Here's my plan for a HO scale LAJ. It's mostly fictional w/ only a few spots on the LAJ shown. Most are based on my railfanning, RR experience and available structure kits, especially Walthers. Tried to get as many types of industries & RR cars to be switched. Even considering making some industries lift out to give more switching variety. Not shown is a 4/5 track yard (4' long) off the top left. Nothing is cast in concrete. The layout will be built on 3-2'x4', 1-2'x2', 1-1'x6' & 1-4'x4' corner modules. The "trapezoid" shaped one will be new. Just got a new-all-in one printer so will try to make a better plan. Questions & constructive criticisms are welcome.
Hopefully this is a better image of my plan and a little more info. Here's my plan for an HO scale LAJ in 6'x10'. It's mostly fictional w/ only a few spots on the real LAJ shown. The J was served by Santa Fe, SP & UP back in the day. Now it's owned by BNSF. My era is 1960s so no BuNSnifF on this layout! Most the plan is based on my railfanning & RR experiences. But most of the industries are based on available structure kits, especially Walthers. Some will have to be scratch built. Tried to get as many types of industries & cars to be switched in the available space (my 10'x14' living room). Considering making some industries lift out to get a little more switching variety. In the middle are the numbers & types cars (Santa Fe's not AAR) by industry. Not shown is a 4/5 track yard (4' long) off the top left. This will also serve as the Santa Fe & UP interchanges as they used the same track off the UP San Pedro Sub. The Santa Fe (BNSF) connects w/ the UP near Hobart Tower. Will put the SP one in the bottom right somehow. The layout will be built using existing modules (3-2'x4', 1-2'x2', 1-1'x6' & 1-4'x4' corner). The "trapezoid" shaped one will be new. Nothing about this layout is cast in concrete. Questions & constructive criticisms are more than welcome, especially from those layout guys who I've critiqued!.
Looks great. There's only one single spot I would change.. give me about 4 minutes to draw up the visual....
Its a very simple change which just eliminates a switchback. Otherwise, this looks perfect. :thumbs_up:
Thought of that one Mark but thought it shortened the spurs too much. Looking at my plan again a grade Xing at those spurs would also work. In fact looking at the plan again, that's the way it was drawn originally! And the J has alot of Xings like that. BTW Mark which CAD program are you using? Have been trying to find one w/ a K.I.S.S. approach that's not based on Snap Track. LOL
Here's the yard for the LAJ plan. It's not very big but there's only so much space in my living room!
The tracks on the left have a long lead before splitting into their stub tracks. If you move the entrance turnout further left on the main it will shorten the lead to those tracks, but the length of the industry stub should remain the same. AnyRail is by far the easiest track planning software I've used. Flex-track is really easy there, however I actually favor working in XtrkCad using the Unitrack library. XtrkCad has a moderate learning curve, however I feel it is much more powerful once you get it down. I use the Unitrack library because sectional track is easier to work with and plot out than working with splines and Unitrack has enough selection to design virtually anything. Once the build day comes, you can simply lay flex instead of Unitrack, and the track will still follow the plan. Btw, I like the yard you added.
Sounds like you already know how steep the learning curve is. There is a great tutorial for XtrkCad on the site I linked above. If I remember right, it was a fairly slow going tutorial, however by far the best way to learn the ropes. :thumbs_up:
Another variation on the yard plan. The top part is for freight cars & bottom is for locos. Want plenty of space for LAJ and "foreign" power. Again nothing is cast in concrete!
After reading Charlie Slater's article in the Oct. '03 issue of the Warbonnet on the LAJ, came up w/ this latest track plan. Tried to include a few more LAJ locales rather than mostly freelance. Have a reasonably good representation of the joint LAJ/ATSF Fruitland Yard on left side of plan. It can be seen on google maps (between Seville AV & Pacific BL east-west & Leonis BL- Fruitland AV north-south). There's almost 40 spots in the plan now (if yard & engine tracks are counted) to be switched. The article has a few track charts that need to be researched to see what fits my '60s era. Have two S-2s that will be painted for the LAJ. So now the work begins!
Just to prove the old adage that "change is the only constant in this world", here's a revision of the narrow part of the layout. And yes There are many places on the LAJ where tracks & structures are that crowded!
Just purchased this aerial of Fruitland Yard ($5.00) from historicaerials.com. Here's a link to it: HistoricAerials.com - Aerial Photography From the Past to the Present
Sorry I'll try to scan it when received then post that. It's a very compact yard w/ alot of switching potential especial having two RRs there. And there's NO connection!
Here's another variation of my LAJ plan. The basic track work will stay the same. But there will be some tweaking to the actual spur configurations & industries as more data is accumulated. The LAJ doesn't run in a circle, just wanted one to break in locos & DCC setups. Actual operation will be out & back to switch each side of the layout. Could probably have 3 operators including one for the yard. Comments are more than welcome. BTW still haven't received the aerial of the Fruitland Yard. Here's a link to Chris Walker's Google map w/ the current LAJ industries & alot of other surrounding RR sites: Los Angeles Rail Customers Yards - Google Maps Chris posts alot on http://www.westcoastrailforums.com & has railfanned the LAJ alot.
Have to get busy BUILDING this RR. Spending too much time RESEARCHING & DESIGNING. LOL Let me know what you think of this version. Will build the basic oval & a couple of yard tracks first to do some DCC testing & running. Then will add some spurs & structures to see how things fit.
Still doing too much doodling w/ this plan, but will get to building by next weekend! Used ideas from Josh Mader's MET plan on Model Railroad Forums.com for this version w/ 4 peninsulas. This version gives me over 50 spots to be switched! The 2 peninsulas on the right will have a bridge between them for DCC loco testing & break-in. This side will also be the first built. Only need one new 2' X 4' module to get this side up and running. Click on the link below to see the plan. It's in two halves because the plan is too big to get it small enough for here. After opening the link, click on one image to see the larger size. Then click on the arrows above to flip between the two sides of the plan. Picasa Web Albums - 10738935438745609... - LAJ PLAN 7 re... As always comments are welcome.
