Thats a good question Randy, I can’t see it either. I guess I need to go back and take a new look at the 2 options.
Definitely I will leave out the 3rd track under the cranes.
New ‘Tail Tracks’ Configuration
I was looking at some new possibilities for my carfloat location. While doing this I took a new look at those tracks and switches I have been considering for the trailing ends of my container yard. I introduced a 3-way turnout to gather the 3 track ends together. The 2 container tracks now deposit the long locos and containers onto 1 long ‘tail track’ rather than 2.
I still retain that shorter tail track off the end of the run-around track to act as a layover for the switchers ready to work the container cars.
(PS: I don’t intend to use that little steamer for this modern container operation,…just didn’t have a small diesel handy to place there)
x posted:
Put a crossover at the base of the peninsula from the right most container track over to the lead to the float dock, use the float dock lead as the tail track.Inbound train noses into the right most container track, cuts off power, goes into the float lead
The reason I didn’t send any of the mainline locos (steam or diesel) over to that side of the peninsula is that I didn’t have any short, good way to get them back to the turntable/roundhouse, or freight yard, without making them wait for operations, or sending them all way back around the layout. I didn’t think that would be realistic at all.
I figured that the long tail track could collect a long steamer, or even perhaps a doubled headed diesel set and send them back ‘home’ while all the unloading of containers, or loading of the carfloat proceeded without their interference?
y posted:
Also, looking at your location, I think it would be a perfect excuse to leave the nice locos sitting there and looking good at the best spot on your layout (rather than having an empty piece of track there).You had such a nice shot of a large, beautiful steamers sitting right there in the perfect spot. Go back one page. Which looks much better than an empty piece of track. Or an empty well car. Which is why the purpose of the escape track is escaping me…
I think I explained my thinking of the tail track above,…for the locos. The reason I show a couple of well cars just sitting there is to emphasize that this tail track can also be used to move empty container cars out of the front of the line and back over to the yard area,…so the switcher can push more cars in for unloading. My use of 2 cars was to say I can possible move 2 cars at a time, rather then just one.
As to ‘displaying’ the locos, i have a nice big turntable right nex
Potential Operations on the Peninsula
Here is how I would imagine some of the operations would happen on that peninsula.
The mainline train would enter on either of those 2 tracks that meet at the double slip. The mainline loco might uncouple right there, and proceed to get back over to the roundhouse area or the freight yard by way of that escape route provided by the tail track at the end of the container yard and the runaround track.
Or it might go ahead and pull the train thru the container yard, but uncouple and leave non-container car(s) there at the double crossover. It still can use the tail track to escape and go home.
The switcher the comes in to pull groups of container cars into the 2 tracks for unloading. As they are unloaded, that switcher (or a second one) can pull singles or pairs of those unloaded container cars over to a waiting area (the freight yard perhaps). Then come back to repeat the operation over and over, …pulling new container cars into unloading, then over to the freight yard waiting area.
Another switcher working the right side of the peninsula would grab off non-container cars up at the double slip and move them onto one of 3 waiting tracks for selection to be delivered to the 1) big dockside crane out at the end of the peninsula, 2) the carfloat, 3) several other warehouses in that port area, 4) allied rail rebuilders, 5) another industry possibly located on that thin right hand shelf, or 6) maybe even the brick factory or waterfront scene down in the far corner on that right hand deck.
Doing the last few days I rebuilt the substructures for my stone arch viaduct/bridge that appears in the background(s) of where my central peninsula meets the layout. I had wanted to finalize these structure sizes and exact placement so I could move on to finalizing the track plan(s) on the peninsula itself.
The structure(s) first out front of the viaduct on that one side were the roundhouse and the turntable. I had now finished building my new turntable pit, and mounting the footprint of my roundhouse onto its new metal base piece. There were a couple of obstacles I need to consider in exact location of that big roundhouse,…a) how close that rear corner might be fit to the arch bridge, and b) clearance for a piece of all-thread rod that might be eventually be erected in a vertical manner to support the overhead steel beam that stretches across the entire room to support the upper logging area. That all-thread rod may never be used, but I wanted to make sure to not cover up my pre-drilled hole just in case.
So here is that final location of the turntable and roundhouse, and subsequently the tracks involved.
One particular trouble spot presented me with lots of problems,…the connection of the container yard’s incoming track from that slip switch, with the yard track itself, and the two curved tracks exiting the yard to go to the turntable. It involves a dbl-curved turnout, a long Y turnout, and single turnout. These all have to be smoothly connected together them selves, while at the same time providing the proper angles to the group’s 4 ‘arms’. As I had mocked it up originally, it was not going to work.
Barrier Plate
As I was working on this left hand side of the center peninsula container yard area, a new thought occurred to me. The track close to the edge would likely need some sort of protection from someone in the aisle knocking trains off that edge. Why not have a barrier that would incorporate a 'backdrop image?
So here is what I’ve come up with so far,…just a quick mock-up. Mount a vertical barrier along that edge, and on its inner face a picture of stacked containers, and ship loading cranes off in the background.
On the opposite side of that barrier plate, perhaps just photos of stacked containers.
Having that barrier plate there would permit me to move that track a bit closer to the edge, thus providing a little extra real estate on the central peninsula. So now it is 1+3/4” from the edge.
