I couldn't find a brewery in Rome, NY. I think I mentioned I found one in Utica 17 miles away. Rather picturesque on one end (probably office...) Public Domain, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13428505 There is a kit from City Classics that gives somewhat the same impression but with smaller width. Single windows on model compared to paired on prototype. But the distinctive 3 arches across top floor. Kit is 5 story, but first story is storefront which you wouldn't want anyway. Use top 4 floors and replace middle window with a door.
Continuing to develop layout ideas, I drew in crossovers on a double-track mainline laid out on the back of the layout. The crossover on the left side is a conventional crossover usually used on tangent (straight) double track- using two of the type of track switches, in this case #6 Right Hand. This allows movement from left hand running to right hand running in either direction. It could be the mirror reverse with 2 left-hand switches, allowing crossover from right-hand running to left. NOTICE that this creates a slight S-curve though a gentle one. A train going through first curves one direction –to the right- , then suddenly is curving the other –to the left. On prototype double-track railroads, crossovers often come in pairs to allow crossing left to right or right to left at an interlocking or station. Moving them a short distance apart, as done here, allows the track between the two crossovers to be used as a runaround, something we are going to need. On the top of the plan, the 92 inch long side, I did something different, a little trick. I wanted to move THIS crossover as far toward the curve as possible, to allow more room for a small local train (switcher and cars) to stay in staging without fouling the crossover. In fact, I moved the crossover slightly INTO the curve by using the curve side of the switch on the inner track. The switch on the inner track here is a #6 Right Hand while that on the outer is a #6 Left. Both switches contribute a little to going into the curve, the outer track switch (top) with the route that crosses over, and the inner track with the route that stays on the same (inner) track. This eliminates any S-curve, because the track does not curve one direction, then the opposite. Rather if curves one direction, straightens out without a reverse curve, then continues the curve in the same direction. I use this trick to eliminate S-curves, but I used it here to push the crossover to overlap with the length used for the first little bit of the curve, equivalent to about half a cured track section if we were using sectional track. I wanted that length to maximize the amount of length on the right end staging track. I drew outlines of a GEEP, 4 50-foot freight cars and a 35-foot caboose, to scale, to show what would fit. I also drew outlines of a RDC at both ends of the outer track, to show how much length it would take for staging at both ends of a back and forth operation. I located the depot at the back of the curve, approximately at the MIDDLE of the layout, rather than at one end as your originally suggested. There is room there behind the curve without forcing the ends of the double-track to come forward. This allows staging for at least an RDC, or 2 RDCs running together, at each end. With that, you can simulate the realistic operation of an RDC passenger train that comes into the depot from “somewhere else,” (New York City supposedly), stops a minute for passengers and then continues in the same direction to the other end of the line, Buffalo. Later, another RDC runs (might be a different car on the real railroad but we can simulate it with the one RDC or one pair), running from Buffalo, stopping at Rome NY and then going on to NYC. Amtrak’s “Empire Corridor Service” for summer 1989 shows a westbound train that stops at Rome daily at 1:23PM and another at 6:37, plus a run Monday only at 12:05PM and Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8:18 PM. Similarly, there were 2 eastbound trains every day, plus an extra morning train on Monday, and extra trains at one time on Friday and Sunday and a different time Saturday. You could adopt a passenger schedule like this with alternating east and west trains (the same RDC). You could use particular time schedules or not, but this setup would allow it to be done if you ever wanted to. I will admit to a trade-off. Locating the depot in the middle of the layout rather than the end means you don’t have as long a continuous run. However it does mean you get to model the entire operation realistically as it happens at one station/town. I had a one-town railroad for many satisfying years, with oval running but half the oval hidden in staging. A passenger train came THRU my town once in an operating session, made a station stop and then disappeared. This was a small piney woods town that only had one passenger train a day. Your layout represents a depot with service several times a day, and the RDC would allow the same equipment to come back in the opposite direction without needing to be turned around, since the RDC-1s have a cab at each end. I may want to move the left side crossover either toward or away from the center curve, as I try to locate the track to the industrial switching line on the front of the layout.
