Steve...
I think a key factor in modifying the turntable area is how to visually separate or integrate the unscenicked loop from the yard area. That is, do you want the red area to be a transition between the mining/gorge scene and the yard/urban scene or a scene with more of its own identity?
Think about how you plan to disguise the track coming out of the yard, passing under the loop, and onto the rest of the layout. This will perhaps determine what the scene does, or maybe vice versa.
As for the yard itself, if you put in a loop at the end of the yard as drawn you will lose those 'industries'. But you will gain a way to turn locos, indeed whole trains, without the turntable. And, the space you save where the turntable is now could be an industrial spur or two. In place of the turntable, how about a major industry like an aggregate distributor? Something that would take a couple tracks and a variety of rolling stock...maybe a feednseed dealer?
One aspect of this plan which I really like, and especially the way you've interpreted it with the high mountains, is all the tunnels. This makes it harder to follow the train, so to speak, and can give the impression of longer distance traveled. But it can also serve to divide the layout into scenes connected by the train as it travels over the layout, leading your eye from scene to scene as it follows the train. I think this is part of the 'magic' of model railroading, the intentional misdirection that occurs as we follow the train, allowing our mind to focus on scenes and forget the limitations of the dimensions and compression we're working with.
Okay, enough philosophy for now. Great to see planning in action!
Galen
I think a key factor in modifying the turntable area is how to visually separate or integrate the unscenicked loop from the yard area. That is, do you want the red area to be a transition between the mining/gorge scene and the yard/urban scene or a scene with more of its own identity?
Think about how you plan to disguise the track coming out of the yard, passing under the loop, and onto the rest of the layout. This will perhaps determine what the scene does, or maybe vice versa.
As for the yard itself, if you put in a loop at the end of the yard as drawn you will lose those 'industries'. But you will gain a way to turn locos, indeed whole trains, without the turntable. And, the space you save where the turntable is now could be an industrial spur or two. In place of the turntable, how about a major industry like an aggregate distributor? Something that would take a couple tracks and a variety of rolling stock...maybe a feednseed dealer?
One aspect of this plan which I really like, and especially the way you've interpreted it with the high mountains, is all the tunnels. This makes it harder to follow the train, so to speak, and can give the impression of longer distance traveled. But it can also serve to divide the layout into scenes connected by the train as it travels over the layout, leading your eye from scene to scene as it follows the train. I think this is part of the 'magic' of model railroading, the intentional misdirection that occurs as we follow the train, allowing our mind to focus on scenes and forget the limitations of the dimensions and compression we're working with.
Okay, enough philosophy for now. Great to see planning in action!
Galen
......but I was confused when I started this. There's something to be said for consistency, I guess
