My New Layout Begins

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macjet

macjet

Member
I intend to put my thoughts here as well as my pictures due to the wealth of knowledge on this forum. To that end if someone sees a better way of doing things or has a don't/do suggestion feel free to speak up.

The givens have overruled the druthers about 10 to 1 on this project. I would like to have an around the room layout with multiple six axle trains pulling long loads of mixed and unit freight terminating into huge rail yards with massive port facilities. Unless I convert to Z scale then this isn't going to happen anytime soon. The greater scheme of things had me running heavy ops on the modern day Rock Island interchanging freight cars with both the Santa Fe and the Farmrail/Grainbelt. The Santa Fe would have been limited to an interchange track and the occasional run through via trackage rights. The Farmrail line would have had a larger representation as I really wanted a true short line operation with old track that had more weeds then operations.

I've looked at it from every angle and it seems that hope actually can't summon additional square feet. So, I have decided to model a portion of the short line section of this grand scheme for now. Space available will allow for two 24"X72" modules and one 48"X48" T-section which will serve as the interchange for the what someday will be the RI mainline.

I have a current track plan however I use RailModeller for Mac and I'm having a hard time posting track plans here. (Any help in this area will be greatly appreciated).

At this time it appears as though #4 turnouts and 18" radius curves will give me the most bang for my buck on these modules. I tried planning with #6 and 22" and I wound up with a nice layout full of switches. Farmrail has a mixture of motive power including GP7's, 9's, 10's, 20's, and 38AC's. I will model one each of the 10 and 20 and two 38AC's. The prototype RR also has a passenger excursion train that I will not model. Typical freight car will be 54' covered hopper, 50' tank, 50' box, and 50's gon.

I will attempt a screen shot later of the track plan.
 
You should be able to save as some form of bitmap. .jpg is prefered because of size.

IF not the screenshot cropped to size is okay.
 
Macjet you may be able to print your track plan as a pdf (not sure if you have to have the full version of acrobat or not) and save to the desktop. Then open the PDF and save it as a jpg. That's how I do it from various documents.
 


rhoward said:
Macjet you may be able to print your track plan as a pdf (not sure if you have to have the full version of acrobat or not) and save to the desktop. Then open the PDF and save it as a jpg. That's how I do it from various documents.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I never knew that I could do that.
 
I haven't spotted all the buildings yet. The north yard would be your typical 40 some year old CO-OP with a feed barn, etc. The south yard would be a bit newer facility.

I didn't put in a run around since I really don't have the room. I would assume that I can pull engine first into the opposite main and then push the train into the yard to spot cars.

This is based on the actual Snyder, OK interchange between Farmrail/BNSF. The south yard is actually on the BNSF line that I moved and the Farmrail engine facility is actually located in Clinton, OK.

BTW, this is HO.
 
Fess up on ideas and thoughts. If this looks as exciting as watching paint dry someone please speak up!
 
Well, the problems I see are two:

1) There is no runaround track. You can't switch forward pointing industries.

2) There's not enough room to use your wye or inter-change track.
 
It's awfully tough to have a 90 degree crossing on a narrow shelf as the basis for a wye and interchange track. What would happen if you angled the Rock Island line so it is at about 45 degrees to the crossing of the FarmRail line? I think you'd have more room for a wye and maybe an extra interchange track. You do need a runaround track somewhere since you have different facing point switches for your industries.
 


macjet said:
Thanks! I never knew that I could do that.
Click to expand...

If your using using a Mac, there is a way.....:rolleyes: ;) ;) Your welcome!

BTW, Chip's web page is excellent for those starting on a layout. You don't have to make all the mistakes, Chip already did....... And he has shared what he learned to help others. If you haven't take a look, some very good info!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Good points. I plan on hitting the drawing board again.

The bulk of my inspiration is coming from Model Railroader May 1992. I also like elements of the Milwaukee, Racine, and Troy that the MR staff has been building.

FYI, I'm very thick skinned. Keep the comments coming. I appreciate the input so far.
 
North End Redesign

I've redesigned the North End CO-OP. I've changed to #5 Peco switches and 22" radius curves. The Co-op storage track is now run around capable. The left side of this module will abut to and use 36" of a shelf in my garage. While not landscaped it will provide the room to work the main and the elevator loading track.

The right side of this module will sit about 9' from the second module. This will be single track running on non-landscaped grade above my work bench and test track.
 
Looks like you've dropped the diamond and interchange track, which is just as well, since it's hard to make it work on a shelf layout. I like the track changes you've made in this revision. The only suggestion I'd make is doing away with the fuel service track, which can be combined with the engine house lead. It looks like you could squeeze a small two track yard into the space vacated by the fuel service track. You need some type of yard to store incoming and outgoing cars.
 
I revised the West end. I lengthened the module 12" and added a dedicated storage track to free up the run-around.
 
Good changes on the west end. You'll have some more storage capcity now. Have you given any thought to the idea of a small yard on the east end?
 
UP2CSX said:
Good changes on the west end. You'll have some more storage capcity now. Have you given any thought to the idea of a small yard on the east end?
Click to expand...

Yes. I'm trying to combine something with another grain elevator. The actual Farmrail "hub" in Clinton, OK is on the old BN line from Enid, OK to Frederick, OK. This is where the BN, SF (ex-Frisco), and Rock Island lines converged. On the south end of this three-way is a grain elevator, yard, and engine shop. If I can get some compression of this into another 6 or 7' module I can run a 6' fiddle yard off of this for interchange.
 


Change 7. I've decided to do an entire rework of one garage wall. This will enable a longer section (10') then I initially envisioned. I've combined all my grain products into one large elevator. The basic design is the same with just some rework to accommodate the extra room.

Input appreciated.
 
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