Roughing in the industrial switching part of the layout. I ran an 18” radius curve from the double-track mainline from a #4 switch just east of the mainline curve to connect with a switching spur for freight customers. (Note: layout is aligned as seen from north. Depot south side of mainline tracks, west toward Buffalo at right, east toward Albany toward left, town of Rome and industrial spur north of mainline.) The 18” radius curves on the industry spur and #4 switches contrast visually with the gentle curves of the mainline and #6 crossover switches. Not satisfied yet with the spacing of the three tracks in front of the brewery complex in present form. The track closest to brewery buildings is for loading boxcars, second track serves grain silos and tank unloading. I need to leave room between boxcar loading and silo track for the silos etc. The front track on right side of layout is NOT intended as part of the brewery tracks. It is a LEAD to allow switcher to pull cars intended for the spurs on left side of drawing, clear of the switch WITHOUT interfering with any of the cars at the brewery. I drew in two industries on the left side of the layout based on real businesses shown on Google satellite views of Rome, NY: Revere Cooper and a pallet plant. These are located schematically in the same location of the track plan as on the prototype. After the connection from the mainline curves to go into town, there is a spur that cuts off to the north. After it leaves the track that goes to Railroad Street, it divides into spurs for Revere and the pallets. Actually several for pallets and quite a few for Revere. Of course it is not possible actually to model the Revere complex. It must be at least half a mile square with dozens of buildings. I suggest modeling Revere with one warehouse/loading and unloading building that can handle three cars or so, and suggest that the rest of the plant is just beyond it. If the building is the equivalent of 2, 3, or 4 stories tall, it will help hide the east end mainline staging. I drew in a small background on the END of the layout which could contain outlines of some large buildings AND the most distinctive LANDMARK, a giant sign in the shape of Paul Revere on horseback making his famous ride. “The British are coming! The British are coming!” The horse and rider measure 18 1/2 feet high and 42 feet, 5 inches long, while the company lettering stretches 155 feet. Of course it is not to be modeled to scale, but represented a flat photograph or printout, smaller than scale size, to look farther away. The prototype location puts the pallet plant at the front edge of the layout. It could be modeled without ANY buildings, but just a loading platform alongside a spur, and piles of pallets inside a fence. Perhaps there might be a forklift to move pallets around. It is implied the rest of the plant is “in the aisle.” Pallets would be easy and cheap to scratchbuild. They would create a scene that visually identifies the business even without buildings or signage. AND they could be low enough so as not to interfere with a view of the depot in the corner or the switching and action on the mainline. I visited a relative who lives in a National Forest in east Texas for Christmas 2009. When we left, I spotted a pallet manufacturing plant and shot a photo for reference.
I don't mean to hijack this thread, but I've always liked this scene. It has a look of realism to me. Any chance you have move photos of it, Ken? How about a track plan? Thanks Mike Dean
I linked to photos I found using google. And I studied track layout at Rome, NY by using GoogleEarth satellite views and going back and forth over them. I didn't know anything about any of this until I saw the original question on this forum from THX712527 a few days ago. I have one or two more iterations of the previously shown 92" x 96" L-shaped plan to clean up alignment of brewery spurs and see if it is not completely ridiculous to try to work in Erie Canal scene, with one rr bridge and one street bridge over it. I get excited when I see a chance to work in well-known signature historical and geographic features as an integral part of a coherent (though sometimes "adjusted" around to make it fit) scene. My own layout has a "two-mile-long" causeway to an island seaport, a place for a beachfront hotel shaped like a ship... and a Guns of Navaronne" style 5-story deep bunker. ALL of which are part of prototype scene I model. However will be next week before I can work much more on "Rome NY passenger & switching layout" design.
Mike Dean, I didn't realize you were referring to my East Texas layout. I will start a new thread, maybe next week. Got lots of pictures & stories. Meanwhile, here is track plan and schematic.
If you position a right-handed crossover (made with one right hand turnout and one left hand turnout) where the left-handed one is currently positioned in the track plan in Post#20, and a left handed crossover (made with one right hand turnout and one left hand turnout) on the upper leg of the L just to the left of the green line, you will have a run around that is long enough to hold a cut of 3 (4??) cars, so you will be able to: 1. work industrial spurs at either end of the L, regardless of traveling eastbound or westbound; 2. avoid S-curves through the crossovers (and gain some extra length in the tracks from the crossovers to the ends of the shelf); 3. position a spur or two that parallels the mains on either leg, and also run one or two that cut diagonally to the front of the shelf at the end of either leg. If the main tracks outside of the run-around are hidden by buildings on both ends, you could bring 3 cars from the left, trade them for 3 in the industries which you put in staging to the left, then pull 3 others from the other left staging track and replace them with a second set of 3 from the industries; then work the same trading of 3 and 3 staging cars for 3 and 3 industry cars on the right leg of the layout. If you shift the double main tracks closer to the center of the shelf, you could serve industries on both sides of the mains. Edit: ...but would probably need to reduce the number of taller buildings on the layout to permit easy access to the spurs on the far side of the main(s). Additionally, shifting the 2-track main to the middle of the shelf (instead of at the back) would make it harder to hide any staging tracks toward the ends of either leg of the L.
In the L configuration excessive reach into the corner might be reduced by curved backdrop. Might be a place to locate Podunk Town so fewer buildings need to be erected. Custom backdrops can be ordered in many sizes at reasonable prices (if anything associated with MRR can be considered reasonably priced) Concerning "reach": I've always heard the reach should be no further from where the modeler can stand and comfortably keep their arms extended for several minutes without leaning against the layout. For me that's about 24". I could probably increase that by a good 6" if I lost my belly.
It's a good rule. Once you start leaning over, you not only start straining the body, but endanger everything under your lean....
