01-11-2012, 03:05 AM
Okie-dokie... Using Mike's suggestion I've revised the latest track plan as follows (gee whiz, only 3 turnouts!) Left end North - Right End South:
I've lengthened the switching lead a bit to make sure that I'll have ample room to work the Packaging Unlimited warehouse. Rule of Thumb, you always need to have enough track between the end of the layout, or staging and the first turnout to hold double the capacity of the first spur plus your motive power. This also gives me a bit of a run and room for a scenery only area.
Packaging Unlimited is the only actual industry on the prototype spur that I'm modeling on this plan, but I may change it to be a distribution warehouse of some sort for a bit more car variety. It will have doors for 4 car spots and they will be spaced on 70-80 ft centers, to allow ample room for both 50ft and 60ft cars.
As on the prototype spur, the switching lead swings westward from Packaging Unlimited to the next switch and then swings back southward; breaking up an otherwise straight run. Having no room to put that track on a peninsula so it would run due west as on the prototype, I of course had to make that track run parallel to the switching lead and I've made that spur a trans-load track. Although I'm not that wild about having a trans-load or team track, I've decided to go with it as it will allow me to use all my equipment types, and that is a plus for me.
The trans-load track has been lengthened and has ample room for off-loading 1 or 2 covered hoppers, 1 or 2 cars of lumber, building products or miscellaneous commodities and 1 car at the small crossdock structure. As mentioned in a previous posting, the crossdock structure will have open doors so that you can look through the structure and see a fork lift, and some loads on pallets in the structure. There will also be a small shed over the covered hopper unloading spot. That and the crossdock give me a couple of mini-scenes on an otherwise open track.
I've removed the separate track at the end of the spur and have now placed what I'm calling G&J Bottling in that location. G&J spots 1 or 2 corn syrup tank cars at a time and part of the structure would be modeled on the front edge of the layout. Based on the prototype, there is enough room between the structure and track so that cars are easily visible and can be coupled/uncoupled without any problem. The prototype this is based on is one of those precast concrete tilt-up structures, so looks like I need to get one of the Great West Models kits for that one.
Opposite G&J is the spur going to Kern's Bakery. Changed the name since Sara Lee didn't buy out Kern's until 1989 and that's past my modeling era of 1980-1984. There were many Kern's bakeries throughout Kentucky and the southeastern U.S. in my modeling era, so was the logical name for this facility. Kern's can spot two cars of flour and one tank car at a time. The structure will be kit-bashed from the Walther's Magic Pan Bakery kit that I have.
I'm thinking (hoping?) that there shouldn't be any problem switching cars at Kern's and G&J based on the number of possible car spots and the fact that the only cars over 50ft in length would be the tank cars for Kern's. It should provide for some interesting switching moves, as it will require using both the switching lead and the Kern's track to work both industries. Only actual testing will tell the tale. I can of course move the Kern's switch a bit further north if necessary to give me a little more working room on the Kern's spur.
Now I need to lay out the track per this plan and see how it works. I sure can't say that this will be "the plan", but it has some potential and is a bit different from previous designs. But be warned, there are still other ideas floating around in the old brain!
*** UPDATE ***
Just spent a pleasant couple of hours relaying the track to this plan. Looks okay, in spite of the lack of suitable structure mockups; but she runs flawlessly and we're ready for some test operating sessions.
*** UPDATE NUMBER 2 ***
Just spent some time testing out switching operations on the revised track plan. Only working the end of the spur placing and pulling various car combinations for Kern's and G&J as this was my one area of concern with the track plan. Must report that things did not go well
In my testing, I have what I'd call a typical number of cars on spot at each of those industries: Kern's 2 Airslides - 1 tank and 2 corn syrup tanks at G&J. As long as I only place and pull one car from each industry - no problem, but any more than that, there isn't enough room to work unless I take a car or two north and cram it in to the trans-load track. In a scenario where you might well have 3 cars to place and pull at Kern's and 2 to place and pull at G&J, I'm out of luck.
At this point my options would be to: 1) put G&J back in as a separate track per the original plan or 2) lengthen the trans-load track some more; put TransFlo at the end of that track and forget having anything at the end of the spur.
