bodmin65 Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 (edited) Have been looking into doing a 4ft x 1ft american micro layout. Have been playing about with anyrail and sought of come up with this plan so far. Looking for peoples thoughts on the plan? Trains would enter from the l/h side, not sure which one of the upper two lines would be inbound/outbound? slight change to plan see revision Edited February 4, 2019 by bodmin65 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robatron86 Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 What era are you planning to model? What sort of industries? This really help at the planning stage, as the industries dictate the car lengths, and the spur lengths. Personally, I would lose the kick back. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bodmin65 Posted February 5, 2019 Author Share Posted February 5, 2019 (edited) to be perfectly honest I hadn't given era or industries a thought, although I've just purchased a bn green/white scheme GP50 from Ebay. I believe this is from the 80's. Have now quickly revised the plan as can be seen. Was considering timber industry maybe based on the locomotive that I've just purchased. Edited February 5, 2019 by bodmin65 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bodmin65 Posted February 5, 2019 Author Share Posted February 5, 2019 simplified the plan a little, wondering if this is any better? Less track more space for industry. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
long island jack Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 GP50's started production early 80's,so most of you freight cars would be 50'+ in length, not sure what track your going to use, but those in the plan's look like setrack, big cars sometime tend to derail on such a tight radius, timber cars varied in length between 53'-72'. Another option would be use 39' cement cars and the odd 50' box car for bagged cement, the GP50 is dictating your time period, 1980+ modern. Good luck in your build, i would also do away with the kickback, try a simple inglenook plan, Peco #5 points. Ray 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
long island jack Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 Another option is do a shortline (still modern) Indiana & Ohio RR have some ex BN GP50's Don't fall into the trap (most of us did when starting out) that more track is better, with a 4' x1' board less is more! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bodmin65 Posted February 5, 2019 Author Share Posted February 5, 2019 (edited) simplified the plan even more now. Is this any better? Track is Hornby's as trying to use some leftovers. Edited February 5, 2019 by bodmin65 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spitfire2865 Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 That newest plan is definitely a modern industrial spur. Bare minimum and plenty of storage space. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
long island jack Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 (edited) simple inglenook using 2x Hornby y points, factory with 3 door spot, team track for any car, if you limit the size of your head shunt /fiddle yard, these will mean more switching moves The photo above is of my layout End of the spur 12" wide Edited February 5, 2019 by long island jack 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bodmin65 Posted February 5, 2019 Author Share Posted February 5, 2019 (edited) Have come up with this now, after having another play in anyrail. Edited February 5, 2019 by bodmin65 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alcanman Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 Having built several small US 'inglenook' switching layouts, I would go along with Ray's (long island jack) plan. It is always advisable to plan the placing of industries/structures and then fit the track plan around them. The mistake most beginner's make is to cram as much track in as possible and then find that the plan is not workable or there is no space for stuctures and scenery. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
298 Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 Does it have to be just 4'...? With a GP50 and 50' cars you'd need 5' for a 3-2-2 inglenook using #5 switches, and even then it'd be tight and would need to use the diagonal distance from corner to corner. Shorter inglenooks might work (2-2..?) but that seriously cuts down on switching opportunities. You could add a fiddlestick extension, but then the loco would be off scene too much whilst switching. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
298 Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 (edited) Another ward of warning 're car lengths for this era after finding out the hard way is although a 50' Boxcar measures 7.5" over the couplers, there are also 53' Boxcars, Thrall sliding door cars at 56', Reefers at 57' with cushioned pockets, and sooner or later you'll be up to 60'. There are shorter cars but building a layout around modern 40' cars would be a challenge. When using Anyrail i like to add 2.5" from the pointwork to the clearance point plus another inch for a Hayes bumper like the yellow ones above, so you can see how a spur for two 50' cars can be getting on for 20" in length. Edited February 6, 2019 by 298 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 (edited) Like Andy (298) says, if you can squeeze in another 6", making the board 54" instead of 48", you will find it a lot