South Florida Reload

[alcanman]

After the demise of my previous layout, I'd been looking for inspiration for a new small switching layout. A thread here on Big Blue led me to Matco Reload, a transloading facility in Pompano Beach FL served by the Florida East Coast Railway.

FEC local 960 operates between Ft. Lauderdale, FL and Pompano Beach, FL where a spur off the FEC main leads to Matco Reload. A siding (run around) further along the lead enables reversals. The local can then shove into Matco and the other small industries.

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Here is local 960 in action with a typical varied load of cars.

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I wanted a different type of layout plan from previous layouts. I've always liked the 'double inglenook' arrangement as it gives a lot of switching in a small area.

In the plan, there are two staging tracks, but, I've imagined they are actually one end of a siding (run around loop) with the other end further along the line. For this reason, the turnout used for the 2 tracks will be included in the scenicked portion of the layout.

   

more later ....