Erie & Southern Railroad - Layout

[doctorwayne]

That additional space between the electrical panel and the corner is going to be a l-o-o-n-n-g reach - I'd suggest, if possible, reworking the trackplan so that you can place your roundhouse there. That would allow you to model a larger (more stalls) roundhouse, even if you have to shorten some of the stalls to allow the building to fit. With the back of the roundhouse against the wall, perhaps slightly in the corner, your turntable should still be within reach. Once you've de-bugged the stall tracks, you should seldom need to reach into the area. As an added bonus, such a large building would provide a fitting backdrop to any scene in the foreground.

Wayne

[2-8-2]

...reworking the trackplan...

Those are the scariest words in the world to me.

I'm a planner. I have a lot of books on railroading, and I like to think that I'm a pretty well-versed individual. I enjoy reading John Armstrong's writings on track planning, but honestly, there are several concepts that I just can't seem to wrap my head around. With my former layout, I went with a "canned trackplan" in sectional track because I couldn't piece all the elements together that I wanted into the same space.

With this new layout, I have twice the space. I have a general idea of what I want, which is an industry-focused operational layout. Sure, I want mainline continuous running. But I also want to switch out multiple industries and give the overall feeling that I'm operating a railroad. My hope was to get a lot of this hashed out beforehand, so that when it came time to start laying track, I could move along quickly. Maybe I just need to put up the benchwork and just start laying track. Once I see it in 3D, some of those concepts outlined in the books I read will make more sense to me.

[doctorwayne]

...reworking the trackplan...

Those are the scariest words in the world to me.

I'm a planner. I have a lot of books on railroading, and I like to think that I'm a pretty well-versed individual. I enjoy reading John Armstrong's writings on track planning, but honestly, there are several concepts that I just can't seem to wrap my head around. With my former layout, I went with a "canned trackplan" in sectional track because I couldn't piece all the elements together that I wanted into the same space.

With this new layout, I have twice the space. I have a general idea of what I want, which is an industry-focused operational layout. Sure, I want mainline continuous running. But I also want to switch out multiple industries and give the overall feeling that I'm operating a railroad. My hope was to get a lot of this hashed out beforehand, so that when it came time to start laying track, I could move along quickly. Maybe I just need to put up the benchwork and just start laying track. Once I see it in 3D, some of those concepts outlined in the books I read will make more sense to me.

I was once a planner, too, but it's probably just as well most of them never got built. I found, too, that the more I "planned", the less I actually "built". I prefer now to start with the concept of what I expect the layout to provide, then build whatever fits into the available space. My suggestion was merely to offer a solution to using that more-or-less unreachable area by moving one of the existing elements of the original plan. You could just as easily fill that space with a mountain, lake, large industry, or a city scene. In any case, put something there that won't require maintenance beyond the occasional cleaning.

Wayne

[Sumpter250]

I've never had the talent for planning. I can envision a concept, give it an appealing appearance, and make it work, physically and aesthetically, but I can't plan it. When it comes to "what goes where", it's a matter of, distribute the elements and re-arrange them until I like how it looks and works. (my new module thread demonstrates that "method").
What if?...........I always ask what if?.....until I get a satisfactory answer. What if I turn this building just a bit "this way"......what if there's a problem "here", or "there"?.........all this while construction is ongoing.
I don't have the talent for planning. (we really need a "shrug" smiley)
Doctorwayne brings up a good "what if" with the placement of the engine house/roundhouse. It may not have been part of the plan, but it does address a possible problem, pre-solved. An "ounce of prevention", if you will......that can be planned for!
I don't have the talent for making plans, but I do have the "talent" for picking holes in them, or recognizing when someone else has "picked a hole in one".
Understand, plans are a great way to start, but experience teaches that in truth, "The best laid plans" etc.
Our greatest successes come from learning from our mistakes, and I've made more of those than I'm quite ready to fully admit. In that sense, I am "well educated".

[2-8-2]

My thought was to fill most of that recessed space with Appalachian mountain, using it as a visual block for hidden trackage underneath. Because the coal tipple is there, I would like to model a small company town in the area of the tipple as well. The visual block could help create the illusion of traveling a longer distance and prevent it from looking like trains are just running in circles.