive can pull in (should be long enough to hold 3 boxcars and a small locomotive on the Stamping Plant Lead Track) and backed into the docks.
**Now for the Auto-Rack Loading Tracks. This is a little more complicated which to me will make it fun for you to switch and keep you busy. Keep in mind you can run a train on the mainline while you do this operation as you do not need to have the train switching the loading racks go out onto the mainline...
This is with a Rack already in both tracks at loading ramps. Drive locomotive into the Stamping Plant Lead Track (head first) pulling an empty auto-rack car from the Intermodal Yard (pulled from a holding track of empty racks). Use the Stamping Plant Lead, back empty rack into spot number 1. Uncouple from empty rack and drive locomotive head first into loaded rack in top track at loading ramp spot number 2. Couple and back locomotive out with loaded rack coupled into spot number 3. Uncouple loaded rack and use run around to go back around to spot number 4. Back locomotive into loaded rack in spot number 3 and push it into the rack holding track at spot number 5. Uncouple from loaded rack and continue back into the Stamping Plant Lead to back into the empty Rack in spot number 1. Pull rack out into run around, uncouple and use run around track to go around empty rack and push it into the top loading rack track at spot number 2. Back locomotive out and continue to pick up the loaded Rack in spot number 5. Pull loaded Rack out, and push it back out to the mainline and into the intermodal yard to build your loaded rack train. The bottom Loading Ramp Track can be switched the same way. This will give you a ton of switching and a good little switching puzzle to play with when switching this facility. It isnt necessarily prototypical, but if it was make prototypical it would take 3 times the space and not be any fun (quite boring actually) to switch.
Let me know what you guys think of the plan?
Thanks
