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I'm just curious, you put a lot of high profile structures in front of the layout. Did you thought about mirroring the track plan to put them on the back. It would be easier to operate.
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With the use of KD couplers and magnets that shouldn't be a issue since that will give you "hands off" uncoupling.
My apologies but, isn't that how KD couplers was intended to be used?
Larry
Engineman
Summerset Ry
Make Safety your first thought, Not your last! Safety First!
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Matt - To clerify what you see needs to be flipped, the cement plant actually sits in the BACK LEFT corner of the layout when designing with Xtrk my mind is always reversed lol... Make sense? 8-)
Brakie - These are interesting idea's your coming up with...I'm liking it.
One a side note tonight I'm gonna frame this baby up!
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Glad you clarified which was up on the plan, I was thinking the same things with the large structures on the "front"
A thought on your industry:
Not sure if you are set on doing cement, but you have the start of a neat roofing company layout. The raw materials could be inbound by rail and the completed shingles could be shipped out by rail. Most of the sand arrives in two bay hoppers similar to cement hoppers and go into buildings that look like cement plant. What makes it interesting is the variety of types of sand. Although you would not see it on the outside you could add a lot of interest moving around the sand cars to get the right cars for job. I have also seen where they recieve tar or oil in tank cars that they use on the shingles. Some plants have their own plant where they truck materials in, others have it ready made in tank cars they can use. Finally you would have the loadout building for shipping your finished goods.
Jsut a thought and please keep us posted!
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Greg I'm liking this, tanker cars are my second favorite type of freight. Lots of ideas are circulating right now....
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I'm always much more creative when designing small layout. Large rooms give me the blank sheet syndrome! And so far, most small layout I've seen had a lot of charm and realism. I suppose it's why ideas I develop on small fictive ISL always end up on the club layout!
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Matt,Small ISLs need more thoughtful planing then your average layout since everything on the ISL needs to be independent of each other much like a industrial park or urban industrial branch.
You may recall it took me just over 2 years to get the right combination for Slate Creek.I'm satisfied when built Slate Creek will give me years of operational enjoyment even though its only 12" x 10' andd very simple in design.
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Getloose,I live for the small ISL since the bulk of my past layouts has been industrial switching layouts ranging between 1' x 6' to 1 x 12'(which is the largest to date)...I even had a 1' x 4' N Scale ISL years ago.
Larry
Engineman
Summerset Ry
Make Safety your first thought, Not your last! Safety First!
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Little Update guys with a few pictures. Finished the shelf its self, soon ill mount brackets and set her in place. (dont mind the pink walls  spare bedroom)
Made of 1x3, 1/4" ply, and will have back drop panels on the ends as well.
The little building you see next to the Cement plant, is a Heljan series kit, i may some how bash together with the cement plant.
But, i need to order some track, and paint the back drop here soon.
And brakie, i'm really enjoying the idea of a small layout, small but packed with detail, and operation.
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@Greg, yes, ISL needs a lot of thoughts. But in the same time, you are much more focussed on the goal. Less playground, more plan for creativity. Creation is out of necessity, a large room often doesn't give enough constraints to shape ideas. However, I must admit some folks can do wonderful things out of a large room that is aw-inspiring!
The roofing industry is interesting indeed.
@getloose: Ah! Now it makes sense. My mind is completely formatted: up is north, so it's the backdrop!!! ;-)
BTW, Nice string of short covered hoppers! One of my favorite freight car too! Never get enough of them!
Matt
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Lol hopefully there won't be any more confusion regarding the front or back of the lay out lol...
Matt I agree I'm gonna have more coming in the mail here soon.
And having an ISL vs. say a full size layout is for sure a different world but just as gratifying or more i feel like.
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And having an ISL vs. say a full size layout is for sure a different world but just as gratifying or more i feel like.
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Not to mention ISLs can become very habit forming..
What I truly like about small ISLs is you can finish the layout and then add details to the structures,add security fences etc and still have plenty of hobby time to weather rolling stock,detail locomotives etc.
Larry
Engineman
Summerset Ry
Make Safety your first thought, Not your last! Safety First!
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Yes brakie it's nice because you know it's a project you can finish in a reasonable time frame, and still be able to max out detail, plus all the operation you can enjoy.
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Little Update.
Got the backdrop(s) painted, but sadly turned out really blue, to blue. So i will tone it down tomorrow or the next day, got the hangers screwed in as well. (i hate painting...  ) lol.
Also built a small kit that i have from Walthers: "Yard Office"
This was a cool little build, turned out nice. Im going to weather the handrails a little, otherwise its done.
I plan on placing it in the box you see on the lay out plan that isn't labeled.
Heres some Photo's:
Hope you guys enjoy.
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GL,
Nice job on the yard office. It looks like the layout is off to a great start. Looking forward to more pictures.
Larry
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Yeah so far, so good. Thanks Larry.
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Why the switchback? There's room for the lead to those 2 spurs could to come off the main w/o it.
Andy Jackson
Santa Fe Springs CA
ATSF/LAJ Ry Fan & Modeler
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I put that there for 2 reasons, one so I could pull two cars out at once, and I know it may not be very prototypical but I may put some sort of warehouse there as well.
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