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Track Plans for North American Layouts


trisonic
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Just a heads up. Yesterday I was in W H Smiths and bought the Model Railroader bookmag "Great Model Railroads 2014" A superb buy for £3.95 with lots of layouts (with a good plan of each) in N, HO & a super large O gauge one also. Some (well, all) cracking layouts well photographed & described.

 

Another great buy (same shop) was Classic Trains (Winter 2013). In it is a fascinating article re my favourite road, The Rock Island, from an engineer's point of view.

 

Brit15

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You might want to re-name Goodwill Shipping. Goodwill is a charity organization - it would be like naming something Oxfam Shipping on a British layout.....

There's some possible innapropriate modelling comedy value there......

Edited by Satan's Goldfish
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I'm sure you could use a combination of google maps, google street view and google sketch up,,,, I've seen some very nice work done with that combination of tools, and I'm sure sketch up files can go into 3DS Max which can output files to a 3D printer...

 

I still have some competing plans for the same space, so I think I shall end up planning directly to the plywood at some point.

Edited by Dr Gerbil-Fritters
Kalmbach copyright material removed.
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Did a re-draw of my suggestion since we are on a new page

 

 

attachicon.gifjacmod.jpg

 

Personally, I wouldn't have the turnout under the overpass.  Unless your trackwork is better than mine, Its the most likely spot for a derailment, IMHO, especially a 3 way turnout...  Having to reach under the overpass to put cars back on the track will get annoying.  

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Personally, I wouldn't have the turnout under the overpass.  Unless your trackwork is better than mine, Its the most likely spot for a derailment, IMHO, especially a 3 way turnout...  Having to reach under the overpass to put cars back on the track will get annoying.  

I think you are right about that Mike  ... I was just trying to get a structure to hide the fiddle yard in the original plan. 

 

Craig

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  • 2 weeks later...

Industry track would not have concrete ties (unless it was a coal fired power plant re or unit train mine on a multi-mile lead handling 135 car, 286/315 cap cars.)

 

Bear in mind that in most cases they retire/straight rail the switch before removing the track. The railroad is more likely to own the switch (its in their lead) and the spur is more likely to be owned by the company (who doesn't want to spend money to remove it.). The railroad wants to remove the switch because a switch is a derailment and injury hazard and represents a maintenance cost whether its being used or not (it still has to be inspected).

 

If you want to model a retired spur, buy a Central Valley switch kit, install the ties and then just put the one leg of rails across it, no frog, no points, just two rails. Leave the tie plates to show there was a switch.

 

If you want to model spur returned to service., weather the "old" track with ties tending more toward greyed, weathered wood. Then model the new track with mostly old ties, but paint every 4th or 5th tie or a cluster of 3 or 4 ties a dark blackish brown color like a new tie and make the ballast around those ties "newer" and disturbed. Maybe leave a couple of old rotten ties stacked out of the walkway as evidence they were changed out.

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  • 1 month later...

Hi Everyone

 

I have managed to acquire a couple of walls for a shelf layout, my son is leaving home :sungum:  and the boss  has given me permission to build a layout on parts of 2 walls . so I have room for a 6' x 8' "L"  shelf layout no more than 2' deep so again I have been looking for some inspiration my search on Google maps has taken me to Milwaukee I found a few interesting sites close to each other that has given me an idea.

 

Now this is where i respect the advice of you guys I might have too much track on this layout but i need some operational interest that i don't think i would get with the last plan.  I purchased some Curve turnouts to try and get little more room and instead of using point (switch Motors) I see "Caboos ground throws" are available with a DP switch that might be better for my use (if anyone has used them before you input would be most welcome)

 

https://www.google.com/maps/preview#!data=!1m4!1m3!1d341!2d-87.9578832!3d43.1092198!2m1!1e3&fid=7

 

Thanks Craig

 

post-8029-0-36264600-1390171937_thumb.jpg

Edited by craig
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Hi Everyone

 

I have managed to acquire a couple of walls for a shelf layout, my son is leaving home :sungum:  and the boss  has given me permission to build a layout on parts of 2 walls . so I have room for a 6' x 8' "L"  shelf layout no more than 2' deep so again I have been looking for some inspiration my search on Google maps has taken me to Milwaukee I found a few interesting sites close to each other that has given me an idea.

 

Now this is where i respect the advice of you guys I might have too much track on this layout but i need some operational interest that i don't think i would get with the last plan.  I purchased some Curve turnouts to try and get little more room and instead of using point (switch Motors) I see "Caboos ground throws" are available with a DP switch that might be better for my use (if anyone has used them before you input would be most welcome)

 

One question I have is what's the point of the middle track which crosses W. Fairmount Ave?  Looks like its a extended crossover between the other two tracks, but you already have one of those about a foot further right.  Eliminating that track would also eliminate what I assume to be a double-slip switch by Milwaukee Grain.  I would not expect to find one of those in an industrial switching area.

 

My other comment is that it strikes me as odd to have the two tracks entering Trackside Services each coming from completely different tracks.

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One question I have is what's the point of the middle track which crosses W. Fairmount Ave?  Looks like its a extended crossover between the other two tracks, but you already have one of those about a foot further right.  Eliminating that track would also eliminate what I assume to be a double-slip switch by Milwaukee Grain.  I would not expect to find one of those in an industrial switching area.

 

My other comment is that it strikes me as odd to have the two tracks entering Trackside Services each coming from completely different tracks.

Hi Mike

 

Thanks for your comments .. to answer your first Point, i was trying to create a run around but i see what you mean it does look silly, about the two tracks entering Trackside services thats how it looks like to me on Goggle maps I thought it was unusual too even with my limited knowledge but ill check again.

 

Here is the link to the Google earth view. https://www.google.com/maps/preview#!data=!1m4!1m3!1d918!2d-87.9576564!3d43.1087115!2m1!1e3&fid=7

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Craig - just a bit unclear on how that would be worked - is the group of 3 tracks bottom left by the aisle (the ones in front of, but not serving Milwaukee grain) a yard that you service these industries out of?

 

If that's correct I see the need for a runround - but I think you could probably get that included further up by shuffling around the leads to Midwest Elec/Trackside Svcs.

 

Also, what does "Trackside Services" do? I agree with Mike that the leads to it look a bit odd being served from two places, and in addition if that's a building with just space for two tracks, what else could the company do in the building?

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OK, now that you explain it, you do need a run around somewhere in there...  I would probably make the switch to the "outer" track be where the "eliminated run around" starts, and then put the opposite direction crossover where the "original switch" was.  (I hope that makes sense...)

 

As for "Trackside Services", that is an interesting track arrangement.  The right track comes directly out of the yard, while the left is from the mainline.  I would hazard a guess that the left building is a much newer addition, and that was the only way to get rail service in.  The other option is that they're actually two separate industries abutting each other, getting deliveries at distinct times.

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The right track comes directly out of the yard, while the left is from the mainline.  I would hazard a guess that the left building is a much newer addition, and that was the only way to get rail service in.  The other option is that they're actually two separate industries abutting each other, getting deliveries at distinct times.

 

There appears to have been a line running from the right-hand track to the left-hand building, going into a door at the gantry crane. Possibly the left-hand track was put in when the right-hand one was taken out of service.

 

Adrian

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Thanks to everyone who took time to look at my poor track planning .. LOL ..but hopefully i will improve  with my limited wall space and layout knowledge I have come up with this version, I think it is more workable and maybe more realistic

 

Please feel free to comment, this is the only way I will improve.

 

Thanks Craig  

post-8029-0-79246400-1390345690.jpg

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