ATSF LA "the patch" my version

[porthos]

There are a couple of sources of inspiration for my version of this portion of the patch in LA. The first came from stumbling across Bob Smaus' website and pictures there of the "brick canyon" in the alley between 7th Street and Industrial Street running from Alameda to Mateo. Bob talked about Keith Jordan's version of the patch and Keith kindly provided some reference materials for me to use. I wanted something as close as possible to the actual track configuration but as always space is always the deciding factor. What I really wanted to do was to be able to recreate the scene of a diminutive CF7 emerging through the narrow entrance between two brick buildings and the brick canyon feel.

Construction has not started and won't start until my job situation clears up. Taking a page from Lance Mindheim I'll be using 16" wide hollow core doors as the base resting on adjustable shelf brackets. The main section will run along one wall and the peninsula portion will really act as a large cassette and will be stored underneath the main portion when not in use. The reason this section is so wide is so that I can recreate the scene I described above. My biggest concern with this particular section is that the separation between the wall section of the layout. This transition is on a curve so alignment will be critical. I'll make the buildings on the front edge of the layout removable so if it becomes to difficult to switch the industries with the structures in place I can just take them off for that session.

The basic track configuration is pretty faithful from what I can see from pictures and insurance maps, including the curved turnout as the track emerges from between the two buildings on the cassette. The only thing I added was the pair of turnouts towards the right (north) end to provide a long run around for the track closest to the wall.

I haven't decided on car spots yet. Commonwealth Steel gets two, and the Walnut Exchange gets at least one. Not every building will be rail served. Time frame will be mid to late 70's. Motive power will be provided by two CF7s, the bulk of the freight cars will be boxcars with a few reefers added into the mix. There is at least one spot for tank cars at least according to a picture from Bob Smaus' website. I haven't really been able to tracked the location where that particular picture was taken or what might have been delivered in a tank car. Here is the current version of the plan and suggestions are welcome.