My Track Plan (link fixed)

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
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OK, I’d like some input. Here’s a (really) rough draft of my track plan. I’ve tried but the link isn’t working (except in the preview). Brothaslide has kindly added the image to this thread below. The room is 20 feet by 10 feet, but I have to leave space for a loveseat and coffee table. The TV is under the layout. This plan is actually slightly wrong, it’s two feet wider than it’s supposed to be. However, compressing the middle section of the track (around the bridge) works fine. The layout is somewhat of a practice layout for the future if/when we move to a larger place so I can expand it. ************ I’ll walk you though the concept. New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, 1948. The left loop is “Springfield, MA” and hidden under a hill. The loop serves to turn the trains to the other side of the double-track main (and allows me to run continuous trains for my 3-year-old daughter). The trains coming from Springfield enter Thompsonville, CT for passenger and freight service. From my understanding, Thompsonville is serviced primarily by a local freight out of Harford, CT so there may not be much freight traffic from this direction. The track plan is based of the USGS maps. After Thompsonville, the train will cross the CT River and go into Windsor Locks, CT. The track plan here is based off of an article in the Novemeber, 1960 Model Railroader. Along the bottom wall I may also include a small spur to Suffield, CT (on the south, or really the west side of the tracks). After Windsor Locks, the train turns behind a ridge (as a view block) and into the second loop. The shelf at the top will probably be a coach yard. It extends off of this map a bit. The loop represents Hartford, CT, and will consist primarily of a small freight yard in half of the loop, and engine servicing in the second half. The trains then continue north and back to Springfield. ************ Operationally,

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First, your link isn’t working for some reason, so you may want to check it out. Your plan sounds good, but a few things. First, since you’ll be running freight and passenger trains, make sure you have passing sidings along the way. Also, not being able to see your plan, make sure you allow for accessibility, as you seem to have described some hard to reach places, and duckunders are a pain in the butt (and the back too [;)]).Also, maybe consider using a computer program to monitor your trains in the hard to see places. Also, I dont think you’ll need sensors, but just thermal railjoiners (but I may be wrong) to cut down on costs. Just my two cents worth (from a guy still in the designing stages too! [:)])

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Sorry, I’m still trying to get the link to work as an image instead of just a link. Anyway, there is only one location that has the duckunder, and that is in the Springfield loop and will only be needed if trains derail, etc. I’ll be using sectional track in that loop, and I’m trying to find 24" radius rerailers because I’d build a lot of them in since it’s hidden. The other loop has full access from enough sides that the longest reach is 2 feet. I still haven’t figured out how the NH handled passing sidings. Were they just crossovers to the other mainline track, or a separate siding. If it’s separate, do they have crossovers as well. As for the sensors, it’s just for a safety device if my daughter is running trains. What would be really cool is to have two passenger trains being run that would pause for predetermined amounts of time in the loops, and also at each of the two stations, so I can let them run and manage freight around them. But that’s a long way off… Randy

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I believe that most are just seperate sidings, although I could be wrong. On my layout, I’m pretty much defyinig prototype and just crossing over to the other mainline in addition to my industry sidings. Take a look: http://s57.photobucket.com/albums/g239/DerrickKM/?action=view&current=trackplan3-1.jpg&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch1

I just have two passing sidings coming from my main yard. The other mainline track just returns to that yard, so I don’t have passing sidings.

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You’re having the same problems I did with using photobucket as an image hoster. I would recommend going to http://www.modelrailroadforums.com , registering, and posting your image there. It will be much easier to see, and until you can make it bigger, I will be unable to help you.

Thanks,
Spit

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just add [ img ] before the url and add [ /img ] after the url . leave out the spaces
if you want to make a clickable link to the picture , replace img and /img with url and /url

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Randy,

Ereimer is correct. You need to sandwich your photo link between [img] and [/img] (minis the asterisks) in order to display it in your post. For instance:

[*img]http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1947/785/1600/Track%20Plan%20(Rough).0.jpg[*/img]

Make sure you remove the asterisks and you should be in business.

Tom

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I’ve done the image tags, but it still won’t show up (although it works fine in the preview). So, thanks to Spitfire’s suggestion I’ve posted it over at modelrailroadforums.com. The picture is working there, even if a link from here doesn’t work. Randy

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Here is the image. . .

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Thanks Brothaslide. I still can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong, but at least folks can get a look at the plan. Randy

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let me guess , you’re using a Mac with OSX and Safari

if so the fix is to get Firefox . for some reason safari turns [ into < when you post the message , but not in the preview

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Nope. XP SP2 with IE7 Beta. I still can’t figure out what the browser I use would have to do with whether the code works for others though. Randy