Since I can’t figure out how to post pictures, please go look and give me your opinion. This is the Westside Lumber Company layout modified to fit in our space. I couldn’t figure out how to save all the grade work, but you get the idea.
Honestly, I think it’s to “busy”. It will look more realistic when built with less track.
Can I ask a coupe of questions?
What is the theme of your railroad?
Are you wanting to do mainline running (watch the trains go by)
Or are you looking for some switching and operations?
Is this HO? What are the dimensions?
Looks like a bit of mountain territory, you will be looking at tunnels and or bridges.
What is the grade you may be looking at?
Thanks!
It’a a logging railroad. It is the Westside Lumber Company. I had to fold it around two corners to make it fit in the room. I will be using SHays, Heislers and Climaxes. I like mainline stuff, and pulling grades. It is HO. 9.5’ x 9.5’. Tunnels. Actually, it’s less busy than the real thing, as I had to leave some off to make it fit the room. Any advice on improvements is welcome.
Is it operated from the center or the outsides. If outside which side(s) are against the wall(s)?
Three sides against the wall. The side between the loops will be open. Although there isn’t enough room in the plan to walk between the loops, there will be upon completion. I can and will cut openings anywhere I need to, to gain access to areas that are hard to reach.
Hi, I just have a couple questions.
Can you explain the lumber operation to me? Where are the trees loaded? Where is the mill, or are you just taking the trees to the lumber camp? What is the purpose of the yard?
The yard needs another runaround, the yard is too small, once you enter the loop the only way out is to reverse directions. If you slid the “siding” at the very top to the left and put the switch for the line from the yard in the main just beyond the siding, a train would have to go all the way around the loop to get to the siding. It could then runaround itself and go all the way around the loop back to the yard. Much more prototypical operation by just moving a couple switches, no dollars involved.
Dave H.
GearDrivenSteam,
I assume you have not built much of a layout before. [Please don’t read that as a deliberate derogatory comment.] I say this because your plan doesn’t appear to include some typical logging railroading features.
I would remake the yard at the lower right to include a team track and a run-around. [Note Dave’s comments] Proceeding from the yard downgrade, I would hug the walls as you wind around to the top right corner. This first curve in the top left would be an excellent location for a timber trestle later when you feel ready for that.
In the top right corner, I would make a 180+ turn at minimum radius with many trees concealing the back portions of the turn. Proceeding downgrade I would then work my way back to the lower right hand corner where a switch-back track, and possibly a run-around allows the train to reverse direction as it continues down grade.
Have the track headed back to the left along the walls where it ducks into a tunnel in the upper right hand corner again and turn around in minimum radius coming out [of the tunnel] near the upper left hand corner where it ends at a yard which interchanges with a larger railroad.
Lots of trees, rock cuts and a good backdrop will give you a very nice logging railroad. Good Luck - Ed
As others have implied, you will ultimately be happier with the layout with more operational features. Also, have you considered narrow gauge?
Naw, no narrow gauge. I have thought about N scale. Only for a second. How’s it look now? The Timber mill is the only thing I have added. Open to suggestions.
Suggestion: Determine how your operations will work then design the railroad to fit the operations. See my previous question.
I posted this earlier. Since it took a while to type, I’m going to get a lot of milage from it.
I was reading this last night. It is from the July 2003 MR and is a flashback to March 1944, an editorial by Frank Taylor.
"With a Purpose
To design an interesting railroad is difficult, Most of become aware of this after our system is in operation for a short time. When the novelty of running trains over newly laid track wears off, we realize that our layout isn’t just what it should be. And even after some of the trackwork is changed, we become bored.
The trouble is, we are not accomplishing a thing by running our trains. To make the model railroad operation interesting we should design our railroad with a purpose in mind–that of providing rail transportation to various factories, farms, terminals and industries in general. We should forget about our preference for an oval track, or a water-wing pattern for a single or multi-track main lines, because none of these features in themselves will keep us enthralled. Instead, we should build our pike just as our country was developed. Before we decide out track pattern we should determine what kinds of industry we intend to serve and where they should be located.
With these plotted on our plan, it is evident that rail service is needed and the track pattern automatically suggests itself. We see there is a definite need for a siding to our lumber yard; another for the bulk oil warehouse. A passing siding between Eton and Mellsville will facilitate freight and passenger moves; yards and roundhouse near the town of Aetna seem logical. In this way our layout design takes form. Every track is located for the purpose of providing the transportation required by conditions.
Next consideration is service. Whether it be freight or passenger transportation, we mu
Log loading site
Log Camp
Log Dump
i’m not one of those people who thinks you have to pick a prototype railroad and follow it as closely as possible , but some research on how the real railroads do things is a very good place to start . after that you can decide how much you want to follow a specific prototype , or if there are features of several railroads that you want to include in your layout .
i may be 100% wrong in your case , but i think you’ll enjoy your layout much more if it has some basis in reality , and you have a defined goal aim for , beyond getting some track down and some trains running
I thought we had it looking pretty good. I guess we just need to find a new hobby.
Gear,
Not at all in the end it about having fun… do what makes you happy and what you enjoy… any and all advice given by any of us here is just that advice and opinion, in the end its your pike… have fun with it.
Peace.
Coyote
I think you should build WHAT you want for the reasons YOU want. Build it and learn that, good or bad, running the trains is what it all boils down to.
Your plan can’t possibly please those who just like watching trains run around on a closed loop, and it won’t please those who like point-to-point- and realistic operations. So why bother to ask for feedback if you find that what you get is offputting? HAVE FUN…DAMMIT!
Oh we will. It’s just that yall don’t know how long it took me to figure this thing out. Then, our plan gets slammed. But that’s ok! That’s what I asked for, and I appreciate it. The emd result will be worth it. Besides all that, we ain’t in a hurry.
Several people on this forum have spent months designing a track plan, and then changing it to add/delete some operation. When I built my first layout (about a year ago), I had no idea what I wanted to do. I built one based roughly on the Atlas #13 layout in one of their books. I have a large mountain, tunnel, a coal mine (which has no thru track) and a town with no industries. Of course, I havent finished the scenicing yet. We moved into a new house in December, and brought the layout with us (HO, 4x8). The wife is dissappointed that I have not done much with it lately, but I am trying to redesign it into a new room. Have decided that I cant incorporate it into a new layout very well, so will just start over with an around the wall layout.
But, the point I am trying to make, and not doing a very good job, is that I didn’t think things out very well. I didnt know what industries I wanted to serve, nor how to serve them. I ended up watching trains go round in circles, which as has been stated, gets boring very quickly.
So, I dont think the others are trying to slam your layout, just trying to point out ways to make this hobby and your layour more interesting for you. I wish I had known about this forum before I started building my first layout. Might have saved me lots of time, but I did get experience in scenics, wiring etc.
Best of luck on your layout and I hope you have many years of enjoyment out of it.
Check out this website. I have downloaded over a thousand pictures from this site. Three of which you see above. Use the search by category and select logging railroads.
http://content.lib.washington.edu/clarkkinseyweb/index.html
No one is slamming your plan. It shows a lot of imagination. Just peel away the the skin of the onion and find another layer inside. The more layers you peel away before you build, the more enjoyable your layout will be. As you layout gets better, it becomes more fun to design.