New home - New layout

[jhock]

Having finally got to the point where we are starting to settle in our new home I can now start thinking about a new layout!

I have some good space to play with (by UK standards), 13 feet by 7 feet in a L shape.

The hobby room is shared space with my better half so I can not use the whole room...

Here is one context of what I am looking to achieve:

Period - contempory
North East US
Rural
Must include pulpwood loading (I have a 'thing' for the logging industry)
Shortline railroad - happy to free lance an imaginary line
Open feel, I don't want lots of track

Here is my first attempt:



The top right spur is for pulpwood loading
The left spur is a team track
The short spur is a single stall engine house
The loops are meant to be the yard the short line uses to sort their trains for other customers further down the line
The lower section will act as the staging / fiddle yard but will be fully detailed

It is only a first attempt.

[Charlie B]

Jhock, what scale are you modeling? That is a good track plan for a switching layout. It should give you a good fix on trains.
In your limited area freelancing a road is a good idea, it could even be an in plant operation if you wanted to do that. Pulpwood serves lots of industries. You could load it and deliver it to a company owned paper mill and sawdust for a pressed board plant. You could even have a use for GERN flux.
I'm glad you have gotten settled in the new place, and will enjoy it for many years to come.
Good luck
Charlie

[Catt]

I would have to say I think you are off to a good start.Hope you can post a lot of updates. :mrgreen:

[jhock]

Thanks guys, the scale is HO.

[jhock]

I am thinking about a small revision,

The spur in the top right, move it back to the start of yard tracks and add in a second spur, that way one of them can be a team track and the other can be a storage siding for the railroad.

The idea withe layout is that it represents a small yard, so I can run a wider range of rail cars as they would be going to customers further down the line.

[Rscott417]

Have you thought of trying two 3-way switches for your yard instead of a left hand and then a right hand switch? A 3-way will take up less space and might even give you a couple extra inches for the yard tracks which on a small layout comes in handy. Just a thought.

[jhock]

So I have had a think about the layout and come up with a new plan:



Panipat the idea of yard would add good operational possibility to the layout I can't help but think not having industry to deliver to and switch would just not entertain me.

So this plan has a lumber yard on the right and another industry on the left, now that one I am not sure about at present. From an operational point a view a multi spot warehouse would be a good candidate.

I want to try and work in a team track but don't want to over crowd the layout so need to think about where to put it, perhaps instead of the multi spot warehouse, that would give me an excuse for lots of different kinds of cars but would I loose operational potential?

[switcher1]

If you were to use a diamond crossing to your spurs, you would gain extra length.

(Not sure what the proper terminology is, but I have incorporated one on my I.S.L.)

[jhock]

It has been a long time since I posted anything, anyway here is the latest version of the plan:

Scale - HO
Length - 13'
Width - 16"
Period 2010



I am staging cars on the layout, If I follow prototypical operations there is a good hour plus of operation in this and most of my op sessions won't be more than half an hour.

The plywood manufacturer will receive logs and and tankers of chemicals for the adhesive. Only empties will go out as the finished product is shipped by truck.

The building supplies yard will receive lumber in center beam cars and some box cars of other lumber.

The location of the layout is yet undecided, some where in the Eastern united States, probably Wisconsin or Pennsylvania.

[Catt]

What happened to that 7' stretch on the left that would give you room for more track/industries and given you a longer run.

[jhock]

What happened to that 7' stretch on the left that would give you room for more track/industries and given you a longer run.

The room the layout will be in is a shared hobby space with myself and my partner, I limited the size of the layout to make domestic life a little easier...

[Tyson Rayles]

With the decreased space have you considered switching to the Normal scale?

Yes Terry you knew that was coming!

[jcj380]

It has been a long time since I posted anything, anyway here is the latest version of the plan:

Scale - HO
Length - 13'
Width - 16"
Period 2010



I am staging cars on the layout, If I follow prototypical operations there is a good hour plus of operation in this and most of my op sessions won't be more than half an hour.

The plywood manufacturer will receive logs and and tankers of chemicals for the adhesive. Only empties will go out as the finished product is shipped by truck.

The building supplies yard will receive lumber in center beam cars and some box cars of other lumber.

The location of the layout is yet undecided, some where in the Eastern united States, probably Wisconsin or Pennsylvania.

One nice thing about smaller layouts is you can hyperdetail them if you want. Personally, I'd change an industry to increase the types of cars you can use, but that's your call.

[jhock]

I am having a bit of rethink, I can make a little more space by adding back the part on the left hand side, but it will be a removable cassette type staging, thus keeping the domestic authorities happy...

So now the lumber yard is gone, the plywood factory is on the left and the industry along the back will be a packaging manufacturer, the spur along the front is used by the rail road for car storage and as a team track.



Plywood factory - Loads in = Stake cars with logs, chemical tankers with adhesive

Packaging manufacturer - Loads in = Box cars with paper / card pulp, Covered hopper with corn starch. Loads out = Box cars with waste paper

Team track - Center beams with Lumber, Hoppers with sand, etc. Plus storage of unused cars for the rail road, this will include Wood chip cars, as I have a few of them that need an excuse to get on the layout!

[jhock]

I have made some revisions to the plan:



I have swapped out the plywood factory for a lumber yard, as much as I like the idea of the plywood factory I struggle with how plausible the concept is, plus I have loads of stuff to outfit a lumber yard / building suppliers yard that I want to use.

I can still have the log cars and wood chip cars on the layout, they will just have to be on the storage spur at the front.

I have also added a covered loading area to the cardboard manufacturer, this will allow the covered hoppers of corn starch to be unloaded under cover.