Bonus Room Shelf Layout

[ocalicreek]

   

Here is the current (and hopefully final) plan for the bonus room shelf layout. There are things to adjust, of course, but I'd like to say this is 95% of the way there.

What sent me down this line of thinking was eliminating the double track main line loops. I mentioned before the interest generated when one train has to meet and pass another, vs. watching two circle endlessly. I went back and reread Frank Ellison's 'Art of Model Railroading' and sure enough, that's where I had seen that mentioned before.

Along those lines I began thinking also about making this a more specific branchline setting, operationally. The previous plan had no staging to speak of apart from a single hidden track. Adding a second was feasible, but why? The rest of the road didn't make sense with additional staging.

SO I set out to create a longer mainline run, as much as possible, without looping around too many times. I'm not a big fan of imagining distance by making laps. That just doesn't fly somehow. I'll allow other contrivances, but that one just stretches too far I guess.

Follow the route on the plan from Staging to Pinto, via Andrews and Watson. Staging is where this branch meets the mainline (or where this shortline meets the class one?). During 'op sessions' the double crossover is set to cross over. When I want to just let a train run I'll set it for the straight routes, but I won't need to constantly throw these turnouts during an operating session. It's as if it doesn't exist when operating 'normally', and is just a convenient way to route the main.

Trains travel from staging, [over the crossover], through the little mountain burg of Andrews, past the creek and over the bridge on the removable section to arrive in Watson. There the road engine is cut off and serviced. A smaller engine (most likely a tank engine or geared engine) breaks down the train and shoves the necessary cars [through the crossover], up a slight grade through the tunnel to the little town of Pinto. Here is the interchange connection with the Big Tujunga Lumber Company that provides a good bit of the traffic for the branchline.

Passenger service runs from staging to Watson and back, with express service and mail being switched out at Watson and forwarded on to Pinto daily. Passengers must disembark their short heavyweight coaches at Watson and board the antique open platform shorty cars for the trip to Pinto, if the volume warrants that. Otherwise it may be a special ride in Maggie, the drover's caboose!

I had thought about having the end of the branch be at Pinto, but I chose not to for a couple reasons. One was the lack of space at Pinto. Trying to squeeze in a turntable and runaround (I don't like turntables AS runarounds) and interchange with the BTLC and industries and some semblance of mountain scenery just wasn't happening no matter how hard I squeezed. Also the engine change at Watson allowed for more interesting operation as it created more jobs to do and a place to keep a couple locos on the layout. Had I kept the turntable at Pinto I would not have had any kind of engine shed or roundhouse, most likely.

I'll post more detailed pictures of each half of the layout with more explanation of each in a separate post.

Galen