less limiting. With 48" you really are limited to small engines and 40' cars. It IS possible to build layouts in 48" (see Carls small Layout Scrapbook - http://www.carendt.com/ ) - for loads of examples, but be aware that there are hardly any track plans that haven't already been built, and that you will be very restricted in your switching abilities. I'd also suggest a removable, or folding, fiddle-stick extension of one form or another - that way it can be removed for storage, and take up less space Edited February 6, 2019 by shortliner Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 (edited) https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2019103171515092&set=gm.773538876359892&type=3&theater is an example of a small(ish) portable layout on Facebook by Dan Dossa called Hawkins Chemical - that would certainly keep you occupied for a while doing switching Edited February 6, 2019 by shortliner 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bodmin65 Posted February 6, 2019 Author Share Posted February 6, 2019 I could possibly extend it by about another 4ft, but this would be my absolute limit of space length wise. might be able to squeeze another 6" width wise as well, but again this would be my absolute limit. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 (edited) My ZSRR is a 3-2-2 inglenook in 4'6" x 1'. It just about works using 40' cars and GP sized locos, but 50' cars are too big. It's a great, and entirely realistic track plan, (to be honest they'd normally be longer, but we all know the compromises of a model railway) with great play value for relatively short sessions. You won't do much better in the space than Long Island Jack's suggesion, to be honest. Edited February 6, 2019 by Zomboid 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bodmin65 Posted February 6, 2019 Author Share Posted February 6, 2019 So something like this? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
298 Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 It's a bit of an Ian Futers plan... 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bodmin65 Posted February 9, 2019 Author Share Posted February 9, 2019 (edited) As can be seen, I've been playing today and now come up with this. Trains would enter from the r/h side and drop of cars. grain elevator switcher would then distribute cars as needed. What are your thoughts on this plan? Edited February 9, 2019 by bodmin65 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 The yard switcher (unless it's a trackmobile and can run on the roads too) will get trapped behind the cars at the elevator. Have a look at some real grain elevators and see how those are laid out - I don't know where there are any myself, but I'd suggest looking at the rice mills in Crowley, Louisiana. Not sure how they actually work those, but they seem to have some kind of local switcher at one of them. They don't have any run rounds though, which is pretty typical for somewhere that's not the end of the line. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 (edited) ....... Unless it pulls cars from the elevator yard tracks onto the yard lead, pushes them back onto the run-round, uses the run-round to get behind them, and then is in a position to pull them back, and push them into the elevator. BTW Double slips - being expensive to maintain are very rare in USA - you may need to rep[lace it with a pair of back-to-back turnouts Edited February 10, 2019 by shortliner add missing spaces 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
long island jack Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 Something like this is more the norm(but not always), using the Walthers grain cut in half to give you a longer facility, grain cars are quiet long 50'-56'=8"-9" inches, down side to the above is needing a fiddle yard at either end which makes your 8' into 16'. Think my best advise for you is research what you want to build (I usually take 6 month),pick a period, look at what stocks available(not everything is) play around with plans to fit your space, get on youtube, watch some of the shortlines and see how they work, look at other people's work on this and other forums, take your time it will save you in the long run. Good luck, we've all been there. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
298 Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 2 hours ago, shortliner said: ....... Unless it pulls cars from the elevator yard tracks onto the yard lead, pushes them back onto the run-round, uses the run-round to get behind them, and then is in a position to pull them back, and push them into the elevator. BTW Double slips - being expensive to maintain are very rare in USA - you may need to rep[lace it with a pair of back-to-back turnouts There are numerous precedents for using an elderly switcher in private ownership to switch the elevator, but I doubt it'd be allowed out onto the main. The plan itself reminds me of how a private siding next to a British main line would be worked (such as Littleton colliery or Tring Cement on the WCML), but more akin to trainload flows that require a lot more space than individual car spots. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
long island jack Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 (edited) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCnwAImG65s Edited February 10, 2019 by long island jack 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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