So as my test running is going on - I'm wondering if couplers have a significant role in reliability and unhooking - I don't have a radically long train, and radical radiuses but I noticed that rapidos do seem to come upcoupled at times. I'm assuming other couplers will be less likely to come disconnected in sharper turns.
I replaced the Rapido couplers on my very first Bachman train set with Micro Trains' couplers (or trucks with MT couplers). As I recall, the MTs were significantly more reliable than the Rapidos. And they looked a ton better to boot! If you replace individual couplers (rather than trucks) get the MT coupler gauge to verify the height above the rails for the couplers, and shim/trim accordingly. I also have a smattering of other knuckle couplers (e.g. whatever Atlas used on their railcars,) and they were good and reliable too. MT is the market leader, and other knuckle coupler manufacturers know they need to work reliably with MTs too.
Yes, when you can find them, and you have to make sure you get the right length axle (0.540" for Micro Trains trucks). https://www.some train store.com/ea...cale-metal-wheelsets-with-540-axle-length-12/
Trying to get a feel for things, mountain/tunnel and river will give me a challenge. Thinking about having the turnout come in from where the gas station is and that 45 degree section of track pointing into the layout from the opposite direction, and having the gas station down at the end of that curved road by the river. Other ideas: -Having the industry over by the truss bridge on the outside of the track and having a short section of track feed the industry there instead. Leaving the inside of the layout open for residential and business.
I like the idea of reversing the direction of the switch and industry stub at top. I would also consider another switch and stub siding to the outsideof the loop there, for either another industry (e.g. a propane distributor or a small passenger/freight depot, depending on era.) The two short-radius curves to the left of the truss bridge can be replaced by longer radius 19R curves (and replacing some straight track too) for a more sweeping curve. Either or both of those curves could then be replaced with #4 switches to serve another industry on the near side of the meandering road (that T's into Main). Industries not only create new/different environments for scenic detail, they also create purpose for the railroad (a reason for the RR being there) and increase operating interest. Be careful with tunnels. Tunnels are expensive to dig, more so than blasting away the side of a mountain instead. Tunnels that poorly disguise the path of the track within them are especially problematic. Try not to make the side of the mountains containing the tunnel closely mimic the path of the tracks. Have you considered putting the strip club "across the river"? Many small towns would frown on such an establishment within their limits, but would discretely support one just outside the town limits (and conveniently across the street/tracks from a truck stop at lower right). Don't forget a church elsewhere on the layout (perhaps where the strip club is now), for the 'other' crowd (if not also the same crowd). But all of the above is how I would build my model RR with this track plan and space, not how you should build yours. Keep that in mind, and make it yours! I'm pretty sure this won't be your last layout either.
Hey Andy - I def agree with some of your ideas. The strip club is in the bottom left across the tracks for the purpose you mention, but could also be by the truss bridge on the outside of the loop - I'm trying not to waste that space. I'm trying to move the factory to that location to free up space inside the loop for more normal city scenery and buildings/houses. The strip club could go down by the river, being near the truss bridge, which in real life would be a more seedy part of town anyways, would fit the club. That bottom right corner is planned to look like this: See red circled area - my plan is to put this in: The reason I want to do a mountain and tunnel is so I can plant some N scale Sequoia trees on it to mimic northern California - I also might put my AC Delco sign up there or a Smokey the Bear sign like this: I also so a wildfire watch tower somewhere I was thinking of planting up there.
Hmm!! Must not be Milwaukee. A lot of those joints around town. Don't know of any up here in the Tri-County.
Yes plenty in Milwaukee. My brother in law had his bachelor party in Appleton and we went to Beansnappers - $3.00 mountain dews in the can, no alcohol. lol
Okay, I misread the sticky note in the lower right corner. I thought it said something about a truck stop, that would be outside the track. I like the idea of a tunnel on the left end, it just needs to better disguise the track path. Maybe if the extra pump island behind the gas station were around the side of the building instead, would help reduce the depth of the footprint needed for the gas station, and allow the mountain to expand toward the road behind those (shallower) lots. That seems like a nice place for a park too, between the mountains and Main St. A hiking trail up the mountain, and/or a cliff for rappelling, accessible from the park would look good. I actually like the original location of the mountain/tunnel, in the upper right corner. But again, I would shape the mountain a little differently, extending it like an arrowhead toward the center, in that pie shaped area between river, road and track. Then it becomes more clear why they had to dig a tunnel (expensive) rather than route the track just a little to the side to avoid an expensive tunnel.
"Beansnappers" reminds me of the Jordan, UT (suburb of SLC) high school mascot, the "Beetdiggers". My late BIL grew up there, and worked in the beet fields, thinning beets when he was a kid. The beet fields are long gone, replaced by subdivisions, shopping malls, and "progress". Between that, and my grandparents referring to us young'uns as "whipper-snappers". Thanks for recalling those memories for me!
The pump island you refer to is the Kodak Fotomat - it can go anywhere, but normally they were found in mall parking lots, since I don't have a mall, I thought behind the gas station would work but we can move it anywhere. Since my "downtown" will be on that T intersection. I love your mountain hiking trail idea/rapeling. Def will be in there. Maybe a few campers at the top, but no road. I will have a hard enough time learning to pour roads on flat sections Would we have the space in the upper right with the river right there? I only moved it to the far left to give some balance with the water feature on the other end. Originally before the track plan changed I was going to do a river and mountain parallel to each other on the far left 1/8 or 1/6 of the layout. I'm also thinking of the having that curved road "S" from the right top right to the far bottom left by the strip club. I have a sheet of 2x2 foam to chop up and start stacking for that mountain tunnel but gotta batten down the track plan to the layout before cutting that.
Isn't that out in the country, just off US41, between Appleton and Oshkosh? With a toy store near by.
it says it's on 47, near 41 and there's a toy store nearby called Jay's Toybox. i was watching a YouTube last night of a guy respraying an engine and he named "Brookfield Central" his accent was very Wisconsin, I wouldn't doubt if he's from there, it was called Mikes Trains or something.
I remember those "photo huts" when I was growing up. Specifically, there was one on the corner, in the parking lot in front of a large supermarket. Any business with a decent size parking lot could accommodate one. I'm not sure whether there's room for a mountain with tunnel and a park at the base, and everything else in the upper right corner, but in my eyes a mountain that filled that pie shape area between track, river and road would look better than the small mountain & tunnel in the original layout photo. As for serpentining the road, it looks good only if the terrain supports/dictates it (e.g. to keep grades reasonable without excessive earthmoving to construct them. Another example is following alongside the bank of a winding creek or river. My father once told and showed me that the earliest roads in hilly terrain followed along either the ridges or the valleys (but not both), since steep grades meant full wagons had to off-load part of their freight and make 2 or more trips up (and down) steep hills (often called "doubling a hill"). As road-building (and freight hauling) equipment became mechanized and more powerful, such roads were gradually straightened to support more/faster traffic. Some of the dirt roads in the Ozarks around my grandparent's farm are still like that today. Heck, some of the paved highways around there are still like that too!
