I am (I think) ready to move forward. Some may recall that some time ago I asked for (and received) some excellent advice on an attic empire. Unfortunately, my 9-year old son has allergy issues in the attic of my rented house, so that ended up being a bust. I’ve now moved my layout space to the dining room. (Note to all of you married guys - don’t try this at home! I’m single and can get away with it! [:)]
Here’s the track plan, with some explanation following:
(Because the image is portrait instead of landscape, or else I’m a moron, you’ll have to click the link instead of the picture to see a larger image.)
This will be long - sorry!
Anyway, here’s the premise of this layout: HO scale, heavily free-lanced, in more or less modern times, located in the West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio area. The founding fathers of Indigo City purchased existing track from CSX (or a predecessor, depending on what locomotives I run) and set up a shortline to service Indigo City and 2 smaller towns (Kermit and Yancy) a few miles down the line. Thus began the Indigo City, Kermit, & Yancy Railway. (Known locally as the ICKY Line!) The line to Kermit and Yancy (on past the passenger station) has since been abandoned. CSX will run a couple of transfer runs, one AM and one PM, from their (very small) yard across the river in Boomerville. Their power will cut off, and an ICKY switcher will shove the cars into the (even) smaller “holding” yard. The Class 1 will then grab any empties that are on the passing track, and head back across the river. A couple of locals will then switch all of the industries, and so on. An old Doodlebug (because I have one) owned by the ICKY Line serves locals as a commuter to the “big city” 2x’s daily. There is a variety of small customers in Indigo City, the largest being the barge loading facility down by the river, which will
I love switching and that looks like a fun layout to operate, but some times I also just like to watch trains run. You might consider adding a couple of reversing loops so you can just watch trains go round when you feel like relaxing. Your 9 year old might like that too. I know that loops would take up some room you would use for industries but that is just one of the many tradeoffs in a track plan.
I really like it. I wouldn’t mind having it for my own. I see a few minor problems in the yard at the lower right, but given the space constraints don’t see anyway to fix them.
On the other hand the other yard contains exactly the same mistake I made in one of mine, and is easily fixable. The current design basically has only one storage/classification track. The arrival track with the locomotive excape consumes the 2nd track as well. The only “yard” usable part of that track is the tail after the cross over. Likewise, since the 4th track is a switchback for the engine house it can only be used to store or classify a few things at its far tail end… This can be fixed by taking out the locomotive excape. Use those turnouts to put in a yard ladder bypass track - which also becomes the Arrival/Departure track and the engine house switchback. All the space wasting trackage is consolidated onto one track, leaving three slightly shorter (approx 3") tracks for storage and classification.
To operate, the yard goat sits on the ladder track. The arriving train pulls in on the ladder by-pass into track #4. The yard goat then runs to the end and pulls the train off the road locomotives giving them enough clearance to get to the engine house. It is then free to classify the train on the other three tracks. Departing trains are a bit more complicated but still doable.
The layout below originally had a yard exactly like yours. It now contains the yard as modified. This one does have the advantage of having two entrances to the engine house, but hopefully shows the idea…
Looks good. With the exception of the yard error which TZ pointed out–I doubt I would have caught it, I was trying to imagine what your kid would do on the layout and I figure very little except watch. Not a lot of continuous action.
All your industries switch easily, but I had a problem with the passenger yard #5. I tried to picture how you would switch there and I couldn’t work it out. You don’t really have enough room to turn anything but the engine and that means disconnecting with passengers in the train, running around them, and then backing them into the station. Or you could back them out of the station, then disconnect them and run around them to leave. Either way, you have a trainload of passengers sitting dead on the main while you make maneuvers. I don’t have a solution though.
I wonder about access to tracks that are “behind” buildings - there’s some complex trackwork behind bldgs 11-15. Will you be able to see what’s going on on those tracks, rerail cars, etc without knocking bldg 11? You could stand to the left and look to your right to spot cars, I guess.
You might want to make some foamcore or cardboard mock-ups to check clearances and vision there, especially if you’re putting the layout at a higher than your waist level.
Wow - thanks for the great input. This is one of the biggest benefits of this forum, in my mind.
Joe & Chip - I would love to add continuous running, both for myself and for my son. (Who actually turns 10 next month - I guess I should get used to that!) Just not sure how. I have 39" from the wall to the doorway in the lower right corner. If I use 18" curves (and substantially re-work the yard) I could tie it back in near the crossover on the switching lead. Concerned about access, though. Layout is 41" off floor, so don’t like the idea of a hatch. Maybe with a stool and some very careful hand placement . . . . . . At the other end, by the passenger station, the layout is already 1" into the six foot opening to the living room. Maybe using a couple of 3-way switches I could cut-off by the engine house and return in front of industry 4, add 6" to both sides, and put an 18" curve around the end. Sure would look funky, though. Also concerned about space, especially the choke-point going into the kitchen. I’ve never operated on a layout without continuous running, so I don’t know how soon that might become boring. Do the benefits of the reversing loops out-weigh the appearance? Don’t know how to disguise those turns.
My son and I have talked about this drawback. I think he will enjoy running the transfer from one yard to the other, turning the locomotive on the wye, and returning. Maybe he’ll decide he likes switching chores, too! Still would like continuous run if possible.
Ereimer - A tattoo parlor is perfect!
TZ - You are right. I knew after I put it in that the yard was too small for the engine escape. I left it in thinking maybe a run-around for switching the freight house. Keep in mind that the trackage past the station is abandoned. The CSX main heads off-layout via the tunnel in the upper right, so this is all just local trackage. The local switch crews are likely to use the passing track to build outbound trains! Depending on the outcome of the reversing lo
In New England it would be called an RDC, and wouldn’t have to be turned - control stands at both ends.
You might put your reverse loops on drop-down or otherwise (re)movable supports. That way, when operating in typical short line mode starts to drag, you can bring in the reverse loops and run something in a really long figure eight.
I think the plan looks pretty good as-is, but then, I like to break up trains and spot cars at the end of the line.
I’m not sure yet just how successful the liftout across the kitchen door is going to be. The thought of adding a couple of fold-down sections, too, is probably more than I want to tackle.
I am working on an idea to add a loop from the station (5) back to somewhere around industry 4. Still not sure how to put one at the other end without major changes, unless I completely lose the yard and just put in a mountain or something. I hope to post a revision in the next couple of days.
I know the doodlebug doesn’t fit with the era, but Indigo City happened to acquire one when they originally bought the trackage way back when, and it was recently restored for use. They figured the nostalgic value might increase riders. Who knows, they may latch onto an old steamer one day . . . . . .
