Research and Design for the Heart of Texas Railroad from Brady, TX to Lometa, TX

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S

Steve6942

Member
I am researching and designing what I hope will be my last N scale layout. I am focusing on the Heart of Texas Railroad that runs from Brady, TX to their interchange point with BNSF at Lometa, TX. The name of the railroad is new as of last year, it was formerly the Gulf Colorado and San Saba railroad. I am awaiting permission from GATX to obtain the artwork for the logos on the engines to make into decals. They have 6 locomotives on property 5 lease and one that went with the sale of the line. The leased units are GMTX 2203,2214,2213 (GP38-2) and GMTX 411,413 (GP15-1's) and the original locomotive to the property is a lone GP38 still painted in Gulf Colorado and San Saba livery.

The line is primarily single track from Brady to Lometa and runs through the middle of nowhere for 67.5 miles. While there are some great places along the entire line to incorporate for scenery I have decided on 2 key bridges that they have to be incorporated into the design, one is the crossing of the Colorado River (rebuilt in 2014 after fire destroyed the original wooden trestle in 2013) and the crossing of the San Saba River. The layout will begin in Brady by encompassing both the west and the south legs of Brady which in proto is about 2 miles east/west by 4 miles north/south. I have shrunken them down as far as I can in Anyrail to not lose any of the industries but I did lose a lot of scenic value due to selective compression. As far as I can tell my track plan is as accurate as I could accomplish from using Google Earth as far as number of tracks and how they are laid out. So far just with Brady the plan sits at 30' x 36' with the rest of the way to Lometa to add.

Here is the layout plan thus far. I will be using Micro Engineering code 55 flex and Atlas #5 and #7 turnouts on cork roadbed with almost all trestles and bridges being scratch built.
http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/ab150/Sawgunner6942/Bradyfullmodule_zpsce057468.jpg
 
I would only suggest moving from the Atlas to Peco turnouts. I have Atlas on my test track and I also have Peco that I was going to use on my main build The Peco is far superior.

You plan looks like it has plenty of action and as I read your post it looks like you are copying a section of track, so it seems great so far. 30x36 in N scale is pretty big, I think.
 
I have done all my previous N layouts with Peco code 55 or 80 and it's true the Pecos are better turnouts but the ties do not match at all with the code 55 ME or Atlas track. I also really don't want to pay that much for turnouts again either and ME only offers #6 turnouts at around $18 each.

30x36 is rather large but it's the smallest I can really fit all this into without losing industries and such. I'm not sure how I'm going to do the run to Lometa yet but I'll worry about that after I get this first phase completed.
 


well, until I start laying this out here in it's temporary home compression will more than likely happen then. But for the time being in the current space available for it I will need to make some modifications. Not that big of a deal but it does compromise a section to have to become longer. The temp section in the bottom right will be used elsewhere on the rest of the layout and the track that is just "floating" there in the plan is the rest that will be built and just set to the side til the full space is available to attach them.

bradytemphome_zps15261be6.png
 
The layout will soon be coming into existence!!! I ordered a bunch of turnouts today and finally got the artwork for my locomotives in. I have 5 of the 7 tables up and ready for track as well as a modified track plan of what I can do for the time being.
 
did you have any issues getting permission to use the artwork for the locomotives? always figure it is best to ask on something like that, all it takes is one picture to get out.
 
Wasn't that difficult. They did however appreciate me asking them for permission to do them. Was more of awaiting game trying to find the people I needed to talk to to get the permission. GATX is very understanding when it comes to people who are model railroaders.

I did have to enter into an agreement with them though that I would not use any of it for profit nor would I mass produce the decals for the engines. Other than that was easy peasy.

Here is what my new locomotives will look like
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=4021216
 


OK I had to change my tables up and rework the plan a bit but now as soon as the garage is clear everything will start! Pics will be later tonight! I will only be able to fit 3 sections of Brady TX into the current space and the filler sections will be removed later when more space is available and used for the main line to Lometa, TX for interchange with the BNSF.
 
Surgery is looming closer! Friday morning and I hang up the spurs for a while. Here's the progress on module 1, tracks 2, 3, and 4 complete.

0225151352_zpsppleybnl.png

0226150450_zpssbotsizc.png

0226150451a_zpsb0tqw5sv.png
 
Thank you OldGuyHO!

He is the last amount completed with 2.5 hours til surgical prep. Track is temp powered and there is a 78" lead out of frame to the right.
0227150337_zpsplga1rsj.png
 
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