Track Plans for North American Layouts

[shortliner]

Craig - not sure if this is HO or N, but some of your siding/storage tracks look awfully short - in HO some will hold only one - don't forget that you need to have a car and sufficient clearance for cars on the next track - in HO a 40' car is just over 6" and a 50' car is 7.5" over couplers, a 53' car is 8". For example - the nearest track to the operating space opposite Milwaukee Grain will hust about hold 2 x 40@ cars, 2 x longer cars will probably not allow clearance to switch into the adjacent track

Edited January 23, 2014 by shortliner

[craig]

Thanks Dave and Jack

 

I see what you mean about the short sidings I have removed the short length of track before Milwaukee Grain to increase the sidings by about 6". thanks for that i never noticed they were so short

 

PS it is an HO model 8' x 6'

Edited January 23, 2014 by craig

[shortliner]

Craig, Better yet try this

 

 

Remove X and A, move Z up, to allow you to extend Milwaukee Grain tracks, then remove A, move B up, and re-insert A between B and C - You could also take out the straight between the turnouts at Ashland and move the turnouts together, to let you extend those sidings as well. The other alternative would be to fit an assymetric three way to replace both those turnouts leading to Ashland and the Scrap yard

Edited January 23, 2014 by shortliner

[shortliner]

A similar, but alternative trackplan is in this thread which may give you ideas  http://bigbluetrains.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=7156

In the first post on there, there is a link to another thread that dealt with the planning of the layout

Edited January 23, 2014 by shortliner

[trisonic]

Quirky and Cool, Jack....

 

Thanks, Pete.

[David_B]

Craig - if you fancy using diamonds on a switching layout, try this

 

Nessst.jpg

 

nessstreet.jpg

 

NessSta.jpg

 

For your space I'd suggest lengthening leftwards 18", and adding a road crossing with a small factory at far left

For locos a small 4 axle diesel - something like an SW9/1200 or SW1500, or any of the smaller GP locos, most of which are around 7½" / 8" long - there are plenty about in that sort of range, used with 40' or 50' cars - note that a 40' car is about 6" long and a 50' car about 7¼"

I know of one guy on the Big Blue forum who is building a modified version of Ness Street and having a lot of fun

It will keep you very busy

 

Hi All...

Sorry to drag this post to the front from two years ago. I have very little knowledge of N. American railroad practices but would like to "have a go" at a N. American switching layout in HO. Having read this thread and most of the others alluded to along the way I really like this plan, so.... I was wondering how many cars would be a good number to populate this layout? Also, is the interchange track at the bottom right the same as a staging track? A good friend of mine in the UK has had a look through his spare track box and has a goodly number of small radius peco code 100 points he is willing to donate to my project but they are not electrofrog, so my next question (a little off topic, sorry) is will a Bachmann GE 44 ton switcher negotiate these without stalling? (hoping someone has experience with this), or could any one suggest a switcher that performs well over insulfrog points assuming well laid track and all. It would be nice not to have to invest in new track as this would be a test bed to see if i like the N. American outline & I really dont like the electrical side of the hobby so it would be strictly one engine, all tracks live and finger switching the points.. 

Any help would be appreciated...

Cheers David

[trisonic]

Rather than answer a myriad of questions start reading the various "Haston" threads. You will find many of your questions answered naturally.

 

Best, Pete.

[Jon Gwinnett]

Just to second what Pete said, but also to point out that small 4 axle US diesels are much less prone to stalling than equivalent sized UK steamers and so on, most pick up on all wheels, so in insulfrogs shouldn't be a problem if the track is reasonably clean. My suggestion, get a cheap loco (Bachmann sound value are incredible value!), a couple of cars and away you go!

[David_B]

Thanks for the replies...I was hoping that was the case with the longer locomotives, but there is no substitute for first hand testament.

Cheers David.

[CourthsVeil]

Hi All...

... but they are not electrofrog, so my next question (a little off topic, sorry) is will a Bachmann GE 44 ton switcher negotiate these without stalling? (hoping someone has experience with this)...

Cheers David

 

My 44 ton switcher negotiates all my insulfrog points without any problem (no wonder: has pickups on all four axles).

