10-19-2012, 06:26 PM
Hi everyone,
I’ve been an avid watcher of the evolution of some stunning layouts on this site. So now it’s my turn to dip my toe in the water of sharing my progress with a new layout, so please bear with me.
My previous layout was modelled on CNJ in the mid ‘60s, with a bit of Reading, LV and L&HR mixed in.
![[Image: P1020291.jpg]](http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg590/Robin_Gristwood/CNJ%20layout/P1020291.jpg)
This layout existed for 10 years and was nearly finished when the decision to move house was made, so everything was boxed up and the layout taken down. A lot of the benchwork was salvageable but all the roadbed and trackwork was scrapped. It was a sad day taking the plywood tops down to the local waste station and throwing them into the skip (dumpster)
We moved into our brand new house at the end of April 2012. The bedroom available is basically the same size, maybe slightly smaller than the space I had before but a different orientation.
![[Image: P1020314.jpg]](http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg590/Robin_Gristwood/New%20layout/P1020314.jpg)
My original intention was to carry on with the same theme and use the same stock. But there was a feeling of ‘been there, done that’ and I felt I would always be comparing it with what I had before and may be disappointed.
So I looked at what I wanted out of a layout. I have always liked switching so my attention turned to the Lance Mindheim way of thinking and the idea of an industrial switching layout started to germinate. I looked at some of the suggestions for switching layouts outside Miami. I looked at McClellan Business Park in Sacramento. It has its own Sacramento Valley locos owned by Patriot Rail, previously an old GP9, but now nice newly painted GP15’s, repainted from NW.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=qf71t14wgv0b&lvl=19.58&dir=354.87&sty=o&eo=0&where1=Sacramento%2C%20CA&form=LMLTCC">http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=qf71t1 ... orm=LMLTCC</a><!-- m -->
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2488324">http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=2488324</a><!-- m -->
Nice smart livery, but no decals available and a pain to paint by hand. I had seen that ex NW GP15’s are used elsewhere by GMTX, and GMTX 403 was a nice patched version and much easier to model, so I ordered an Athearn Genesis NW GP15 with sound as they seemed to be disappearing fast. So it seemed that a mish-mash of prototypes, railroads and locations would serve the purpose, but it wouldn’t be based on any particular prototype or location, and would I be happy with that long term?
It’s certainly harder to model North American railroads when you live in UK, having to rely on books; DVD’s and photos for information. My only trip to USA was in 2010 when my wife and I went on an Alaskan cruise to celebrate my 50th birthday. We flew to Seattle and stayed overnight, before the ship left Seattle the next day.
The bus trip from the hotel to the ship gave me my first and only first hand view of working US railroads in action.
The bus route to the Pier went down E. Marginal Way and it looked like the sort of area just waiting to be modelled. Lots of spurs going off the line that ran alongside the road.
All with a nice assortment of boxcars, covered hoppers of different sizes waiting to be unloaded, cars off-spot waiting for a space at their destination. By the pier a BNSF job ran past with an assortment of cars. This is probably what a lot of you see everyday, but to me it was all new. Inevitably of course my camera was packed in a bag and I couldn’t get any photos.
At that time a move was not in the offing and my modelling direction was firmly set 50 years earlier and on the east cost not the west.
But now with the chance of a new start it seemed to be the ideal prototype to use as basis for my new layout.
Planning started, and with the help of my good friend Brian and hours of looking at Bing and Google maps and street views following tracks around that part of Seattle, several versions of plans were drawn up and changes suggested and discussed, some were discarded whilst others have been included to arrive at the final plan. After a discussion, my wife kindly agreed to me making a small hole in the wall into the guest bedroom so that it could be used for staging, but only when the layout was operating.
