Warehouse Row - A switching layout

[Porthos63]

This is the beginning of my new layout. Warehouse Row is being designed to, loosely, represent lower downtown Denver in the late 50s, early 60s. I say generically because this is the test layout to try different techniques. This will be the lead in to the Wynkoop Street layout which will be a much more accurate representation of the area. That space, however, is not available yet, so Warehouse Row will be the start.

My approach for this is to build a model of the layout which allows me to tweak things before actually building it full size. This is where things started:

This is the track plan that I started with. Its based on a Jack Trollope plan called Ness Street Yard. The "box" above the track plan is my initial attempt to represent the benchwork. My intention was just to draw directly on this, but the PVC sheet I used was a bit soft and difficult to draw on and then correct mistakes.
   

This shows some of the small buildings I built up from PVC sheet and doors/windows etc glued on. These came from the DPM template package and reduced to the proper size (or close enough at this point). These are only representations at this point to get an idea of heights and spacing.
   

And since it is a model of a model railroad then it also needs locomotives and freight cars to run on it.
   

[TMo]

The fact that you spent time and effort planning this section is going to make the real thing go so much easier! I'm a seat of the pants guy, so my work is always trial and ERROR.... I'm looking forward to seeing the RS3's - who manufactured them? Athearn? Bowser?

[Porthos63]

I waiting on the new Bowser ones to arrive. They are late which is not unexpected.

[TMo]

I waiting on the new Bowser ones to arrive. They are late which is not unexpected.

Love that paint scheme!  Those new Bowser's are very nice.  Looks like they have only one road number though...

[Porthos63]

When I did the pre-order there were two road numbers available now it looks like the right decision although hard on the pocketbook!

[Porthos63]

Now its time to start experimenting and tweaking things. I re-drew the plan on a fresh piece of graph paper and set to work with the models.
Here is the revised trackplan; first the messy one.
   
And with a few annotations to I remember what the heck I was doing
   
The cleaned up version
   
Now one of the most important features in lower downtown Denver (Lodo) are the viaducts especially up till about 1980 when they finally started to come down in particular the one at 15th and Wynkoop. Since this is a generic version I just needed to decide where it needed to be.
   
   
Working with a model like this really helps me get a feel for how things will look. In which case there is a need for a few freight cars and engines.
Viaduct on the right side
   
Viaduct on the left side
   

[Charlie B]

Howdy. 

     Very well designed. Like Todd I am pretty much seat of the pants too although I am working on my last layout and I did have a track plan but I had to deviate a lot. I don't always post but I am following and very interested in what you are doing. It's a great read.
Charlie

[TMo]

I almost feel in some of those shots I'm looking at the full scale space! The only thing that really gives it away is the ruler. If this is the micro-scale, I'm really looking forward to seeing it implemented in HO. I guess if I had to pick a "right" or "left" version of the aqueduct placement, I'd pick the right since there are fewer switches nearby. Can't tell you how many times I think I have a switch thrown and it's not - generating a derailment right there.

[Porthos63]

I almost feel in some of those shots I'm looking at the full scale space!  The only thing that really gives it away is the ruler.  If this is the micro-scale, I'm really looking forward to seeing it implemented in HO.  I guess if I had to pick a "right" or "left" version of the aqueduct placement, I'd pick the right since there are fewer switches nearby.  Can't tell you how many times I think I have a switch thrown and it's not - generating a derailment right there.

That's the general consensus as well, don't make things more difficult than they need to be. However, one of my personal issues is the everything is parallel to the edge. On top of the that the viaduct is really quite short and doesn't quite pull off the heavy traffic road I was hoping for. I considered skewing the whole thing but instead. The downside to that is I want to use some kind of cassette to get trains on and off the layout so skewing the plan would make that more difficult to deal with. In the spirit of Denver though I decided to set the two crossing streets at an angle to the main drag. My street running tracks remain nice and straight and the diagonal makes the crossing streets longer and I avoid the street ending at the backdrop issue.

[Porthos63]

So the mission becomes eliminating some of the straight lines and 90 degree meeting points. Working from the right side I'm thinking that it angles in from the upper right towards the center. I decided on three options to try, just going with small, medium and large options at this point.

Working from the right I can take the siding on the back right and just angle it, more or less, following the line of the angled viaduct.
   
I like this look a lot.

Here is the short viaduct
   
   
   

And the medium viaduct
   
   
   

And I'm thinking that's enough. I messed around with the longest viaduct that would cut that corner and its eating up to much real estate. I need to re-think.

[Tyson Rayles]

[Porthos63]

Diagonals are definitely a love hate relationship at this point. I like the idea but I the current direction was just not working so I thought I would try it the other way. The added bonus is that the sides of the buildings didn't necessarily have to meet at 90 degree corners either and I could add a siding going into a building without creating a pretty short S curve. This is where things have progressed:
   
   

With the viaduct running this way I need a different shaped building in the back right corner.
   

And then, of course, I needed to redraw things a bit (the hazards of not using planning software)
   

[Porthos63]

I'm thinking one diagonal line is not enough but two viaducts would be one to many. It would be nice if there was something that broke up the flatness of street running a little bit and allowing some variety in the structures. I think the right side module is pretty good, it might need a little tweaking but I can leave it alone for now. Let's move over to the left. If I create another diagonal parallel to the one on the right that avoids another view that helps block the straight look into the backdrop scene. I need to mess around with the track plan a bit though if I'm going to add scenery below the track level either an underpass (also somewhat common in Denver) or even a creek bed, another feature of lower downtown. The confluence of Cherry Creek with the South Platte River is why Denver was originally laid out out on a skewed grid, its based on the directions of these two water ways.

Here is a first stab at adding a diagonal element on the left.
   
   

I think that puts way to much track right in the middle of an intersection. It would be easy to reach everything from an operations standpoint. So I tried sliding it further to the left. I liked that so I redrew things and made a copy and this is how that ended up.
   

Originally I had made a model of the benchwork. So I figured I could perform a little surgery on that and see how things looked in "real" life as it were.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

[nachoman]

The model of the model is pretty darned cool!

[OBJack]

Wow!! So impressed with the planning and the attention to detail.
If only I could go down that road it would have saved me a motza in dollars and time. 
So neat and methodical I wonder if there is not an architect or engineer in there somewhere.
I await the progress with impatience.

Jack