I’ve been thinking down the road to when I get more room (likely, a second bedroom-sized area), and have been working on ideas to adapt my current layout, which is like this (more or less, the two buildings in the upper right may have to go):
Starting from the above (and please, no suggestions to totally revamp that - not negotiable, thanks), and looking to add on additional layout with the following ideas in mind:
Layout setting of my fictional RR is around the Four Corners area of the Southwest (corner of UT, AZ, NM, and CO). Upper desert terrain, with dry washes, some mountains, little in the way of leafy trees or flowing rivers where this RR is located.
Want to have a small mine (think Walthers New River size, more or less) which will be handled by a two-truck Shay, connecting it to another freight to be shipped off-RR to Farmington, NM area for refining.
I want an engine servicing area in the new section, with Walthers 90’ turntable (since I already have the kit and motor), coaling tower (Model Power BORS coaling tower, already have, because it’s a smaller footprint and I’m limited on total space), and roundhouse (Como hydrocal one that I have, partially assembled), which will have diesel and steam sanding and fueling capability.
I’d like at least one more town/city with 3 or 4 industries (not counting the mine, which is off by itself, sort of) - and I already have a bunch of possible buildings for these:
McGraw Oil (plus other tanks, and maybe get a Grandt Line corrugated office building) for an oil dealership.
Your coal mine really needs mainline access. Not that short switchback lead.
I like the first round the room better than the second. But the trackage around the left lower corner for the coal mine is not very good to my eye. It will be a pain, probably too much to get to and from there.
Thanks, Falls Valley! Yeah, I’m as painfully aware of how short the track I have to get to the mine is - even with shorty ore cars (MDC 22’ers, I think that’s about how short they are), it’ll still be the proverbial PITA, turning getting cars to the mine more like a switching nightmare than an exercise in fun.
From your drawing it looks like the room size is 11’ East to West by 10’ North to South. Where is the door and how does it swing?
I would guess that the door is in the S.E. corner and the interchange track along the far right (East) wall is designed to go behind the door when swung open - but that is a guess. That would put the back of the roundhouse on a person’s left as they entered the room.
Since engine servicing facilities are usually associated with yards or industrial areas you might want to consider switching the location of the mine and the turntable/roundhouse. That would make all the Northwest corner as “flat area” trackage and the Southwest corner and the whole South wall could be higher level mine and mine approach trackage (more open scenery).
A switchback to a mine is not uncommon and could be quite interesting but you do need to leave plenty of room on each common leg of a switchback. A switchback could leave the mainline in the Southwest corner and go North behind other flat land structures as it gains elevation. The common leg of the swithcback would then be in the rear of the Northwest corner. Then the second leg of the switchback would head back South again to gain elevation to the mine.
Thanks, John - and you are guessing correctly - door swings in, on the lower right (‘Southeast’) corner, with the interchange tracks behind it. I’ll have to fiddle around with the design and see if I understand our other suggestions correctly. Appreciate your suggestions!
