New track plan

[Nomad]

Hi all , here ia my new track plan. I now have a folded dogbone type and am not happy with it, so I came up with this. Please let me know what you think.
Area one will be icing and cold storage, area two will be stock pens and a slaughterhouse. The rest are misc. industries. There is a door opening out where the engine service is, so reach in that area is no problem. There would be a three foot lift bridge where the other door is, built along Gary S. idea. I also have a three track interchange. I like the idea of interchange better than staging. Curve minimun on the mainline is 22". The one thing that really bugs me is the S curve going by the yard, but that was the only way to get a straight section before the bridge.
Please take a look and let me know what you think.

Loren

 

[60103]

The only thing I can see is that the icing track appears to be the switchback track for the stockpens and slaughterhouse. Every time you switch area 2 you'll have to pull the cars from area 1. Maybe you could move the turnouts to the stock pens to come off the second track from the ice rack.

 

[Nomad]

David, Thank You. I never even saw that problem.

Loren

 

[Nomad]

Please, need comments

Ok, I moved the icing and cold storage down by the turntable, how does that look?

 

[Nomad]

Hey all, I bumped this up, I really need opions before I start tearing my old track up, please.
Thank you.

Loren

 

[Iron Goat]

Loren... If those grids are 12", it looks like your ice house/cold storage bldg. will be about 2 inches from the edge of your turntable. You might be able to slide your T/T to the left a tad, and then "swing" those roundhouse tracks a bit to the right.

Bob :thumb:

 

[Gary S.]

Loren:

I really like your new idea. I think you will be very pleased with the around-the-room layout. So my opinion is "EXCELLENT!"

Hopefully Brakie and the other operations experts will chime in and give some opinions.

 

[Nomad]

Bob, you have good eyes, I checked and it's 1 7/8". Thanks for seeing that. And the grid is 12".
Gary, thanks for looking and giving your opion. I am so tired of building my layout and tearing it up, I guess I have a inferiority complex right now. It's nice to know what other people think. There are no modelers in my area, so I am depending on the great people at The Gauge for help.
Thank you all.

Loren

 

[60103]

I was thinking that you could just shift the turnouts that go to the stock pen to the seconf siding from the wall and have the ice track stay roughly where it is (first diagram). You might end up with a double slip at that point!

 

[TruckLover]

I like that plan, looks good

 

[Nomad]

David, if I did what I think your talking about, I would lose the runaround track in the yard. I need that also for the stockyard. But maybe I am not looking at it right?
Trucklover,thanks for the thumbs up.


Loren

 

[MasonJar]

Hi Loren,

A few thoughts -

I think the yard will be a bit of a reach to the back corner from the operting pit.

I liked the Ice house where it was (barring the reach issue). You could reconfigure your runaround and turnouts to the slaughterhouse to the third (from the left) yard track to put the icehouse on an independent track so that it would not interfere with the switchback into the packers.

Your service area needs a service track for the coal and ash pit that are on the turntable lead. That's my final reason for putting the ice house back where it was.

You may be able to get more out of the space by moving the turntable as far to the lower left as possible, and have the roundhouse side or back facing the pit.

Hope that helps. As always, this advice is worth $0.02

Andrew

 

[Nomad]

Drail, thanks for the advice. I plan on putting a lift or swing bridge there. I have those two tracks joined now, and am not happy with it.
Andrew, you are the second person to suggest I leave the ice platforms where they were. David(60103) also suggested that. If two of the experts on The Gauge give me a suggestion, I am not about to ignore it. Thanks for the help !
Forgot to mention, there is a door on the bottom right, so reach is no problem.

Loren

 

[Nomad]

Following the great advice I have gotten here, I redid some of the yard. How does this look?

 

[MasonJar]

Loren,

Again, as long as reach is not an issue, I think that looks good. You have lots of room for a roundhouse to the left of the turntable, and also a service track (if required) also to the left of the TT lead. plus the ice house is on its own now, so switching it or the packers will not interfere with the other.

The last (or maybe just the latest ) thing I noticed is that neither of the yards have an engine escape. Based on the fact that you'll have to head into one yard or the other, you might put a crossover between two of the yard tracks with just enough room to get run the engine back around. THat might be easier than running around the train before backing it into the yard.

Andrew

 

[Nomad]

Andrew, reach is definatly not a problem. All I have to do is open the door. I didn't show it, but there is a double door entrance to that room, doors opening out.
I had considered putting crossovers in the yards, but that will use even more precious yard space. I think I will try using the runarounds for now, and cut in the crossovers later if needed. And I will add service tracks for the locos when I determine the exact location of the tt. Again, thanks for the advice.
OK, nobody has trashed my trackplan, so I think I have a keeper. Demolition of my old layout starts now ! Pictures when I get going and have something to show.

Loren

 

[Pitchwife]

The last (or maybe just the latest ) thing I noticed is that neither of the yards have an engine escape. Based on the fact that you'll have to head into one yard or the other, you might put a crossover between two of the yard tracks with just enough room to get run the engine back around. THat might be easier than running around the train before backing it into the yard.

Andrew

I have to agree with Andrew. I think that you will regret not having an engine escape in your yards. Otherwise it looks good. :thumb:

 

[MadHatter]

As a matter of interest are you going to operate by yourself, or will there be additional people? Great plan, lots of switching potential.

 

[Nomad]

Clark, the way I plan to operate, the train would run counterclockwise, so the train would pull into the runaround track closest to the pit, the loco would cutoff and go to the roundhouse. The yard switcher would come out and push the cars into the yard as they are sorted. At least, that was the basic plan. If I am missing something, please let me know. I would also use the other runaround track for the interchange.
Madhatter, thanks for the thumbs up, that always helps. I don't know of any model railroaders in my area( everybodys into rc and airplanes around here) so I will be operating by myself.

Loren

 

[Pitchwife]

Clark, the way I plan to operate, the train would run counterclockwise, so the train would pull into the runaround track closest to the pit, the loco would cutoff and go to the roundhouse. The yard switcher would come out and push the cars into the yard as they are sorted. At least, that was the basic plan. If I am missing something, please let me know. I would also use the other runaround track for the interchange.
Madhatter, thanks for the thumbs up, that always helps. I don't know of any model railroaders in my area( everybodys into rc and airplanes around here) so I will be operating by myself.

Loren

I understand Loren. You are using the entire layout in an end-of-the-line scenario. There's no problem with that. Some modelers increase their switching possibilities by making it a mid-point location. A train would come from another town, either on the layout or off of it, drop off some cars and pick up others that have been set out, and then continue on. After it leaves, either to staging or just continuing around the layout, the switcher sorts and delivers the cars to the proper industries and also collects, sorts and sets out outbound cars for the next train.
There is nothing wrong with what you have planned to operate your layout. That's the great thing about this hobby, you can make it simple, just watching it go round and round, complex with lots of switching or something in between.
All we are suggesting is to plan it so that you have the most flexibility to enjoy it fully. Better to build something that you are able to grow into than decide later that you want to do more and have to tear it up and start over (of course there's nothing wrong with that either if you enjoy it. ). Bottom line is that you have fun! :thumb: :thumb: And you are the best person to determine how to do that.