Guess this is a good example of testing out things before committing yourself to a plan that looks good on paper, but doesn't work in reality. Going to have to think this over some more or else it's back to the drawing board!
Packaging Unlimited is the only actual industry on the prototype spur that I'm modeling on this plan, but I may change it to be a distribution warehouse of some sort for a bit more car variety. It will have doors for 4 car spots and they will be spaced on 70-80 ft centers, to allow ample room for both 50ft and 60ft cars.
As on the prototype spur, the switching lead swings westward from Packaging Unlimited to the next switch and then swings back southward; breaking up an otherwise straight run. Having no room to put that track on a peninsula so it would run due west as on the prototype, I of course had to make that track run parallel to the switching lead and I've made that spur a trans-load track. Although I'm not that wild about having a trans-load or team track, I've decided to go with it as it will allow me to use all my equipment types, and that is a plus for me.
The trans-load track has been lengthened and has ample room for off-loading 1 or 2 covered hoppers, 1 or 2 cars of lumber, building products or miscellaneous commodities and 1 car at the small crossdock structure. As mentioned in a previous posting, the crossdock structure will have open doors so that you can look through the structure and see a fork lift, and some loads on pallets in the structure. There will also be a small shed over the covered hopper unloading spot. That and the crossdock give me a couple of mini-scenes on an otherwise open track.
I've removed the separate track at the end of the spur and have now placed what I'm calling G&J Bottling in that location. G&J spots 1 or 2 corn syrup tank cars at a time and part of the structure would be modeled on the front edge of the layout. Based on the prototype, there is enough room between the structure and track so that cars are easily visible and can be coupled/uncoupled without any problem. The prototype this is based on is one of those precast concrete tilt-up structures, so looks like I need to get one of the Great West Models kits for that one.
Opposite G&J is the spur going to Kern's Bakery. Changed the name since Sara Lee didn't buy out Kern's until 1989 and that's past my modeling era of 1980-1984. There were many Kern's bakeries throughout Kentucky and the southeastern U.S. in my modeling era, so was the logical name for this facility. Kern's can spot two cars of flour and one tank car at a time. The structure will be kit-bashed from the Walther's Magic Pan Bakery kit that I have.
I'm thinking (hoping?) that there shouldn't be any problem switching cars at Kern's and G&J based on the number of possible car spots and the fact that the only cars over 50ft in length would be the tank cars for Kern's. It should provide for some interesting switching moves, as it will require using both the switching lead and the Kern's track to work both industries. Only actual testing will tell the tale. I can of course move the Kern's switch a bit further north if necessary to give me a little more working room on the Kern's spur.
Now I need to lay out the track per this plan and see how it works. I sure can't say that this will be "the plan", but it has some potential and is a bit different from previous designs. But be warned, there are still other ideas floating around in the old brain!
*** UPDATE ***
Just spent a pleasant couple of hours relaying the track to this plan. Looks okay, in spite of the lack of suitable structure mockups; but she runs flawlessly and we're ready for some test operating sessions.
*** UPDATE NUMBER 2 ***
Just spent some time testing out switching operations on the revised track plan. Only working the end of the spur placing and pulling various car combinations for Kern's and G&J as this was my one area of concern with the track plan. Must report that things did not go well
In my testing, I have what I'd call a typical number of cars on spot at each of those industries: Kern's 2 Airslides - 1 tank and 2 corn syrup tanks at G&J. As long as I only place and pull one car from each industry - no problem, but any more than that, there isn't enough room to work unless I take a car or two north and cram it in to the trans-load track. In a scenario where you might well have 3 cars to place and pull at Kern's and 2 to place and pull at G&J, I'm out of luck.
At this point my options would be to: 1) put G&J back in as a separate track per the original plan or 2) lengthen the trans-load track some more; put TransFlo at the end of that track and forget having anything at the end of the spur.
Guess this is a good example of testing out things before committing yourself to a plan that looks good on paper, but doesn't work in reality. Going to have to think this over some more or else it's back to the drawing board!
Ed
"Friends don't let friends build Timesavers"
"Friends don't let friends build Timesavers"