Sept 10th I started an HO layout design for a 10x12 bedroom. After several good inputs, more reading and researching the area of the model, I ended up clearing out space in the garage to get a 10x14 space plus an area for staging.
This is only my second design so I need your expert eyes and inputs.
Goals are:
Location of prototype is Taylor Texas, (north of Taylor, #2, are Hearn and on towards the Dallas area). South of Smithville, #7, are Fayetteville and on towards Houston and the ship channel.
Time period will be early to mid 80’s with Southern Pacific, Missouri Pacific, the Katy and some Union Pacific diesel.
Switching and ops more interesting to me than just running loops. The loop around the staging area, #1, and the double switch allow trains to be backed into staging when ops are complete and allows for the occasional run the trains round-and-round. I have grandkids [:D]
So, current design is - http://home.austin.rr.com/tomsandy/Garage_k_shinorar.pdf.
I went to Taylor this past weekend to see if the yard is still intact. It’s there but I have no way of knowing how it looked in the early 80’s.
Appreciate your thoughts; how can I make this better before pulling out the 'ole saw and hammer.
I love Smithville and Englin. You should have good towns there.
Taylor yard is going to choke on your trains being double ended. I dont like the fact that your rear loop track with it’s passing siding is visually so close to the Taylor’s yard.
You need a passing siding somewhere. How about moving it Between Smithville and Englin on one of the curves?
Your small LCRA yard behind Smithville could be converted into a different town with some kind of back drop between the two.
The right side of the layout with it’s double crossover and that huge yard filling the entire loop shouts spagetti. Is it possible to compound ladder from one of the curves and reduce the area of the present yard?
If it is staging you are gunning for… why not find a hole to burrow into so you can use the volume under the layout to stage trains. They can come up when it is thier turn to perform and reduce the amound of yardage above ground.
I think you might be able to snip some inches off the straights and “Fatten” the radius of the curves a bit. 20 inches is a bit tight. Try for 24 inches or better.
Make one of the straight tracks that follows the edge of the table for a distance a very large radius curve that is a sort of a slow right then a slow left back (Or the opposite) as it works it’s way around a scenic feature. This would help destroy the “Toy train Layout” look and make your railroad actually surveyed around the land instead of building the straight edges everywhere.
That is my initial thought. I like your plan and hope that you will try to have some kind of vertical seperation between the loop track or maybe having it behind a back drop and or a short tunnel.
I, too, like what I see. However, in many instances your tracks, mostly the curves, are far too close to the edges of your benchwork if the benchwork is that golden or yellow colour. You’d be well advised to reconsider.
Yup, that is one busy yard down to the right. Too bad you have elected to forego a service facility…it ads realism and variety.
You do need at least one more passing track, maybe at that loop lower left…another at the spaghetti.
Otherwise, you will have a lot of fun with that, and could have several guests to operate.
HighIron2003ar and Crandell, excellent inputs! I was off today so I decided it was time to get this “before the public” so to speak. I’m back to work tomorrow, so I will take all of your ideas and try to see what I can modify this week.
Personally if I had that much area I’d make sure to have a double mainline and some passing sidings, even if that means cutting back a bit on the yards a bit, but thats me…otherwise nice layout.
Yeah. I really love the look of the Pennsy’s and all those double and tripple lines. The area I’m modeling doesn’t have double main lines. I do need more passing sidings though - Taylor yard taking a little too much space. I ran the numbers through jfugates formula’s and the number of cars that can be moved is too low IMHO compared with my previous design in a smaller space. So, back to the drawing board.
How long are you gonna run em? 15 cars? 20? or even 30?
Whatever the lenth of your train plus locomotives is going to be your passing siding need. Dont make that siding too short or you will not be able to get two trains by each other.
I think short areas can be double tracked but some single track will provide some visual relief and perhaps operational choke points that your trains will need to share.
Anyone can do the roundy roundy. Those are great for the kids. But to make that train travel a roundy once and look like it is actually going somewhere is the rub.
I really like your layout. Nice space utilization, and lots of interesting features. You’ve obviously put in alot of thought and alot of work. Only suggestion would be to repeat the thought of trying to increase those radii a little.
Tom, I live about 35 miles East of Taylor and have been crossing the Taylor yard off and on since 1958. About the only major change to the yard in that time has been the SH95 overpass which was built in the 70’s. Of course there has been buildings come and go, but primarily it looks the same as it did back in '58…
John T.
I’m a little dubious on that multiple-track arrangement at Elgin. In the real world railroads don’t like switching puzzles and typically try to use the minimum amount track and switches to handle the industrial or customer needs for a given area.
The major problem I see is that Mopac trains wouldn’t have operated through any of the towns you modeled (other than Taylor). Taylor was a big X with the east-west Mopac crossing the north-South MKT. The Mop had trackage rights over the MKT north of Taylor to Waco, but only MKT trains ran south to Smithville. On the Mop, trains from San Antonio to Ft Worth would leave and go up the MKT to Waco. Trains for Houston and N Little Roock would go straight East to Valley Jct. There was no crew change point at Hearne, the change was at Taylor. At Valley Jct the trains for Houston would hang a right onto the “BV” and go down to Spring Jct and enter Houston from the North. Littel Rock/Chicago bound trains would run straight away to Palestine and then points north. The SP never was in Taylor in the early 1980’s.
Thanks Dave. I had not delved that deeply yet into what trains ran exactly where. I did find material about what railroads were in business during the early eighties in this area. Thanks for the info. This helps.
Taylor yard was used for some block swaps between trains and was used as a base for the locals that served the aggregate and cement industries along the Mopac Austin Sub (Palestine to San Antonio.) The Mop ran trains from Houston to San Antonio (HOSA, SAHO), Ft Worth to San Antonio (FWSA, SAFW) and N Little Rock to San Antonio. They ran an intermodal train each way a day. There were several rock trains a day from the Austin Sub to Houston. Plus there was a hot connection for a while where the local would bring in a cut of aluminum ingots from Marjorie to make a close connection with the SAFW. Most of the local business was rock or cement with some coal to the cement plants.
The MKT ran three or four manifest freights each way through Taylor on their line.
Amtrak #21 and #22 operated on the Austin Sub, San Antonio to Taylor, then up the MKT to Temple and one the ATSF Temple to Ft Worth.
The MKT served a coal fired power plant at Halstead, south of Smithville and the Mop served a coal fired plant near San Antonio (actually it was on the SP and may not have begun serving it until after the MP-MKT merger).
The MKT was ABS train orders and the MoPac was CTC.
Dave, you are a veritble gold mine. [:)] May I ask, where did you find this info? I have been scouring the net and came across the power plant at Halstead south of Smithville.
I haven’t read the other posts yet, but I will and maybe add to this later. First of all, it looks like a great layout. I’m jelous.
In the Taylor Yard you might want to extend the lead on the right so that it is as long as the AD track it is servicing. That way you can classify an inbound train all at once instead of having to split it up.
Also in the Taylor Yard, you have two mains, an Eastbound and a Westbound. Only one enters the yard. It seems you could increase your capabilities if both directions had access to the yard.
I don’t understand the reason for the dual trackage between Lycra and Elgin. Neither seems to be the clear main and both have to make an S turn to join the main. You may have a good reason for this, but I don’t see it and either way it could be cleaner. If you used the inside of the two tracks and continued it throught straight to main (like it was going to run into the “Number 4” on your plan) you could eliminate the other track without any loss of functionality. If you are looking to switch off a siding, you can make a much tighter more effecient one.
I like the way you handled the staging.
I’ll read the others comments in a little while and get back to you.