My first layout based on a US prototype

Model Railroader Layouts and layout building
1

I’m planning to replace my current German based layout (www.rub-peters.de) with a US based layout.
There is a fiddle yard on one side of the room connected via a single track with an area of 2’ by 10’ on the other side of the room.

The modellrainroad will be on that area. The fiddel yard is used to build an store cars and engines.

I’m thinking about the following scenario:

A city with lots of industry and railroad. One of the smaller industry areas wil form the backdrop. The store houses etc. are the reason for the railroad. Time frame should be about 1960.

  1. Most traffic is done with switchers (S1 and SW9) delivering/collecting small units of 1-4 car from/to the nearby fright yard where most freight train start and end.

  2. Once per day a freight train (GP9 and GP30) made of max. 6 cars plus caboose come in and goes out directly. I “invented” this daily train to have some larger engines and a caboose:-)

  3. Additional a BUDD RDC come in hourly to a small passenger terminal.

There will be no real landscape with montains, rocks or rivers and due to size limitations.

Is that an operating scenario that could be in an US city like Detroit etc.?

2

I cannot speak for Detroit but it sounds plausible and it resembles operations in parts of Milwaukee circa mid 1960s on the Chicago & North Western’s “old” or “Passenger” line from Chicago to Milwaukee. That is, there were passenger trains throughout the day on the line (RDCs had been used in the 1950s), a few freights, a local wayfreight or turn, and a local switcher that went up and down the line dodging the passenger trains and freights. however it was double track mainline so there was not all that much dodging to do.
Dave Nelson