Disclaimer: this original post is edited, so some of the initial replies might not make sense
After reading comments here and tinkering, this is the layout as I currently envision it. The plan is to model from Elkhorn, NE to downtown Millard in Omaha, NE. The idea is that the old line that ran through downtown Millard was revitalized as the need for a good commuter route into downtown Omaha was needed.
The layout starts down in Elkhorn, goes through the industrial area to downtown millard. One track loops back to Elkhorn for now, but the second half of the layout in the room next door will be worked on in a few years which will complete the route to the Burlington Station in Omaha.
The layout will have the âwhat ifâ - the CNW never got bought up and actually has a stronger presence in Omaha (the UP fell on hard times and was carved up in 2000). So the layout will feature CNW locos (I have 3 Dash-9s for main loco power) and a lot of grain/coal trains.
Alongside CNW freight will be N-Rail; Omahaâs new commuter service that runs from Lincoln to Omaha to Council Bluffs. Theyâll use MP36PH engines purhcased brand new and refurbished Metra bi-level cars for push-pull service.
Iâm no pro, but maybe those long straight stretches could âswayâ a bit? I know itâs prototypical, but the long straights might get somewhat boring to watch.
What I like best about this is youâre not jamming too much in.
If watching trains running through Nebraska is your gig, then cool. I like the dual main, and I suspect it is your intention to complete it.
The industrial area on the right will be difficult to switch without a runaround. Some might say that you will switch the forward points on the return trip, but I donât get a here-to-there feeling about this layout. Turning a train would be difficult.
Iâm not sure if your multi-track area is a yard or an industry. If it is an industry, then the layout doesnât really have an operational planâother than run a few laps and switch a few cars. That can be solved by creating an interchange track or two either at the top of the plan or the bottom. That will give you a rest of the world sense and a destination for shipping goods. Anyway, it would simple to add, then later if you grow as a model railroader to the point where ops sounds like a good diversion, youâll be set up for it.
Mostly though, I like the lack of clutter and the fact that you planned space for your structures.
Okay, still trying to figure out the terminology here, but I"m assuming you want longer, gentler curves on the layout? After looking it over, Iâm inclined to agree if thatâs your point.
So youâre saying that since Iâve got track branching at opposite points in the yard itâd be difficult to handle? I think I see the dilemma âŚ
Primarly a yard w/ maintinence facilities, and maybe one industry. Iâve been thinking about adding an interchange track to the BNSF or some other line. Not really knowing, would I need to just add a track that switches onto the double track main?
Again thanks for the comments, Iâm still not set on the track plan and probably wonât be for quite some time!
As a yard itâs not very functional. As a large industry, it could be.
As for an interchange, it might look like this. The diagonal track would be the BNSF. The two stub tracks could be for setting out cars to exchange with the BNSF.
On your layout it might look like this:
You still get to keep the feel of open Nebraska and still add function to the layout. The only structure would be the interlocking tower: functioning, abandoned or gone, depending on your era.
I think the curve on the mainline you added is nice, but it could even be shallower and still provide some visual interest, while preserving the openness of the layout.
To me, a complete idiot when it comes to critque, looks like a sound plan. Ditto the welcome, and congrats on the new space. The open field, iâm guessing, will be this open area w/ a bunch of weeds. Probably shoulda read everything before posting. I like how the mainluine winds through the field, and the industries seam like theyâre better placed.
Thanks for the feedback - Iâm still playing around with the curves and how Iâm going to accomodate the (eventual) expansion by connecting it to the next room and having another part of the layout there.
Since the UP Omaha Sub doesnât go through downtown Millard, you might want to consider the scenario where the Old Main Sub was left in service, from Pacific Jct through Millard and Papillion to South O, and that became the commuter line. The double track Omaha Sub could orbit the room with clockwise trains (80% of the trains through Omaha are eastbound). while your commuter trains operated on a lower level. Another scenario would be to keep the old CNW line from South O thru Aksarben and NFM to the NW in service. It runs/ran in a valley so it actually went under the UP about 60th St. That would allow you to put the UP up high on the fill and the CNW/Commuter line down on a lower level.
On a general planning point, I would also put some sweeping curves rather than the tangents, the UP from Elkhorn to the 156th st is all gentle curves. The straights are all pretty much east of the Millard area. If you had to have those tangents, I would at least make them at a shallow angle to the edge of the layout.
