kyle, what is missing is "strategic" planning. It is much easier to understand a plan and details when more is known about how and why your trains are operating. Locale, era, the kind of railroad are very important to know before going to a drawing board. Why do you need such a biggish yard? Are you running so many trains during a session that you really need a dedicated yard lead? I added a plan inspired by Byron's Orphan Branch. It could be built using 3 sections. All of them easy to handle by two persons in case of moving out. It is a small switching layout, with an oval for continuous running. Small equipment from the 50's in Southern California. By leaving the "orchard" section out you still have a nice switching layout California Dreaming again. Paul
well, my era is in the early 50s, locale is Appalachia (should I have a more specific spot in mind?), and the RR is a mining branch line off of the main. What I was trying to get was a little bit of everything; mainline running, all kinds of switching, and classification. Although now that I have typed it out it doesn't seem that great any more. so, on to the million dollar question, what does interest me? well I definitely need relatively short trains (less than 10 cars), I want room for some hilly/mountainous scenery with a town or two(big city railroading is not really an interest of mine), i think it would be cool to have a set of paired industries(that would also allow for less restaging between sessions), I would also like either a mining or logging theme (or at least the opportunity to run those kinds of trains (i like both equally but if I had to choose I would pick logging, it fits a smaller RR better imho)). I think that my theme will be a small logging branch line in northern california in the early 1950s. So the scenes that I want to have are: a logging camp, a sawmill, a small town(maybe the sawmill will be in the town?), and at least one stretch of just good scenery, and maybe a small yard (at the junction between the main and branch?). so how does that sound? do you want more detail on anything? is there anything that won't work? maybe for the track plan it would be like the one you just posted, the "main" would be on the top and left sides of the layout and the branch would curve up and the logging camp would be where you have orchard. the sawmill would be on the left with maybe a small town on the top part. How does that sound? I'll get around to making a track plan later today. thank you kyle
Here is the plan I promised: the green area is the logging camp, the red is the town area with a few industries and maybe a mini yard, and the orange is the lumber mill. quite by accident i paired up the logging camp and the log dump, so i get one of my more minor wishes, a set of paired industries. the mainline is the track that goes all the way from the top right corner to the bottom left corner. What do you think of my LDE placement? also what should I do in the area to the right of the lumber mill?
Hi Kyle, An LDE (layout design element) is a chunck of of real railroad used on a model RR. Tony Koester's idea was, beside being inspirational, to keep you from trackplan errors. Though a string of haphazardly chosen LDE#'s is not necessarily leading to a coherent plan. What you indicated is probably a pond for a log dump. You will need additional space for the sawmill itself. And what to think about lumber and chips loading tracks. Add a house track (AT&SF language) with verious industries along the main too and the space is very well used. The main does not have to be that long. IMHO its presence is more to tell a story then to be part of operations. Just crying out loud "hey, here are our cars going to faraway destinations". (my opinion only) Paul
hi Kyle, in a remote corner of Virginia, between Kentucky and Tennesee, you will find the Clinchfield (CRR); Appalachian railroading at its finest. This is the locale for a logging branch in the 50's; operated by the AKS, locally known as the AXE. Lots of locale industries, like a brewery around. IMHO skipping some tracks could be wise. Smile Paul
Here's a thought. Havet the top track from Upwood going to a wye just left of Allen Jct. Would give you more options on directions the trains run.
