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Okay, here's one I tweaked a little bit tonight just messing around.
Opinions?
Keep in mind the innermost loop on the right side is a grade up to a mine.
Left side, the 3 track yard is likely going to be a refridgeration storage facility, using the center track for empties and the outside tracks for loads (dual side facility).
Other spurs and what not are just there for switcher movement....and I'm still trying to decide where to put staging, as the right side wall has a window just beyond the limits of the table.
Looks good so far. What's the scale and size of the layout? I ask because the upper right corner, where the 3 track refrigeration is might be one heck of a reach. Think about some of those spurs and sidings. What do you really want there; industry, staion, etc., because if you just throw track in there just to have track... you're shooting yourself in the foot.
It's N scale, the ends of the dogbone are 4' deep, otherwise 2' deep, and 12' long.
the bottom of the picture is the track against a wall, top is the accessible portion.
If I do a station, it'll be small, as it's situated in a small fictitious town in southern Idaho/northern Utah area. So I've got the ore mine, the refridgeration storage, and I'm thinking some general freight like trailers and a couple of stacks.
Once I figure out where to put staging, I'll have stack trains going "through" and interchanging protos from UP to BNSF in the yard, then exiting out to the staging again.
Typically a layout is a piece of a railroad--either real or imaginary. That piece of the railroad has a purpose. It serves the industries in the area and does so in a logical and methodical way. The focus of the railroad is to deliver the goods as cheaply and reliably as possible. They do not lay track for no reason or to give the engineer variety in getting to his destinations.
In terms of your industries, how do you see the flow of the raw material flow in and how do you see the the products getting out to market?
I know this seems like an irrelevant question, but the answer probably determines whether the layout will grow with you as you build it, or whether you will outgrow it before you get to the scenery stage.
You are investing a lot of money in this layout. It makes sense to get it right.
What is that three track spur that apparently crosses the mine spur supposed to be for? Does it cross the mine spur at grade? Is the track supposed to be in a valley below the mine? If so, the route up to the mine is going to be a railroad on the side of a cliff and the three track yard at the mine (and mine itself) is going to have almost no flat spot to work with.
I'm open to suggestions!
The grade that goes up to the mine, yes, I was planning on it being on a cliff, and then flattening out while the bottom part is against the side of the mountain with mine buildings sticking out.
The bottom track will be for the loads. The train will come up the grade and pull into the top track, engine disconnect from cars, move forward and thru the switch to the middle track, pull the loads out and put 'em on the middle track and put the empties on the bottom track.
As for the 3 track spur below the mine, that can be removed, I haven't really specified an industry for that yet.
Good point on the loop up to the mine......I could start it off the upper line instead of swooping up from the bottom rail.
As for the questionable yard lead, I was making it a two track main for only part of the track, but good point on the yard lead. That could be the yard lead and local manifest track.
I'll edit it some more tonight and see what I can come up with.
Basically, it's along a 12' wall, with 4' deep sections approx 4' long at either end, and 2' deep in the middle....and that's what I've got to work with.
A yard lead should be dedicated. The last thing a railroad wants is yard operations screwed up because a train is blocking the lead.
so you think I'd be better off just revamping the whole design?
I'll leave that up to you. As I told one other person today, don't settle. If something bugs you now, it will bug you the whole time you are building the layout--only worse. So fix it now.
But to start completely over? Well, I figure you learned a lot in your first try. You have some good features.
Now back to operating. Figure goods flow like this.
Outside world<-->Your layout<-->Your Yard<-->Your Industries<-->Your Yard<-->Your Layout<-->Outside World
The Magenta represents what you have now, or could have. You just have to think it through. The black is optional but increase your variety 10-fold.
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Think of these three things:
Every track should have a purpose.
Industries should fit and have access roads to them.
Neighboring scenes should not compete with each other and the transitions between them should make sense.
The more track you have the harder it is to make those things work.
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I think you should make another design. Then another. Then another. After that is all said and done pick your favorite and make it really good.
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