Hi, I’m Joseph. I’m building my 3rd layout, a portable switching layout of 3 modules. It’s designed to be expandable as my space grows. I model a stretch of track that I grew up near in the San Fernando Valley, the Burbank Branch. An older Southern Pacific line that served many local industries, a few of which I’ve been recreating in HO Scale.
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Welcome, looks like you are off to a good start in a limited space. I see modern era equipment, and lots of switching in a small space. What years and location are you modeling?
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Feel free to ask any questions or discuss problems, lots of folks here to help you out.
Like your work Joseph. The simulated switch stand locks & latches on your facia are a nice touch and guessing that they add an extra measure of realism and interest to your switching sessions?
You got that right Peter, with a layout this size a couple extra steps can be introduced to draw things out a bit. Or not. I typically use those locks when my son plays the engineer, gives a nice touch to of realism for 2 people, but if I’m just running trains I don’t use them. Thanks for the comment!
Thanks George! As soon as I get more photos uploaded I’ll be sure to post em here!
Era/Location - Well I’ve dialed in the location, that is the San Fernando Valley of California. More exact would be the Burbank to North Hollywood area. This branch of the SP actually ran in a loop from Burbank to North Hollywood, Van Nuys, up to Chatsworth, and back to Burbank.
As for Era, well, this line stopped running mid 90’s however I’ve “kept it going”, even through the merger. I try to stay in the 90’s range but those GP60’s would probably still be too new for branch service. Maybe one day I’ll pick up a new proto2000 high hood geep. One can dream…
Nice looking track work, scenery and rolling stock. You might want to consider squeezing in another siding or two to give you more places to spot cars.
Absolutely correct, and there is no track or trains today. Lol, when I said “kept it going”, I meant on my layout, in reference to the GP60s that I run. Apologies for the confusion.
The Burbank Wye is still serving a lumber company AFAIK, and I believe the Chatsworth Wye is still in use for a short distance as well.
Great work Joseph! I’m also into industrial switching layouts. Your layout design is very much like what the famed Lance Mindheim would model. His philosophy is to keep it simple, just as you’re showing here. I really like the concept. Unfortunately for me, I’ve made mine a little more complex, as I’ve tried to maximize the number of rail-served industries. I really like what you’ve done so far, especially your use of backdrop flat structures.
I’ve been planning, and debating getting started on, SP’s Ventura Subdivision including the Burbank Branch in N scale. Here’s a link to the thread I had to the original planning.
Thanks Tom! I visit his blog from time to time, it’s great. Some really great info there.
No worries on your layout being to complex, railroads pave over or abandon spurs all the time. I’ve seen a few layouts that had out of service tracks, theu really add realism.
Thanks Ray, Bruce Petty has a great site, I’ve visited many times. I was originally in N scale when I did my first Burbank Branch layout. I learned alot from that and N scale is great, but I decided HO allowed for more. The branch didn’t really see long trains so it opted for quality over quantity so to speak.
I have a TON of research on the Burbank Branch so if you have questions just ask!
As I’m modeling the '70’s, when railroads were not doing well, I’ve contemplated the abandoned spur thing, along with an old abandoned and dilapidated industrial building or two along that spur. I believe it was Allen McClelland, on his Virginian & Ohio RR, that he modeled a complete abandoned coal mine spur, replete with the abandoned tipple- - cool idea!
That is an excellent small layout. You can spend many hours enjoying working on it. If eventually, you decide to move, you can take it with you. If that means moving to a place with more space, you can include this layout as part of an expanded layout.
