As I was forewarned - my trackplan was just a starting point and things morph as the layout is being built. I’ve made a few changes and I as looking for some specific feedback.
- The harbor area - a couple wharf-based facilities, a marine fuel dealer at center with fuel & oil depot on the three tracks east. I’ve worked and re-worked the track there - originally off a separate work siding connected to the main. Being so close to the main yard; I thought this job could be worked as a local directly; accessed via the curved switch lead at the upper end of the yard with no direct connection to the main.
- The logging branch lower switch lead - parallel to the center divider. Since the sawmill is nearby; the logging loco could push the log cars directly to the mill using the crossover to the main. I removed the lower turnout connection to the main since I can’t see heading south out of that siding since it would send you toward the east instead of the mill.
Thoughts, comments?
Things look OK to me, but one note below.
One thing that I have recently learned about logging is that the locos almost never pushed log cars. They (log cars) derailed too easily. A siding or run-around was always provided so that the locos could go around the log train and pull it out or through from the other end. So you might want to re-think some of your logging track work, both at the mill and in the woods.
I wasn’t aware of that - thanks. I may have to “rejigger” a few things.
On the logging hill I think I’m okay - I put a runaround up there. I had thought the loco would be downhill of the log cars on the descent, but push them to the mill and onto the log dump spur. There is a runaround using the work siding at the mill, but backing/pushing to the log dump is the scenario as it stands now.
Where is the car float?
There was another thread a couple of months ago on car floats, and I started giving it a lot of thought as a future addition to my own layout. What I started to realize was that it might consume quite a bit of real estate. However, I personally think they’re really interesting, and you can even make a removeable float which would function as a “casette” for bringing cars on and off the layout for operational interest.
In looking at a float, though, I figured you need 1 siding of the same length as the float for each track on the float, plus one additional siding. Operationally, you’ll fill all but one siding with outgoing cars, and then when the float comes in, you’ll first pull one string of cars off, stash it on the empty siding, and then load one of the full sidings on to the float, repeating until you’ve unloaded and re-loaded the whole thing. You also need sufficient backing space to pull the string of cars, plus your engine and an idler flat car, beyond the points so that you can throw the switches to the sidings. If your backing space is too short, you’ll have to make multiple trips to unload each string.
Mister B,
Sorry, I forgot to label the rail barge - corrected photo posted.
As you can see, there is a long switch lead and 2-track float yard - sufficent for working the float job.
You can get by with two tracks in your car-float yard, but then you will have to leave one cut of cars somewhere until you get through switching the car-float out. I just extended my car-float yard. It is two tracks, each of which will hold all the cars on a barge. So one is an inbound track and the other outbound.
On logging; if you are not going to use disconnect type logging bogies, you can get away with pushing two truck type model log cars OK.