Regards

  Armin

[Dr Gerbil-Fritters]

I'd got a bit bogged down with my most recent shed plan, it lacked interest.  Chris Gilbert (Mr Haston of this parish) kindly rebooted it, and dealt with the boring bits.  So, with many thanks to Chris here is the latest version of the shed switcher plank.

 

 

Chris also outlined a pretty interesting ops schedule, which I've included here for your edification.

 

'A 35 car fiddle yard is now in the bottom right hand corner, its made to look like the far end of a small yard.  The Local switch engine is kept at bottom left by door.  There is room for a couple of locos on the run round lead track.

All this brings all the bottom half of the shed into play and it can be modelled to look like a railroad yard not a fiddle yard.

 

The way I see it is...

There would be two switch turns, one in the morning, one in the afternoon

 

The first job switches the trailing spots,if it were me, I'd make it a bakery as they normally get switched daily.  

 

The cars for this job are pulled from the yard, loco runs round its train, couples up to the inbound cars and heads to bakery.

 

A lot of see-saw switching, pulling and pushing cars into their correct spots.

 

Outbound cars are the pushed back to the loop, loco runs round and pushes the cars back into the yard.

 

Coffee break.

 

The afternoon job would be switching the facing sidings 

My choices would be 40' tank car unloading point would be in the top right hand corner.

These could be haz-mats so an empty boxcar would have to be between the tank cars and loco.

Again a  lot of see-saw switching 

 

​I would probably just switch this industry three times a week and because of the haz-mat car,on its own.  

 

The top left hand industry could a scrap yard. Not a spot specific customer but it could look interesting with the track work set down in the mud and piles of scrap everywhere and some nice rusty gondolas.

Maybe switch twice a week.

 

The cement works would be at the end, so the loco has to travel light engine all the way to the works, pick up the empties and head back. Swap them in the yard then push the loads back to the works and return LE.

 

This would be a weekly job.

 

If you don't feel like switching industries, you can spend some time making up the outbound trains in the yard. 

 

All I need is for the shed to be repaired (grrr) and I can get on with building this.  I aim to get something running by Easter...

 

 

 

[Dr Gerbil-Fritters]

I've incorporated a sneaky continuous run track into this version, based on good ideas in the Highland Branch thread.  

 

For normal ops, it would be closed, perhaps even have a building sat on top.

 

 

For visitors, workshop moments or for the hell of it, off comes the disguise and away go the trains lapping the full circumference of the shed.

 

Whisper it quietly, but I have a hankering to go revisit my proto-freelancing roots... I have a hankering for a pair of late-model SD40T-2s in KCS, patched for the Arizona Eastern...

Edited April 11, 2014 by Dr Gerbil-Fritters

[Mike Kieran]

Dr Gerbil-Fritters,

 

If you put the tank car loading on the aisle instead of the dock that's on the right side of the plan, You can use the area that's presently used for the tank car unloading as a factory of some kind (I would suggest furniture factory) so that you can run an assortment of cars in and out such as box cars (lumber, hardware, stuffing, fabric, etc.), flat cars for lumber and piping (furniture framework), gondolas/coil cars (for coiled steel and the same loads as the flat cars), tank cars (paint, glue, polyurethane, lacquer), and covered hoppers (sawdust for press board, plastic pellets).

 

Mike

[Satan's Goldfish]

For those that remember my n gauge plan a few pages ago, 4 Atlas 30 degree diamond crossings arrived from America earlier in the week.......

[DavidB-AU]

I posted this on a couple of other sites a few weeks ago, but it might be appropriate to add here. A nice small yard that could be a layout design element for any North American layout. It's on the Union Pacific Oakland Subdivision next to the BART at San Leandro.

 

A bit hard to see on the Google image, but there are tracks on both sides of the platform. You can see them better on Street View and the Bing aerial image.