![[Image: SeattleIndustrialDistrictv12f.jpg]](http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg590/Robin_Gristwood/New%20layout/SeattleIndustrialDistrictv12f.jpg)
I haven't decided on what industries will occupy the unallocated spurs, but I have some scrap gondolas that i definitely wasnt to use. I have been thinking of putting a transloading facility on the peninsular to unload covered hoppers and maybe centerbeams and bulkhead flatcars.
I’ve been an avid watcher of the evolution of some stunning layouts on this site. So now it’s my turn to dip my toe in the water of sharing my progress with a new layout, so please bear with me.
My previous layout was modelled on CNJ in the mid ‘60s, with a bit of Reading, LV and L&HR mixed in.
This layout existed for 10 years and was nearly finished when the decision to move house was made, so everything was boxed up and the layout taken down. A lot of the benchwork was salvageable but all the roadbed and trackwork was scrapped. It was a sad day taking the plywood tops down to the local waste station and throwing them into the skip (dumpster)
We moved into our brand new house at the end of April 2012. The bedroom available is basically the same size, maybe slightly smaller than the space I had before but a different orientation.
My original intention was to carry on with the same theme and use the same stock. But there was a feeling of ‘been there, done that’ and I felt I would always be comparing it with what I had before and may be disappointed.
So I looked at what I wanted out of a layout. I have always liked switching so my attention turned to the Lance Mindheim way of thinking and the idea of an industrial switching layout started to germinate. I looked at some of the suggestions for switching layouts outside Miami. I looked at McClellan Business Park in Sacramento. It has its own Sacramento Valley locos owned by Patriot Rail, previously an old GP9, but now nice newly painted GP15’s, repainted from NW.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=qf71t14wgv0b&lvl=19.58&dir=354.87&sty=o&eo=0&where1=Sacramento%2C%20CA&form=LMLTCC">http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=qf71t1 ... orm=LMLTCC</a><!-- m -->
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2488324">http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=2488324</a><!-- m -->
Nice smart livery, but no decals available and a pain to paint by hand. I had seen that ex NW GP15’s are used elsewhere by GMTX, and GMTX 403 was a nice patched version and much easier to model, so I ordered an Athearn Genesis NW GP15 with sound as they seemed to be disappearing fast. So it seemed that a mish-mash of prototypes, railroads and locations would serve the purpose, but it wouldn’t be based on any particular prototype or location, and would I be happy with that long term?
It’s certainly harder to model North American railroads when you live in UK, having to rely on books; DVD’s and photos for information. My only trip to USA was in 2010 when my wife and I went on an Alaskan cruise to celebrate my 50th birthday. We flew to Seattle and stayed overnight, before the ship left Seattle the next day.
The bus trip from the hotel to the ship gave me my first and only first hand view of working US railroads in action.
The bus route to the Pier went down E. Marginal Way and it looked like the sort of area just waiting to be modelled. Lots of spurs going off the line that ran alongside the road.
All with a nice assortment of boxcars, covered hoppers of different sizes waiting to be unloaded, cars off-spot waiting for a space at their destination. By the pier a BNSF job ran past with an assortment of cars. This is probably what a lot of you see everyday, but to me it was all new. Inevitably of course my camera was packed in a bag and I couldn’t get any photos.
At that time a move was not in the offing and my modelling direction was firmly set 50 years earlier and on the east cost not the west.
But now with the chance of a new start it seemed to be the ideal prototype to use as basis for my new layout.
Planning started, and with the help of my good friend Brian and hours of looking at Bing and Google maps and street views following tracks around that part of Seattle, several versions of plans were drawn up and changes suggested and discussed, some were discarded whilst others have been included to arrive at the final plan. After a discussion, my wife kindly agreed to me making a small hole in the wall into the guest bedroom so that it could be used for staging, but only when the layout was operating.
I haven't decided on what industries will occupy the unallocated spurs, but I have some scrap gondolas that i definitely wasnt to use. I have been thinking of putting a transloading facility on the peninsular to unload covered hoppers and maybe centerbeams and bulkhead flatcars.
Robin