My New Layout

Trackplan

Ok, here is my first attempt at this track plan. Where should I start :confused: ! The red and blue lines are the two mainlines the blue travels counter clockwise while the red travels clockwise. (Keep in mind, that obviously the curves aren't all quite to scale.)

The yellow is the branch line that grades down and into a helix to a staging yard underneith the layout.

The green line is another branch line and breaks off from the yellow and runs about 4 inches or so below the top of the main layout. This line is going to be 18" radius and will serve a lumber mill that will be at the end of the peninsula where the green line stops. I am planning to have about one or maybe two feet on the end of the peninsula for that. I am not sure exactly yet how I am going to set that up.

Oh ya! And the red (or pinkish) squares are places that are untouchable, besides the space allowed for the main lines. The top box is probably going to have a small town and a precious minerals mine. The bottom box is going to have a flour mill and grain silos, but those sections are specifically marked off for other individuals so I cannot touch them.

The lower peninsula where the yellow branch line is, is going to have a mountain, and scenery to the floor. Then behind the mountain and over to the yard is going to be city, and industries. Obviously I don't know how I am going to have that either. The upper peninsula will also have a small town with a couple of industries, it all depends on what can fit there.

Now as for the roundhouse and whatnot, I am not sure exactly how to arrange things there, I want it to be able to service both diesel and steam. Should I have the turntable accessible from the main line in the two places or should I just have it single access? Like I said, I am not sure how things are supposed to be done.

I don't know what else to explain so please ask questions! :)

Thanks Freelancer
 

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Yard

Here is a closeup of the yard. I have been reading various articles about how yards a structured, they helped out a lot, but I still don't know if I completely understand how yards are structured, so I hope that I have a good base to start out from. I am still trying to decide if I should have the mainlines go through the middle like they are, or if they should go on either side of the yard. I was going to use #6 switches, but I think I will either do #4 or #5 because I will be using switchers and not any of the six axle units. I will use #6 for the Arrival/Departure track, but everything else will be 4 or 5's. What are your thoughts? Do I have something that is at least workable?

Thanks, Freelancer
 

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I like your plan. I think I would double track the mainline through the yard to facilitate dispatching trains both ways. Your "loco servicing facility" is good for diesel engines. You will just need a fueling station for the diesels which could be on an extension of either track into the loco shed, or it could be a track adjacent to the loco shop. The fueling rig could also go between the two tracks going to the loco shop. You also need to have a sanding facility for both the steam and diesel engines. The way things are laid out, you might need two sanding facilities. The one for the diesel could be on the end of the fueling track. The one for steam could be on one of the tracks going off of the turntable outside of the roundhouse.
 
Russ, you think that I should keep both mainlines going through the middle? Or should I have them go around the outside, one to the north and one to the south with the yard in between? I like it in between because it saves on space, I only need one arrival/departure track, however, only one arrival/departure track could also be a bottle neck. But if I have the mainlines go to the north and the other to the south, then I will lose space because of the need for two arrival/departure tracks, and two run-arounds. I don't think that I will have too much traffic but I don't want to find out the hard way. Maybe I could change the classification/staging track that is directly to the right of the blue main line into an arrival/departure track.

So I guess that I will keep the two access points for the turntable, have one be for the diesels and the other for the steam. I suppose that I will have the fueling platform and the sanding tower for the diesels next to each other. I will have the diesels on the left hand side and the steam on the right hand side of the turntable. Is it odd that the coaling tower is on a seperate siding not connected directly to the turntable? Should I put it accoss from the sandhouse? on the next track over?
 
Your planned layout looks like it will accomodate a number of operators. I think that if you short change the yard and create a bottle neck there, you will find it very frustrating when trying to operate with multiple operators.

Regarding locomotive facilities, I was suggesting that the diesel servicing go accross the mainline from the turn table, where you have two tracks going through a building labled "loco service." I think the prototype would normally put a sand tower next to the coaling tower & water tower, so that everything on the locomotive could be filled at one spot.
 
I moved the MOW Track over to the other side of the red main line, and placed another Arrival/Departure track there to serve the red main line. Then I think I will have another run-around next to the second Arrival/Departure track, or could I just use the mainline as the run-around for that track?

Freelancer
 

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Now for the servicing facility, I think that I will do like you were saying Russ, I will put the Diesels accross the mainline and have both the fueling platform and the sand tower in between the two tracks there. Then I will move the coaling tower and water tower over to the upper entrance track to the turntable, and put the sand drying house under the lower entrance track, and have the sand tower be in between those two tracks. Any thoughts as to what I could do with the space where I originally had the coaling tower?

Since nobody else is saying anything does this mean that I am ok to start construction? :thumb:
 
Scale Track

I was quite intrigued with the idea of having a scale track somewhere in my yard. "Model Railroader" May 2004 covered one, and also the September 2002 issue covered how to build an operating scale track and I was wondering, where exactly would this be placed in the yard? The article in May states that cars can be weighed while rolling at 4-6mph and the article in September states that the car has to be individually spotted. The scale tracks seem to me to be the same in both articles, so is it possible to do the rolling weight with that style of scale? Or is a different type of scale necissary?

Thanks, Freelancer
 
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