C&O Loup Creek Branch track plan in the May 2007 MR magazine is a good, overall concept. Nevertheless, the coal spurs are highly unrealistic since they have a maximum capacity of one or two cars per track. Also, I see missed opportunies of other than coal traffic on this plan because of the multiple but highly-limited-capacity coal mines…Sorry…
Mark Pierce
Maybe that’s why he got 3rd place instead of 1st Place! [:D]
I’m with you, I find single-commodity rail lines boring. But that’s the way most of those W VA branch lines are.
And some times a long reverse move was made in order to switch out a mine.I recall one branch that require a 3 mile reverse move with 45 empty hoppers.
Well it is a layout design for a small room, You can’t really expect to have 40 car loadouts in such a small layout, unless you go with z-scale[;)].
bill
[#ditto] But you see he was trying to fit other industries on the layout. I think he when’t a little too proto-typical.
Hi markpierce
That’s a problem with modeling more than likely a modern branch lines you only need a multiple of one kind of freight car two locomotives and no passenger cars
On the other hand if you go for an older time frame you would still need the key industry freight cars but would have passenger cars or a rail motor and maybe a few other businesses shipping by rail to make things more interesting.
But there is no guarantee on that
regards John
Considering that most cars could/would be the 34’ 2 bay hoppers, he could still load out quite a few at the mines. He has tracks for storing some loads at each mine, mine 3 could probably result in a 20 car train when said and done.
As far as other industries, he only has one, a lumber yard. Not too unprototypical to need lumber in small mining communities. I think he did a pretty good job of squeezing in plenty of operation and scenery with the limited space.
Rick