TPBO

[FCIN]

Here is a much more simplified track-plan, I also made sure to include a Coca-Cola Bottling Plant (...)
A short-line is a great idea for a railroad, more variety in locomotives, plus almost nothing in unprototypical!

Justin;
You're going to keep it up until I go with a plan like you've drawn!!! Glad you remembered the Coca-Cola plant!

I've always been a huge fan of short lines - the shorter the better - and still like the concept of the line being just a piece of an abandoned line operated by an independent short line (as you and Jack Hill are doing). It's decisions like this that are tending to keep me from actually starting the layout for real!!!

For now, I'm still leaning toward just an industrial spur that branches off the "main line" and serving about four industries. Something on this order:     This is by no means a final plan and I most likely would not include the one trailing spur. More likely just have more scenery in that area - perhaps a trailer park or a few houses with the railroad skirting the back yards and Mrs. Robinson sun-bathing in the back yard :oops: ; maybe another non-rail served structure to give it that canyon look as you enter the spur. I'll probably spread out the industry spurs a bit more along the length of the "main" so it doesn't look quite so crowded on the right side. It's a simple track plan, but does look like most short industrial spurs you see.

I do want to have industry tracks on each side of the "main" and have even thought about having a building with the track running inside placed along the front edge of the layout. Idea (seen somewhere in a thread on here) would be that you could look inside the modeled portion of the structure and see forklifts moving pallets of various commodities along with some stacks of goods that have been unloaded from the box cars. Just not sure if that would work okay. That's why I have two tracks on the front edge that don't really require a structure to be modeled other than the short canopy over the tank car unloading spot at the Coca-Cola plant.

I do have the option of putting a narrow 6ft long staging track off the left end of the layout so that the train wouldn't have to be staged as though it had just entered the spur. If I add the extra length for staging, then I'll still want it look like the industrial spur is branching of the "main". For now, I'm trying to get the feel for just using the existing benchwork, without the extension.

Going to snow here today so will be a good time to do some testing of track layouts...