Track plan... any good?


RW&C

N Scale with Stone Tools
I've been kicking ideas around for a while for my Red Wing and Canton RRy Co layout. It's going to have a connection to the BN mainline, and it's set in, eh, maybe the sixties. The BN mainline tunnels into the hills on both ends, where it descends to the hidden staging beneath the main level. This is the best I've come up with so far for the visible level.

RWCplan1.png


The lower left peninsula is tentative, as I don't have the buildings yet. The bit at the lower right is my operating (maybe) coal mine. I intend to hide the BN main where it goes off the map, and try to make it look like it's just going between two hills, rather than have obvious tunnels. The top right area is mostly town, with the long spur feeding a brewery, and the side spur going to the scrapyard. The bit with the long passing siding is a passenger station; the small building beside it is a truck terminal. All around the outside edges is the wall, with a Masonite backdrop already up and (badly) painted.

Part of me wants to work a timesaver or something into this, but I don't want it to get too busy (plus, switches are expensive). On the other hand, I don't want to get bored with its operation once everything's in. What do you guys think?
 
What scale?
If its HO your spurs are going to be very short.
Will the BN switch this or is this a shortline?
If its a shortline there doesn't seem to be any way to interchange cars with the BN.
The switchback in the upper left town will be so short that it will be useless, even if the plan is for N scale.
Why do you need a "long passing siding" on a short branch. Nothing will ever "pass" there. Its a sub end. All you need is the ability to run around a cut of cars.
It looks like you are really "wasting" a whole bunch of room in the upper right. You have essentially 15 square feet of layout, about 1/3 of the the entire layout and only one 9 inch spur and a tail track in that space.
 
Sorry, forgot to mention, it's N. :) It's a short line, I haven't written up a history of it yet but I'm thinking BN recently bought trackage rights to the main line and will soon take over the small amount of remaining RW&C trackage. But for the moment, the RW&C is still switching the local industries. I'm beginning to consider cutting out the BN entirely, as what's left makes a miniscule short line on its own.

The upper right bit does bug me a bit. My dad and I built the benchwork with little thought for an eventual track plan, which has certainly created some challenges. I've mocked up the town, and I sort of like it there, but I might shove it over a bit. The hill certainly doesn't need to take up the whole upper corner. I'll bet I can fit an industry or two up there besides what I've got there already.

Thanks for your comments. :) Back to the drawing board...
 
I like it. not to much clutter and plenty of scenery. I would say that its fine the way it is but I would add a few more industries up near the town. that would be a great place for street running in a small town. I would even go as far to say that with a few tweaks you could get a reverse loop at both ends of your design for continous running. your hill sides would hide alot of the loop and would not look that out of place. I could see a train pass thru the down town arear and dissapear behind a hill . then reappear again out of a tunnel.... Im a fan of continous track plans with lots of switching. for me thats what every layout should have.

Regardless if your just into switching I say its great...
 
Don't have to go back to the drawing board completely...I agree with Trent, its a neat little plan. Like the idea of adding a spur up top to maybe get some street running in that town scene.

I also agree with Dave about the interchange...it seems a bit awkward now, with the way the shortline enters the BN main twice. And you'll definitely have to true-up the planning of switches on the left side to make sure everything fits. I don't think they will the way it is drawn.

But overall, a nice plan with lots of room for buildings and scenery....You just need to fine tune some details primarily about having enough room for all of the switches as they are drawn, IMO.
 
Thanks for your input, guys. :) Without it I'd be hosed out here.

The continuous running + switching is certainly something I'm going for here.

I've made a few changes, both in trackage and in concept. First off, the main line is now RW&C trackage, with the interchange with outside roads somewhere else (not modeled). Simplifies things a bit. :)

I spaced out the switches at the engine service complex (upper right corner of the lower left blob) into something that could actually be built, added two spurs (and removed the one weird backwards one) from the town, and moved the truck terminal/team track spur back a bit as well. IMO it looks better already.

I'm planning to have the mainline connect to double-ended staging under the layout, so the reverse loop isn't necessary, but the street running intrigues me. I'm considering coving the inside corners, so I could easily move the truck terminal track and put it right down main street, if there was something for it to serve. I'm more than willing to rework the downtown to get a little more action in it.

So here's the plan as of now. I scanned it in inverted color to make it a little easier on the eyes. (The big white thing is electrical tape, and ignore the scribbles in the upper left, I really need to quit writing notes on everything. :rolleyes:) The table is to scale, everything else is somewhere near but not perfect.

trackplaninv.png


I think I'll revise the tracks by the coal mine just a bit, no need for the same track to enter and leave the mainline within a few hundred scale feet.

I'm planning to have the mainline connect to double-ended staging under the layout, so the reverse loop isn't necessary, but the street running intrigues me. If I cove the inside corners, so I could easily move the truck terminal track (the switches there look wrong anyway) and put it right down main street, if there was something for it to serve. I'm more than willing to rework the downtown to get a little more action in it. So, what sort of industry would a railroad connect to by street? A warehouse maybe?
 
I see the main line comes and goes into tunnels. is this the continous part of your layout? or do they dead end as staging tracks?

regarding street running. I have seen afull blown main line thry a small town so you dont just need switching. but if you keep it switching that would be more common. it could be a track that runs down a street to anything. truck terminal.,grain mill,warehouse,lumber yard, saw mill... endless options there.
 
