Santa Fe Engine facility........Help!

trainsteve2435

trainsteve2435

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Jun 18, 2004
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barboursville, wv
Hello everyone, As you all know, this is tax season, which means..... we all hope to have a little extra cash to spend on that certain something for our layouts that we have drooled over for most of the year.... with that said.. i want to build a Santa Fe engine facility set around the transition period from AT&SF to BNSF. I want to include the newer Walthers indexed turn table as well as the engine facility and anything else that may go with it. This paticular scene is going to be built as a module to add onto in the future as i can afford. I need some help, ideas and suggestions. Anyone who has any knowlege of this type of facility or suggestions or pictures, i would greatly appreciate it. Also, roughly what size would i be looking at as far as a module size in HO scale? Anyone have any ideas as far as a track plan for a service facility? Any and all help is appreciated, and the sooner the better so i can begin ordering the items i will need. Thanks to one and all for your help and ideas!:wave:
 
Ayne have any comments on the Walthers indexed turn table, the newer motorized one? Im thinking of buying this one for my loco facility along with 4 of the 3 stall modern round houses.
 
Re: Walthers TT

My comment is, ummm... it's expensive? Although not quite as much as a Diamond Scale. If you are up for it, there's a fantastic tutorial in The Academy about building your own. MR also had a how-to in the mid-1990s? about building a roundhouse like this i.e. against a backdrop.

BTW, that whole Walthers series does look fantastic. I don't know enough about it thought to say if you are locking yourself into a specific railroad look (i.e. NKP versus SP or something), but you are definitely making a statement about the period - 1940s to 50s - height of steam power before its demise :(

Andrew
 
Hey, thanks Kurt, i appreciate that comment, and BTW, thanks for posting the link to the SF loco terminal, its great. Thanks to everyone else for your thoughts and comments, they really help. I think im going to make the round house end ofthe module 4' wide instead of 2' wide, that way i can use complete Walthers modern round house with add on stalls. Im thinking of adding around 12 - 15 stalls, do you think that is too many? Anyways, thanks to all of you for your input, i appreciate it.:wave:

P.S......I have ben working on a new module for the last week or so, and i will post pictures a little later!:thumb:
 
tually, the plan came from the book:...The Big Book of Model Railroad Track Plans by Robert Schleicher. The book has some really good plans in it to fit pretty much all spaces, so if you think of one, let me know, maybe i have it!:wave:
 
It seems to me that Iain Rice did a modest engine facility in one of his books, either Small, Smart and Practical, or Mid-Sized and Manageable...
 
Here's another to consider, although it's a bit more branchline than maybe you were thinking.

Bob Boudreau's Fundy Northern Railroad

The interesting thing (I hope) for you is that it is constructed on modules.

One other thing I would mention is the width you are planning. I would try to keep it to 2x4 feet or maybe 30" x 4 feet. Wider modules are necessarily all that much heavier, but can be difficult to manage in transport and set-up.

I agree though that it would be a shame to cut into that Walthers roundhouse just to make it fit... Maybe it's time for some scratchbuilding! ;)

Andrew
 
You are modeling the ATSF to BNSF transition, which puts your era in the mid 1990's. Do they even have a roundhouse and turntable in use? Steam engines had roundhouses and turntables because the steam engine had a definate front and rear and had to be turned. Diesels are bi-directional, so they can be moved into and out of the service facility without concern with which way the locomotive faces. If they do want to turn a diesel, the modern railroads usually use a wye or balloon track. You may want the roundhouse and turntable because they look neat, which is fine. Just wondering if you are wanting it because it looks neat or because you know of a prototype for it on the BNSF?
 
Russ Bellinis said:
You are modeling the ATSF to BNSF transition, which puts your era in the mid 1990's. Do they even have a roundhouse and turntable in use? Steam engines had roundhouses and turntables because the steam engine had a definate front and rear and had to be turned. Diesels are bi-directional, so they can be moved into and out of the service facility without concern with which way the locomotive faces. If they do want to turn a diesel, the modern railroads usually use a wye or balloon track. You may want the roundhouse and turntable because they look neat, which is fine. Just wondering if you are wanting it because it looks neat or because you know of a prototype for it on the BNSF?
Click to expand...

I would be willing to bet there is one, somewhere, on the BNSF. I'd be interested to know the answer.

Dave
 
puddlejumper said:
I would be willing to bet there is one, somewhere, on the BNSF. I'd be interested to know the answer.

Dave
Click to expand...

There are often turntables and roundhouses left, but they have been taken out of service. The old turntable and roundhouse is still in place at Redondo Junction, but Santa Fe hasn't used it in years and I think it now belongs to Amtrak. Until the need for the property exceeds the cost to tear out the old turntable and roundhouse, the railroads just tend to abandon them and do their locomotive servicing elsewhere on the property.
 
Until the need for the property exceeds the cost to tear out the old turntable and roundhouse, the railroads just tend to abandon them
Click to expand...

Not just the need for the physical space... Railroads have a nasty habit of knocking down disused (but sometimes historic) facilities in order to avoid liability and associated insurance costs.

Andrew
 
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