All of the industry in Millard is right down town. The cool thing is the car rebuilder gives you a reason to put almost anything into that industry. At least one of the UP/Kalmbach cars has been into that plant.
Look forward to seeing how it turns out. You might also want to join the Omaha Modelers Yahoo group so you can meet other local modelers. In addition the NMRA division meets at the library in Papillion the second Saturday of each month. Ironically the library is built on the site of the Papillion station on the Old Main Line.
Thanks for the comments! Awesome to find someone else from Omaha!
Iâve updated my original post with my revised layout concept (I rotated it so that it can connect to the next room via tunnel through the wall and eventually run all the way to downtown Omaha).
Iâm hoping to get some feedback on my vision/ideas and revised layout plan
I think the new, rotated plan achieves what you want it to. Even though things in your area are flat(?), you may need some excuse for the tracks to be curved. Not really knowing the area you are modeling, I would think the track might be running through a shallow, natural, depression in the land.
It would be way cool if you you could put in Pacific Jct just past 168th St. Have the âfreightâ mains go behind Millard and Papillion to hidden tracks. That way the coal and stack trains would not be on the commuter line, but would take the Lane Cutoff (which is shorter and flatter.) That might not be possible in HO with the space you have.
Leaving Elkhorn you would have corn field on the North side of the tracks with the Lincoln Highway (brick paving) on the south side. There is mowed grass and a line of shade trees between the highway and the railroad for about half the distance, then it changes to a horse farm on the North side and corn on the south side and finally mostly trees close to 168th.
If you want to squeeze in a cool industry on that side, put a spur near the 168th overpass back into the OPPD yard. It would recieve power poles, wire, electrical equipment and transformers. And its 100% prototypical.
Millard has to have Millard Lumber (and the cement plant). The yard is a contract car shop, not a railroad car shop. Opportunites from all sorts of cars to go in there to be fixed. That shop refurbished a lot of the ARMN reefers.
At some future date when you expand towards Papillion, the BNSF used to cross the UP Old Main near Portal (114th and Giles Rd). Immediately south of 108th and Giles the old MP Belt Line crossed the UP Old Main. So you have a choice. If you want to use the Amtrak station then you can put in a connection to the BNSF at Portal and come up the BNSF just like Amtrak does. Or else you will have to loop around down through Papillion and Bellevue and come back in in South O , south of the stock yards and come up into Union Station on the UP side. The opportunity is to build another branch at Portal on the old MP and go south through Springfield to Louisville and eventually Weeping Water. If you leave the old CNW Cowboy line in from Omaha to Fremont (through what is now Nebraska Furniture Mart, the old bridge is still on the south end of the property)
From reading your first post you have a lot of equipment you want to run (more than one train)⌠Your plan looks pretty good except for one thing. You have fouled the mainline with your yard (if that is a yard). You might want to work in a tail track to use as a switching lead. I donât know what your budget or level is but if you replace the first yellow turnout on the yard off of the mainline with a double slip turnout (basically a double crossover in 1/4 the space), youâll loose nothing and gain a tail track to pull cars out of and push cars into the yard without blocking the mainline. The passing siding is good to have for your industry but it really doesnât help with the yard operation. Not if you intend to have trains running on the inner loop while operating the yard anywayâŚ
For some reason my browser masked this graphic until last night.
Think a little about what you want to do. You said you wanted to run CNW power on coal trains, etc. The limitation with these plans so far is that you have no place for a coal train to be other than on the layout. If you put two trains on the layout then you basically have to bring everything to a stop to switch anything.
Before you go further, think about making a design that has a twice around the room plan. The outside loop would have 2 or 3 staging tracks on it for your through trains and maybe a couple stub tracks for commuter trains. That way you could set up a couple âCNWâ trains in staging and run them around the layout and then park them back in staging to run the other staged train out. Inbetween trains the local could run and then at rush hour just the commuters run. You might want to have the railroad single track, except for just that portion between 168th St and Elkhorn. That would save room for staging and would create a visual difference between the âbigâ UP and the âoldâ UP.
Just a thought.
Dave H.
PS: Please put the center siding back in a Elkhorn, its a real signature item that screams âElkhornâ. Plus it would be a handy place to stage or layover a short commuter train.
