OK... So who's going to be the first to have their own "trench" on their layout? Guess it would be kind of tough cleaning the track with all the overhead supports in the way. Dave D. Los Angeles, CA -Rail Radio Online - Home of the "TrainTenna" Rail Radio Monitoring Antenna- http://eje.railfan.net/railradioonline ---------------------------------------------------------- -The Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Photo Archive & E-Mail List- http://eje.railfan.net ---------------------------------------------------------- -The Ashley, Drew & Northern Railfan Page- http://eje.railfan.net/adn ---------------------------------------------------------- -Southern California Trains- http://eje.railfan.net/socal ----------------------------------------------------------
I actually thought about doing a mini corridor on some N track modules, but it's really pointless in the end. All you would see are the tops of the trains, derailments would be a mess, track cleaning by hand almost impossible, etc. Although it may be pointless, it would still be REALLY cool.
If the overhead beams could be made to lift off, track cleaning etc. would be ok, and I agree, it would really look cool
WHy not do what the Japanese subway modelers do and just get rid of one of the walls? The tracks would be inches from the table edge, there'd be a 3-4" tall back wall and struts cantelievered out to the table edge. It could really be a "bookshelf" layout...
Aren't there tracks on the surface for switching local industries? I seem to remember a drawing in TRAINS when the project was first announced showing this. Wouldn't be entirely pointless in that case. Dwight
[/qb][/QUOTE]Aren't there tracks on the surface for switching local industries? I seem to remember a drawing in TRAINS when the project was first announced showing this. Wouldn't be entirely pointless in that case. Dwight[/QB][/QUOTE] Well, my buddy (ATSF160) and myself did a little railfanning about two months ago down near the harbor and the sections of the corridor I saw (from the top only) didn't have an industrial track directly above it. It would be really cool to mount a small camera down in the trench if you had one on a layout........hhhmmmmmmm..........
If I remember correctly, the drawing showed the track cantilevered over one side of the trench. So I guess it either hasn't been added yet, or it's been scrapped from the project. Dwight
The official web page for the trench is here. If you look at this photo by "rusted flange" you'll see the north end of the trench. The thing I find most interesting about this is the concrete ties on the turnouts. Around Southern California, I've always seen wooden ties for the turnouts, even if there are miles of concrete ties on either side. How long until we can talk Peco into making concrete tie turnouts? [ 12 April 2002, 02:26: Message edited by: ten87 ]
There actually is a portion that does have a street level track... I took this shot at the South end. The street level track goes alongside the corridor just like the old track use to, but when you get to the point where they use to have the wye that went East, and the track also continued North, it now just goes East. There's also a small lead that comes off of J yard on the North end that goes along side it for a few blocks, then turns into some industries. I like the idea of having it cutaway so you can see the trains. If you made the top supports out of something light, you could probably just glue them to the one side, or you could do it really trick and have the side board cut out like a window. I've wondered what it will look like to see the headlights bouncing off those supports at night. Another cool thing to include would be the new concrete span and the lift bridge to Terminal Island... Then of course there's the huge coal loading facility down there. Plenty of cool things for a layout. Dave D. Los Angeles, CA -Rail Radio Online - Home of the "TrainTenna" Rail Radio Monitoring Antenna- http://eje.railfan.net/railradioonline ---------------------------------------------------------- -The Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Photo Archive & E-Mail List- http://eje.railfan.net ---------------------------------------------------------- -The Ashley, Drew & Northern Railfan Page- http://eje.railfan.net/adn ---------------------------------------------------------- -Southern California Trains- http://eje.railfan.net/socal ----------------------------------------------------------
Ed, Rusty's shot is great! I agree, concrete tied turnouts would be very cool. That whole scene could be easily modeled. The first thing I noticed was the Caboose Industries ground throw on the near turnout! Then it seemed they were using some long Kadee uncoupling magnets further back! Those middle tracks must not see much action judging by how clean they are! Awesome picture!
This is a very interesting project, and must only be a matter of time before someone models it! Does anyone know whether where the tracks enter the "trench" is it a steep grade, or does the surrounding ground rise as well?
Alan, the surrounding area stays level. If you look at the photo above, you can see the decent grade down into the trench from the south end. My link above to Rusted Flange's photo shows the north end.
There was originally a dirt island between the two sides of Alameda, which already had a track. So the property was already there really. They didn't have to move the streets much... When they built it, they installed bridges for the streets that cross it BEFORE they excavated. They sank piles down along the sides to shore them up, then came back and excavated under all the bridges they had built already. This allowed them to do the whole thing without cutting off traffic. Right after the trains go down on the North end, there's a few blocks where the streets run almost completely over the trench, but then it widens out for the rest of the way down to Delores Yard. This shot that Ron Butts took shows the descent into the North side at J yard. The right side is J yard... The track at ground level on the left is the lead to the Wilmington Sub. http://www.trainorders.com/media/image/images/alameda10_copy.jpg I was thinking... In a two foot wide section of layout, you could have the corridor, and if you wanted to, you could even include the Wilmington Sub that runs parallel just a few blocks to the West along the Blue Line tracks. In fact, if you wanted to get crazy, you could even have the Blue Line. It's one of the few things you could model with that much track, and actually have it be prototypical. BTW... They're having the grand opening today. Dave D. Los Angeles, CA -Rail Radio Online - Home of the "TrainTenna" Rail Radio Monitoring Antenna- http://eje.railfan.net/railradioonline ---------------------------------------------------------- -The Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Photo Archive & E-Mail List- http://eje.railfan.net ---------------------------------------------------------- -The Ashley, Drew & Northern Railfan Page- http://eje.railfan.net/adn ---------------------------------------------------------- -Southern California Trains- http://eje.railfan.net/socal ----------------------------------------------------------
Well today started out like most. Before I went to school and before my Dad left for work I asked him if he had the paper as I wanted to see if there was something in it about the corridor. He tells me, "oh, I'm going to the grand opening today!" My father is the head of a Civil Engineering department for the LA County Sanitation Districts. Anyway, he was invited as a "Dignitary" since he worked on the projects in it's early stages. He said he'll bring some photos home.......... I really love seeing long fast stack trains, and I thought the corridor was going to have at least a 55mph speed limit, but it's only 40! Doesn't look like I have any need for it now....
you may notice I have done something similar although not double line. In this picture you can see the concrete walls where the mainline dives under itself.
