Mine is based off my freelanced railroad, the Kiva Valley. I had a large layout in the garage, but that ended with a move. With a very limited spae, i built mine over the tv. All in all its 11.5 by 2. I was able to put in 10 industries with a few of them being 2 cars spots. I also built in a nice yard to switch with. I based it all on a the end of a branch line to the town of Whitton. Which, ironiaclly enough, it is a very scaled down version of the BNSF here in Phoenix.
I did pack in the track but it keeps me busy with ops and I enjoy that.
mopac57, I like the theme. Very simple but many industries, I would imagine. I also like your motive power roster - - all four-axle and with the size of that layout the appropriate fleet of 50 foot cars fits well, too.
Thanks. Yes, I have plenty of industries to keep the local crew busy. Most cars are in the 50 foot range, but I do use some of the larger Greenville woodchip hoppers for the lumber mill. I always loved those prototypes–truly massive cars.
The 4-axle roster follows exactly what MoPac used on the branch into my hometown, but it also serves a practical purpose as well: Because I model Proto 87, it’s far easier to get 4-axle power to stay on the track as opposed to six-axle units. Larger locomotives pose a challenge–they require very generous curves and extra tinkering with the trucks. But 4-axle stuff is more straightforward.
Canazar, Wow! and i thought I was doing well when I fit 7 industries on my 14 foot layout!. Granted, most of my industries are minimum two-car capacity, but you 've managed to pack a lot of railroad into a small space! Very Jonathan Jones-like! (Re: Jonathan Jones article, May, 2001 issue of MR).
cv acr, I really like this track plan. It appears to have long enough leads to the industrial switches/spurs and you don’t have to foul any other industry’s track just to spot cars at neighboring facilities. The track flows nicely for a small layout too.
Ulrich, Very nice plan. I believe you posted that track plan before some time ago. I think I printed that one and kept it on file. It would make a nice addtion to a larger layout someday too.
Thanks. I very specifially had the length of the switching lead in mind when I designed it. I had an older layout a few years ago in another apartment based on a plan from a 1986 MR called “Railroading for City Lovers”. It’s a neat looking plan, but all the switching tails are so short you can realistically only switch one car at a time. Here’s what it looked like in the most finished state it ever got to:
The new layout that I’m working on, with the track plan in the post above that you referenced, has a runaround in the centre that fits 4 50’ cars, and the switching lead at the left handles a 4-axle diesel and 5 50’ cars. I very specifically wanted to make sure that the switching lead was big enough to be able to handle the capacity of the runaround track.
At the right side near the factory, the tail track for the runaround can only handle the engine and one car; but that’s just fine since the left side can be used to pull out the runaround, and the right side just needs to allow the engine to escape and perform the runaround. More length can actually be gained by using the factory’s spur instead of the switch lead, but I specifically didn’t want the industry’s spur to also be the switch lead. The engine should only be on the industry’s spur to deliver or pick up cars at that industry.
