Hi Gary, Oops! I'll recalculate the line up the hill - if needed, I can add a 1-turn helix at tunnel 2. Lower staging is to be below the peninsula with 6 tracks each in loop form for SP and ATSF - enough to hold two full trains on each track for a total of 24 trains. If additional space is needed for locals or miscellaneous, then I can add more track below Edison. From Monolith, the helix exits at Mojave, which in turn jumps into staging below the loop in 2 loops of 6 tracks each - essentially a mirror of the lower staging level. No room for locals here, so if Mojave is modeled then they would originate from the yard. I might be able to add one more track to connect the Barstow/Colton loops - I hadn't thought of that - thanks! John has been a big help in getting the shop prepped for the layout (originally slated for the Clinchfield - the area being worked on is the left wall in the Tehachapi plan, and the roofed area on the right side of the photos is where I wanted the bump out to be). The shop still needs interior work, including drywall and updating the wiring and add a new panel (has an old 110~220 fuse box now). I may have to eliminate Mojave as an active yard and model the eastern approach instead (a simple 2-track lead into staging in a dessert setting), else bite the bullet and accept a duck-under and move Tehachapi over the door on the right wall. The shelf would be 3' shorter than where it is now, and the return to the middle shelf to staging might get messy, except that there's already a blob at tunnel 2, so it might work. I could also move it above the climb up to Bealville, removing the scene at Caliente for access to Monolith, then the line could stage above the peninsula without modeling Mojave. Either change would allow inclusion of the tunnel scene, and the latter give some space for Marcel along the bottom wall in the drawing. I was hoping for an open plan, but I won't loose sleep either way, so long as the finished layout is fun for anyone visiting (and not a maintenance nightmare for me). Oops! I thought as much - rats - I found another recent photo at RailPictures.net that confirms this. Doh! How embarrassing! From the Rold Gold ad of the 80s: "It must have been the pretzels!" Thanks for your comments. The recent photos of your "Tehachapi, BC" progress has got me fired up to see my own version running!
At the moment I've settled on the above plan, but contemplating on not adding Mojave and use the shelf for staging instead of staging under the loop peninsula. This would allow me to drop the top shelf a few inches and raise the lower by several. Lowering the top shelf will also aid in reducing the grade from Caliente to Rowen. The deciding factor will be when I build the first shelf at Edison - I don't want it too low. I would also like to redraw the loop at 24" and also make a more realistic approach, and then remove the siding at Rowen and Bealville and model only one siding - Cliff. I could place Tunnel 8 so that it sneaks under the loop approach to Tunnel 9, and use the area immediately to the left and above Caliente for the scene between Tunnel 7 and 8, with Cliff taking up most of the area along the top of the plan. Doing so would mean that the mainline would enter Tunnel 2 and emerge at the East portal of Tunnel 5 to enter Cliff. I may have to figure this out in 3D to see how it might look. All this reduces local ops in favor of possibly better scene fidelity and comfort for the road crew. I'm uncertain what to do except to keep doodling ideas - I do not want a maintenance nightmare nor a bowl of spaghetti.
Just kidding.... The modifications you suggest sound good to me (though I'm not sure I have all the details clear). This is the perfect time to make sure that your power and climate control needs are met, and to start that sheet-rocking job you keep alluding to. After that, you should start building a layout section you're pretty confident about and see how it goes. It's virtually impossible to have everything just right in a plan anyways. Prod, prod. -Gary
Very subtle of you Gary. I love your post. There is much to be done to prepare the building. It does have a new roof and one outside west side has been refinished. So three more sides and the ability to secure the contents would come before drywall, I hope. Once that is done and Marc can see the drywall going in I am sure it would progress like the Borg.
Thanks John. I wasn't actually trying to be subtle, but in case I was too obtuse, I'll rephrase my previous post: Get to work Marc!