Yep, that's the continuous bit. They'll descend about six inches (enough to fit a hand in there, I'm not doing a full blown double deck) to the second level, where they'll connect with a small yard (two, maybe three double-ended staging tracks). The hills are so big partially to conceal the track until it's low enough to duck under the other scenery.

Hmm... now that I think about it, I could probably cram a warehouse in there somewhere... :)
 
Hmmm... I honestly think you could add more track and it wont look cluttered. thats if you want more track. Assuming that the long7'3/4" part of the layout is against a wall? I think you could get away with 4' of more seen main line if you did your whole upper area as a small town. this will alow for another industy also without a hillside. you can hide the mainline with buildings trees and such and let it dissapear into the staging aera. At the bottom you may be able to add a "Cut" into the hill sides and get another 3' of mainline that is seen. I think a little more mainline would make the layout have more action. But thats just my opinion. I still like it regardless.
 
I also think you could have more track in the upper area. Just an idea:

How about relocating the industry at the top to the lower left area of the town and curve the track along the inside of the river to circle back and serve it. If you look at the way the tree line and river frame the town now, it sort of outlines what I mean. You may have to move the entire main track, the one with the siding, a bit to the right, but you have plenty of tree space to sacrifice. If you relocate that indusrty to that corner and do the semicircle of track to serve it, I don't think you will lose much town scene at all and maybe even gain some street running in the process.
 
My suggestion would be to take the very top siding and kick the top end of it to the left. This would allow you to either add a larger industry into the town or t just break the scenery up. Then it would give the look of having more going on in your town instead of a few blocks of action and the rest just filler. I like having more scenery but I think your lower right section of your layout would satisfy this.

Also, in the lower left section if you kicked the left end of the lowest siding down, you could add something of interest there also. Maybe another small inustry or mock it up as part of an interchange.
 
Thanks for the further input guys, you've given me a lot to work with. :)

Changes: The main line is a little longer. The switching to the coal mine is a little different, so that switching it doesn't require entering the main line and reversing in. I've added three more tracks (and a new factory and warehouse) to the downtown, which I really like the look of. I'm not entirely sure about the one going to the truck terminal, but I think it looks good on paper at least.

I've also coved the inside corners. This is partly for looks (been reading MR again :rolleyes:) and partly to wring a few more square feet out of what I have.

BKpigs, you're talking about the area by the long double ended siding? I haven't drawn it in yet but I'll probably put something there, if only to break up the expanse of hillside. It certainly needs it.

Trackplan2.png
 
Do you really have to have a coal mine? Next to a packing shed? With only a 2 car spot? Sooooooooo cliche'. Make it a power plant. Make it a coal dealer. Make it any industry that has a boiler.

You would be better served to move industries to the switchback and make the service tracks on the same line or on parallel lines.

Move the switch for the shop out about 6 inches from the building instead of right in the door. That will make it look like they had a turntable, then removed it and filled in the put, replacing it with a switch.

What are you planning to put in the two inch long spur to the right of the siding
 
Do you really have to have a coal mine?

Well, see, I sort of built the mine already. :D I'm not married to the fruit shed though, I'll turn that into a power plant or something.

You would be better served to move industries to the switchback and make the service tracks on the same line or on parallel lines.

:confused: Make the industries parallel to the tracks? Sorry, I have no idea what you're saying here. Service tracks?

Great idea with the shed and the pit, I'm totally using that. :) And there'd be evidence of the turntable left over... that'll be a fun easter egg.

Which two inch spur do you mean? I've got a couple of them. :rolleyes:
 
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Well, see, I sort of built the mine already. :D I'm not married to the fruit shed though, I'll turn that into a power plant or something.

If you have a coal mine right next door, your power plant most likely will get it's coal by truck, not by rail.

I think Dave's point was that you are mixing type of industries that seldom go together - and that for a small layout, it often makes more sense to model the _recipient_ of coal (or other bulk items), rather than the _shipper_ of coal.

Coal mines are big industries, shipping essentially a single commodity. Recipients of coal (especially in earlier times) can take one or a few carloads of coal at a time. And also several other inbound or outbound commodities, creating some variety.


:confused: Make the industries parallel to the tracks? Sorry, I have no idea what you're saying here. Service tracks?

You have two tracks labeled respectively "diesel service" and "steam service". Steam service is on a switchback from the diesel service track.

To get an engine into or out of steam service, you have to empty the diesel service track. So the steam service track is fairly clumsy to access.

So rethink that bit. Easiest solution is to drop the switchback, and instead create the steam service as a parallel track track to the diesel service track, or just have steam and diesel servicing on the same track.


Which two inch spur do you mean? I've got a couple of them. :rolleyes:

They are both too short to be used for anything. A 40-foot car is 3" long in N scale. Placing a car in either 2" track will block the use of the track next to it, making the 2" track pretty much useless.

The worst one is the one at the left end of the runaround. Either make it 3.5-4" long (to allow clearance when using switch), or drop it.

Smile,
Stein
 
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Haven't read every reply, even in N scale it looks like you'll have some VERY long reaches &/or alot of walking around! Hopefully there's no other obstructions like walls to get in the way.
 



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