08-11-2010, 06:24 PM
I am thinking about a possible future layout to overcome a problem all my previous and the current layout have.
The room is about 4 meter (14') by 2,5 meter (8'). The north side is a four track staging yard without scenery. The south side is about 2' deep with scenery. The west side runs in front of a balcony door with a removable but seldom opened section. The east side spans the room door with a frequently opened bridge.
Four older pictures show the bare layout in the room. The first picture shows the west throat of the staging yard. That is where I want to do the modification and go with two lines in front of the window to the other side of the room. I explain that later.
http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/ae149...1281573126
http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/ae149...1281573125
http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/ae149...1281573125
http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/ae149...1281573125
All my layout on the south side are feed by a single track on the west and east side. The operation is limited to a train/cut coming in, dropping some cars, picking some cars and proceed. I am tired of that very simple process.
My idea is to omit one turnout at the south end of the staging yard and run two tracks in front of the window and balcony door to the layout. That would provide two two track staging yards and a layout in a Y. Two tracks/lines coming in from west (w1 , w2) and one from east (e).
That should open up a bunch of possibilities in addition to handle the local industry e.g.
All lines belong to one RR but there is traffic from e - w1 and e - w2 but also from w1 to w2
w1 - e belongs to RR a, w2 belongs to RR b. RR a and b must interact some how. RR b might end at the layout and only interchange with RR a but is might also have tracking rights on line e and proceed from w2 - e.
Some more thoughts:
- It should not be an industry area with switching only. It should be lines with trains. The trains will be short due (e.g. 3 - 6 cars + cab) to my space limits. That does not happen anymore this days. Todays "trains" would not fit into the room at all. I would go back into the transition area to run Geeps etc.
- Location might be southern Texas as I would like to stay with the light colors and the sandy soil but still plenty of green.
- Preferred RR might be Santa Fe. I like the Zebra look and got two Geeps. Might be I will use very late steam as an option (2-8-0 with a short local).
The problem is the prototype.
I have got a great book about ATSF in TX. All "Y" I could find are either on main lines and will have very long trains (e.g. Temple) or they are closed or there are no tracks to form a layout (e.g. Cane Jct.).
Question 1 : Could you point me to a prototype situation I could use as starting point (for compression, simplification, modification etc.). I would like to get rid of a totally fiction layout as I had it in the past. I urgently need an elevator ally:-) The books shows lots of elevators in TX but I do not remember so much corn, wheat etc. fields around Houston? What do south Texans put into their elevators? Rice?
Question 2 : What kind of additional operation do I really get with a Y instead a passing thru line? What did a RR in 1960 do in a small town where two line meet and form a Y?
ps. The book is "Warbonnets Bluebonnets", "Santa Fe in Color Series, Volume 3, Texas" by Joe McMillan.
The room is about 4 meter (14') by 2,5 meter (8'). The north side is a four track staging yard without scenery. The south side is about 2' deep with scenery. The west side runs in front of a balcony door with a removable but seldom opened section. The east side spans the room door with a frequently opened bridge.
Four older pictures show the bare layout in the room. The first picture shows the west throat of the staging yard. That is where I want to do the modification and go with two lines in front of the window to the other side of the room. I explain that later.
http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/ae149...1281573126
http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/ae149...1281573125
http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/ae149...1281573125
http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/ae149...1281573125
All my layout on the south side are feed by a single track on the west and east side. The operation is limited to a train/cut coming in, dropping some cars, picking some cars and proceed. I am tired of that very simple process.
My idea is to omit one turnout at the south end of the staging yard and run two tracks in front of the window and balcony door to the layout. That would provide two two track staging yards and a layout in a Y. Two tracks/lines coming in from west (w1 , w2) and one from east (e).
That should open up a bunch of possibilities in addition to handle the local industry e.g.
All lines belong to one RR but there is traffic from e - w1 and e - w2 but also from w1 to w2
w1 - e belongs to RR a, w2 belongs to RR b. RR a and b must interact some how. RR b might end at the layout and only interchange with RR a but is might also have tracking rights on line e and proceed from w2 - e.
Some more thoughts:
- It should not be an industry area with switching only. It should be lines with trains. The trains will be short due (e.g. 3 - 6 cars + cab) to my space limits. That does not happen anymore this days. Todays "trains" would not fit into the room at all. I would go back into the transition area to run Geeps etc.
- Location might be southern Texas as I would like to stay with the light colors and the sandy soil but still plenty of green.
- Preferred RR might be Santa Fe. I like the Zebra look and got two Geeps. Might be I will use very late steam as an option (2-8-0 with a short local).
The problem is the prototype.
I have got a great book about ATSF in TX. All "Y" I could find are either on main lines and will have very long trains (e.g. Temple) or they are closed or there are no tracks to form a layout (e.g. Cane Jct.).
Question 1 : Could you point me to a prototype situation I could use as starting point (for compression, simplification, modification etc.). I would like to get rid of a totally fiction layout as I had it in the past. I urgently need an elevator ally:-) The books shows lots of elevators in TX but I do not remember so much corn, wheat etc. fields around Houston? What do south Texans put into their elevators? Rice?
Question 2 : What kind of additional operation do I really get with a Y instead a passing thru line? What did a RR in 1960 do in a small town where two line meet and form a Y?
ps. The book is "Warbonnets Bluebonnets", "Santa Fe in Color Series, Volume 3, Texas" by Joe McMillan.
Reinhard