Google Street View: http://goo.gl/3bHgyT
Bing aerial: http://binged.it/1mHVAc6

Cheers
David

[Glorious NSE]

I

So here we go...it's 12' long, over 4x 3' x 2' (nominal) boards which will box as two pair - the outer ones have a curved/angled end which allows the modular 'main line' to reach it's centred position and makes the whole thing a 45deg curve over the 4 boards. (Sorry, it's a photo of a drawing, so not all the angles are properly 'square' on the image)

 

The industry operationally is fairly simple - it consists of a scrap bay (inbound scrap metal for recycling) - the furnace (occasional car of lime - and the potential for shipping a hot metal train maybe one day) and a rolling mill (outbound steel coil and plate) - and would be worked by a plant switcher, interchanging cars with the main line in the small yard. The actual arrangement of tracks in the yard and industry is still a bit fluid (the scrap bay may yet go in the middle for instance) - but I think there's space to play with there.

 

DSC_0003.jpg

 

At home i'd use the main line as staging, with a small local staged at the LH end of it and serving the yard as needed, providing a change of cars for the industry switcher.

 

will I build it? Maybe...I want a new project after Alpha, but it depends on a future house move (working on it) and whether that gets me either a spare bedroom with 12' of length, or a secure garage.

 

Quick revisit - house move now more likely, but the space available is likely to be circa 8'x10' so the original 12' idea will not work - i'm working on a 9x5 L version of the above, not as visually appealing maybe as the gently curved version, but with just as much interest in a similar square-footage, and still with the capability of being both a portable module and a home "instant on" layout.

 

Modelling-wise, all i've done in the interim is knocked up a plant switcher...

[Glorious NSE]

Something like this...

 

Main in red, exchange yard in yellow, plant trackage in blue...

 

[DavidB-AU]

This one is doing the rounds of mailing lists.

 

http://goo.gl/maps/dy6g3

http://binged.it/1nNOSEl

 

It is used by Dakota County Technical College in Rosemount, Minnesota for training conductors.

 

Cheers

David

[switcher 1]

Now that is definately a 'ProtoNook' for the space starved modeller.

[rodshaw]

If you had enough width you could squeeze in the football pitch and play Subbuteo in between switches.

[Talltim]

Something like this...

 

Main in red, exchange yard in yellow, plant trackage in blue...

 

Nucor.jpg

I'm having trouble visualising it. Could you add the buildings?

[Glorious NSE]

Something like this - although i'd stress it's very rough and very open to variation - the track layout is unlikely to be identical because I can persuade Peco points into different geometries for example - that makes it likely that the spacings in the plant (and the sharp curves in the yard currently defined by those big curved points) would all be a little different!

 

Not sure whether the scrap bay needs to be outside, the furnace is logically better placed next to the rolling mill, but I liked the idea of the scrap bay being an "urban canyon" between the two structures also...

 

(This also shows a cutout I think will be needed in the back corner to clear a chimney)

 

 

The other thing that's come to mind since is given it seems that "corn syrup is the new black"  in terms of modular industries, is something along these lines a better use for the space?

 

http://www.stuorg.iastate.edu/railroad/images/Crandic/CIC106.JPG

(image from:) http://www.stuorg.iastate.edu/railroad/Reports/CedarRapids03.html

Edited July 29, 2014 by Glorious NSE

[Talltim]

I get a better idea now. Its a pity you lose the diagonally place buildings, I liked those. I would say still go for steel, mainly cos I think coil cars are interesting!

[Dr Gerbil-Fritters]

I would swap the lead and the loco svc tracks, and try to get the lead on a tangent with the industry spurs.  preferable not to propel cars through an S curve if possible.

[Glorious NSE]

I get a better idea now. Its a pity you lose the diagonally place buildings, I liked those. I would say still go for steel, mainly cos I think coil cars are interesting!

 

Yep, shame to lose the big sweeping curve of the original idea as well - I can angle the structures with a shuffle round - I suspect it will look better, but may be a tradeoff with shorter track length?

 

It also means the structures would straddle a board joint, but as I think they would have to be separate anyhow in order to make the paired boards small enough to transport i'm not sure that's a huge problem.

 

Food for thought!

 

 

 

I would swap the lead and the loco svc tracks, and try to get the lead on a tangent with the industry spurs.  preferable not to propel cars through an S curve if possible.

 

Good call!