Iron Belt layout - track laid (plan w/photos)


IronBeltKen

Lazy Daydreamer
To prove that my private pike really exists (well...almost), I am posting a track plan and a few photos of the 'raw' trackage in its current state of existence [under construction and horribly messy]. Please note, the track has not yet been permanently attached so it may look a little bit 'squiggly' in some views. I hope to start leveling and fastening the track shortly, after which I'll do the initial covering of raw wood/styrofoam surfaces with latex paint - the actual scenery itself will probablt take years. After the latex is applied, I'll put on the steel mill structures and start running some trains! :cool:

One more disclaimer: What I've laid is not 100% identical to the track plan of one year ago. But my beloved prototype B&O didn't always stick to her original plans either, so I don't feel too guilty! :p And none of my non-industrial structures [houses, stores etc.] are shown on the map.


Latest track plan (as of October 2005):
layout_sm_20051105_w_access.gif



Southern end staging yard, looking West, with mill spur and slag pit in foreground.
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Southeast corner, facing north: Mill throat trackage.
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Panoramic view of steel mill trackage, facing West.
afi.jpg



Southeast corner, looking South, with staging yard spur merging into main line.
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Eastern length, looking North: Main line on left, passing siding on right.
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Northeast corner, facing north, with coal mine spur branching off to the left.
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Coal mine trackage, looking West.
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Northern length, facing West, with convergence of passing siding into main line.
afn.jpg



Northern length, with single-track main line snaking Westward into the distance.
afo.jpg
 
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CSX_road_slug said:
Thanx Dave! Yep, I can't afford to hire Dave Frary & Co. :D


Why hire them when you can use all the resources on the web ;) I did all mine by myself, it actually went pretty quick once I got focused. Well not done but enough to run trains without bluegrass :)
 
Like your big iron boat there. You best listen to Gordon Lightfoot's "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" when you build that! Always happy to see photos of industrial railroads. Keep up the good work and keep us informed :)
 
NWR #200 said:
Like your big iron boat there. You best listen to Gordon Lightfoot's "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" when you build that! Always happy to see photos of industrial railroads. Keep up the good work and keep us informed :)
Thanx Seth, I know all about the "Fitz", and how Lightfoot made that wreck a legend among all shipwrecks [and there have been an awful lot of them, sadly to say]. A friend of mine in Ontario is building a model of the Fitz, mine is a Cleveland Cliffs vessel.
 
Can't wait to see the play by play photo's as you start building more. Sure hope you will record the progress for us in digital :) For sure the Cleveland Cliff.
 
I remember as a kid, must have been 5 or 6 my dad had a model boat, not like yours, but it had all the rigging and sails and stuff, I have thought about it from time to time and wondered what scale it would have been.

Is that an HO scale or smaller? I imagine you have to use a lot of selective compression for a boat that size to even fit in the room for HO.
 
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dthurman said:
Is that an HO scale or smaller? I imagine you have to use a lot of selective compression for a boat that size to even fit in the room for HO.
That's right it's HO. The ship is compressed to ~75% width-wise, 65% lengthwise; the ore bridge is compressed to ~60% lengthwise, but full HO scale for the height and width.
 
Thats a beautiful ship, do I see "Marquette" written on her!? Funny, if so, cause I've seen many pics of her, docked loading, in Marquette, lol...
 
jbaakko said:
Thats a beautiful ship, do I see "Marquette" written on her!? Funny, if so, cause I've seen many pics of her, docked loading, in Marquette, lol...
Thanx! That isn't an exact prototype, I never saw any references to the actual Marquette on boatnerd.com or any of those other GL-shipping web sites. But I knew that [in early days] Cleveland-Cliffs named their boats for the various port towns where they had docks, and I knew Marquette, MI was one of them, so I figured that would be a good name. Then a week after I had her painted, a friend of mine with a huge personal library of rail/marine history material faxes me a picture of the real one! :rolleyes: Oh well, I'm not gonna change anything at this point...
 
grande man said:
Ken, the RR is looking good! Have fun. I'm waiting for some more pics... :)
Thanx Eric, I'm 'latexing' all the wide-open bare spots right now. When I have the first layer on I'll post some photos of that.
 
Looks great Ken, I'm looking forward to more pics too.
Your making more changes to track or this is the final plan?

Ken.
 
NZRMac said:
Looks great Ken, I'm looking forward to more pics too.
Your making more changes to track or this is the final plan?
Funny you should mention that Ken [did you see my latest post on your thread?] :D I was remembering all the fun I had when SpaceMouse had me run a 'local' on his club's layout last month, and decided I just had to add some more trackside industries of my own. That's what I've been working on during free time over the last 24 hours.

The track plan in the diagram is two 'generations' old - I've simply been too lazy to reinstall the AbraCAData software on my PC and update it. The benchwork came out a foot longer than I planned it :eek: , so that gave me some extra real estate between the East side of the steel mill and the main line [visible in the 5th photo] - just enough for a few more sidings and some "false front" buildings. More pics are in the pipeline!
 
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Outstanding layout design, Ken. I don't know how I managed to miss this thread until now. You are going to have a world of fun with this. Now, I wish that I had put more thought in my steel making complex. Gads! I am envious.:)
How about posting the steel mill area over on the steel making thread so I can find it easily (I'm getting forgetful:eek:)
 
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