I am working on an extension of my layout, to take advantage of some extra space I found, and am looking for some advice here:
My design goals are:
not too wide shelf over the workbench
still point to point switching layout in normal operations
have a storage spur or two when operating as a point-to-point
get a continuous run possibilily by adding a liftout or swinging gate
get a passing siding/runaround when in continuous run mode
Givens:
Room is 6.5 x 11.5 feet
Door cannot be moved anywhere else (but has been turned - opens out of the room)
H0 scale
I have made some adjustments to the plan as I have been building, but I am having trouble making up my mind about which one of these two plans should be the one I caulk down.
Both plans have the same track schematics:
The difference is where I put the turnout between overflow track and Olson transload track 2, and how that affects the plan in the two modes (point-to-point and continuous run).
Plan 24**:**
Plan 24 has the turnout to the left of the door, which gives room for a 26" cassette in front of the door in continuous run mode, allowing me to swap in our out cuts of 4 40’ cars without too much handling of the cars - my plan here would be to make quite a few cassettes with cuts of 4 cars each and mix and match.
The flip side to plan 24 is that there is only room for 3 cars on Olson track 2 (track 3 from the wall), if I am not going to foul the turnout to Olson 1 (track no 4 from the wall). And it would not look natural to lo
In principle a wooden or metal “plank” with track on. Hooks up to the end of a siding - you drive a shortish train (or some cars) onto it, then pick up the “plank” (with the train on it) and move it somewhere else.
Usually has side walls and maybe some kind of end stop mechanism to prevent cars from falling off while you move the cassette. Works as removable staging - you can have a bunch of cassettes. Or you can use one cassette to ferry trains from one level of your layout to another staging level. Or as a way to turn trains - by turning the plank before you reattach it.
Jon Grant has made som excellent cassettes in this thread
I like plan 24 with the cassette. The adding extra length to the passing siding will not help much, you can’t run two trains in a loop continously with out two sidings. You could use the cassette as staging having several short “peddlers” coming from both the east and the west during each session. If you go with the cassette system do you need to bother with a swing gate? Why not save yourself the trouble and use the cassette to span the total distance?
BTW this track plan looks to have a lot going for it. It will be fun watching it get built. looking forward to more pics. I can’t wait to hear how it runs.
Stein - the extra run-around length and the added reliablity of moving the turnout points away from the joint with the swing-gate/lift out would make me lean towards plan 25. You might be able to regain the cassette by extending the spur at West End into a wider lift out (I don’t think the swing-gate would work anymore) - but this would add the complication of more moves on the spur to get cars on and off, maybe distracting fromthe purpose of the industry and the operational pattern you are after.
Just for my information, why do you need both a lift out cassette and a swing gate? Seems to me a lift out cassette would be enough.
I know I’m also being a trouble maker when I ask what the cassette represents in terms of staging. As drawn it seems to be part of the mainline. Cassettes make more sense to me if they are some sort of interchange.
Mmm - good question. My original thinking (which admittedly may have been fuzzy) was something along the lines of : “kids want to run roundy-roundy, dad wants to do point to point switching - better try to make it so simple to close the loop that the kids could do it on their own as long as I leave turnouts thrown towards roundy-roundy when I leave the layout, while I an get in and out of the room without having to use both hands” - hence the gate idea.
The cassette was an afterthought - how do I get cars in and out of the layout - putting them on one-by-one makes a lot of handling necessary. Then I observed that there would be room for quite a few 24-28" long cassettes containing cars under wider part of the layout.
It is quite possible that I am trying to squeeze a little too much into this, and it won’t be very practical to do this.
I plan to mainly run point-to-point through an industrial area. The continuous run loop is mainly for the kids when they want to run. They won’t care that part of the run past the door through a cassette.
Interchange with other RR is really in the upper left hand corner of the layout. But that is a place where it is hard to swap in or out cars. So I was thinking maybe puttin new cars onto the layout in front of the door, and then pull them around to the area where they supposedly would arrive.
But as I mentioned - my thinking may be a little muddleheaded here.
SpaceMouse made the same observation. I guess I sorta was thinking a gate would be easier to open and close than just a cassette - which would have to be lifted away using both hands and more control than I would need to open or close a gate.
But the jury is still out on that one.
Me too Basic track plan is heavily influenced by the track plan of prototype operation Progressive Rail in Airlake Industrial Park in Lakeville, MN, as described by Jim Hedinger in Model Railroader Magazine June 2002.
Could be a case of “because I could find room for one”. I am unsure about whether I really need a crossover here.
I don’t really need it as a runaround - operating plan in point-to-point mode revolves around using two locomotives - one on either side of the cars - one switches right facing sidings, one switches left facing sidings.
But the crossover idea gave me a few new ideas. Which ones of these (if any) make the most and sense ? What makes the least sense ?
I like plan 25 the longer siding is a plus and if the turnout on the swing gate were to be manually operated you could make it a cassette also. One or two cassettes with turnouts, three or more with duel trackage.
Hmm - I think I will go with 26c after all - that one seems to be the most flexible one.
Room for 8 cars right of the crossover when track 3 from the wall is the interchange track:
Possible to run around up to 8 cars when one wants to push cars clockwise into sidings, runaround space for one engine without the lift out/gate in place:
Possible to unload or load two parallell tracks of cars at Olson transload w/o blocking runaround:
Possible to store quite a few cars on track 2 and 3 when liftout is not in, w/o fouling access to either of the industries on track 1 and 4.
You were right, Dave - go with 24, turn into crossover and let cassette go parallell to main across liftout/gate.
I would also make it a cassette that can be locked in place on the swing gate with a couple of latches. Maybe two on each side, one at or near each corner. That way you could have the best of both worlds. A roundy-round, a point to point, and a gate with a cassette that would be easy to open with one hand.
A couple of other possibilities that I see are:1- Extend the track at Twin City Brick and put a cassette connection there; or 2- Add a RH turnout on the main behind Twin City Brick between where it crosses the road and the East end, and put a cassette there, parallel to the right edge of the layout.
I see what you are saying about the longer siding.
Not sure I would want to go to the step of making dual cassettes with turnouts on the cassette - that I think would quickly get too cumbersome to keep working.The turnout will have to be fixed on the layout (or on the gate/lift out), not in the cassette.
I can see why - it has cleaner lines. Problems with 26a is whether there would be enough clearance between the crossover and the right end of the gate to fit in a 24-26" cassette there. (4x40’ cars = 4x 5.5" = 22" - add a little padding).
I like that idea. I was thinking about how to latch a cassette into place somehow.
Yah, those would work too - but somehow they are less tempting to me than making something work around the door/gate area.
Thus far I am leaning towards 26c - possibility of runaround when gate is not closed, crossover, cassette parallell with main on gate/liftout.
But keep those ideas coming - I have gotten quite a few good idea from you guys already!
For the latches, I was thinking of something like the latches used on some metal tool boxes. The kind that has the loop on it and is pulled down on a closing thing with a lever. I have seen them in brass in hardware stores. You would also want to “key” the cassettes on the swing bridge.
MRR 12/99, p.97, has an article by Bill Darnaby about a lift-out (curved, no less) secured and powered by the use of magnetic latches. Devilishly simple and effective!
I,d go with 24; but with a twist. Instead of a gate make it lift with hinge on right side. With section up you could attach cassette to left side, you only need the swing section down for roundy-round running.
Basic track plan is heavily influenced by the track plan of prototype operation Progressive Rail in Airlake Industrial Park in Lakeville, MN, as described by Jim Hedinger in Model Railroader Magazine June 2002.
