New Layout - help me balance traffic?

ModelRailroadForums.com is a free Model Railroad Discussion Forum and photo gallery. We cover all scales and sizes of model railroads. Online since 2002, it's one of the oldest and largest model railroad forums on the web. Whether you're a master model railroader or just getting started, you'll find something of interest here.


R

Rigby

Member
Ok, so I have totally revised my short term model railroad goals. We will have a major house renovation going on this spring and summer and so its not really a good time to start a permanent layout. Instead, I'm going to build two switching modules, to be conected by a bridge or link or something. One operator will work each module, then a transfer will move outbound cars from one to the other and the the operators will spot the new cars, etc. This is inspired by this site - http://www.blackbearcc.com/SoPlains.htm. It just seems like fun.


So here's what I need help with: I need maybe three or four on line receiving spots per module and I need the cars they ship out to make sense on the other module, though I don't really care if the imagined contents of the car remain the same. So if one industry on one module shipped out calcium carbonate slurry, it wouldn't pain me if the car arrived on the other module carrying petroleum products. But it doesn't work if one module ships out open hoppers and the other module has no use for them.

I would like this whole thing to center around Maine, either current day or transition era. Industries we have include: lumbering; pulp mills; paper mills; potato farming (dead now, but could do it); quarries; feed mills; canaries. Ideas to make it balance?

How about ideas for module track plans? I see one single track mainline connecting them.
 
First, you don't need to model just on-line industries. That's why there's an interchange track. Things made on one module get spotted at the interchange track to be shipped out to the rest of the world. If you want to keep it to as many on-line industries as possible, I'd suggest a pulpwood loading facility one one module and a paper plant on the other. You could have one feed mill that holds the raw material and another that processes it. Potato loading mills that go to something like a food processing plant would make sense. A quarry on one end could go to a building supply yard on the other. As far as canaries, is that what you meant? Like, in birds? Or canneries? I'm assuming canneries. :) The raw material, like blueberries, can come from one module and go to a cannery or frozen food plant on the other. You could even deliver blueberries and potatos to the same plant.

Lots of ways to handle this but the beauty of an interchange track is that you are always shipping out loads and getting back empties that have to be distributed to the various industries. That can be a lot more fun that switching the same empty and loaded pulpwood cars back and forth.
 
Just a note to add to Jim's reply about Cannaries . I live by many fruit farms . Alot of the farmers bring there fruit to a local cannary and it is processed on the premises , They then ship out the goods to whoever orders it . So you will be getting in raw materials and shipping out canned products.
 


My layout is simple (possibly too simple) - I will have a stock yard and slaughter house, an icing platform and a tannery. The stockyards justify an occasional gondola. (Sound is one thing; wouldn't want smell....)

Plus an interchange of course.
 
Think about this if you had say a wholesale Grocer your inbound loads could be meat, fish, poultry, eggs, butter, fruit, vegtables, potatos, beer (reefers) Can goods, paper goods, surger, flour, salt, spices, soft drinks, hardware, ect,ect (box cars) and the great thing is the inbound cars could be from anywhere as for a paper mill why not have a company that inbounds roll paper and say carbon black and ink. Then in turn they ship out forms of some find and say typing paper just those two alone can keep you busy throw in a furniture factory and you inbound wood, textiles, stain (which can come in by tank car or 55 gal drums) glue, varnish, sealer, leather thread hardware (Springs hinges Drawer knobs and pulls mirrors) then you out bound furniture. A freind of mine has a glove factory on his layout and if you draw that in a opperating session its a job small dont mean you cant be busy ! I hope this helps email me if you like At nkprrguy@yahoo.com and let me know how it goes good luck Russ
 
You must log in or register to reply here.




Affiliate Disclosure: We may receive a commision from some of the links and ads shown on this website (Learn More Here)

Back
Top