Sulligent Layout

Thanks, Chris. It definitely represents uncertainty. My plan sacrifices radius in the sidings in order to cut down on the overall footprint of the layout. I may make some steep, narrow hills, about 4" tall (plus the height of some trees), out of stacked foam from the tip of each "tear drop" to the "bottom." Then again, since the dog bone to the left is in the direction of Amory, MS, and because Amory had a roundhouse once upon a time, that part of the dog bone could house a roundhouse and turntable. As for the realism of any dog bone or reverse loop surrounding an industry, look no further than Alabama Power's, coal-fueled, Miller Steam Plant at Quinton, AL.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/A...5e67768919baa6!8m2!3d33.6315736!4d-87.0582175

 

Turn table and roundhouse idea. Could represent Amory, MS.

 

My interest in scratch building the Sulligent Depot is growing and I could use all the advice and tips I can get.
Without any color photos to work from, I believe the brick was dark red. I plan to use Walther's, Cornerstone, dark red, brick sheets.
https://www.walthers.com/brick-sheet-4-x-9-3-4-quot-10-1-x-24-7cm-pkg-4-dark-red
As for the non-bricked parts of the walls, if I had to guess, I would say they probably had a stucco finish. I'm thinking about using something like JTT Miniature Stucco sheets.
https://www.walthers.com/patterned-plastic-sheet-2-pack-stucco-wall-7-1-2-x-12-quot-19-1-x-30-5cm
One of the hardest parts is going to be finding all the windows and doors. I've been browsing the Grandt Line website.
http://www.grandtline.com/products/arch/ho/ho_scale_small_windows.html
The task of finding exactly what I need is a little daunting.
For the window in what almost looks like a brick garage door on the east (railroad south) end, I'm thinking about using 2 of these, end to end:
5300 40" X 17" WINDOW FOR MASONRY
Even though it's a set of 3 instead of 2, it's the closest thing I've found. Besides, I'm not a rivet counter.
As for the large windows on the west (railroad north) end, I'm thinking about using these:
5029 27" x 64" WINDOW DOUBLE HUNG -8 PANE
Grant Line doesn't seem to have the small windows next to them.
For the large window on the front right (facing the tracks), I might be able to modify this:
5010 60"x 120" ROUNDHOUSE WINDOW-40 PANE (for masonry buildings)
The bay window on the front is anyone's guess. I'll probably have to scratch build it but I don't know where to start.
For the doors on the front left, this is the closest thing I've found:
5063 NARROW GAUGE CABOOSE DOORS
Grandt Line doesn't seem to have to door to the right of the bay window.


I found this drawing by a local artist in a local cafe. I've seen a better image of the back side of the depot somewhere, but I haven't been able to find it again. For now, this is the only glimpse of the back side that I can find. At least it's more than I had. Excuse the Christmas lights in the reflection.

 

Your warning is almost 4 years too late. My Sulligent Cotton Oil Co. building was my first attempt. It certainly wasn't the greatest, but it proved to be rewarding. Truthfully, the only reason I built it is because I couldn't find a kit... which I suppose it true for almost everything. Thus the reason I have to scratch build the depot... to get what I want.

 

Jim (or anyone else), can you recommend any other scratch build suppliers other than Walthers and Grandt Line? I still need to find parts that I haven't been able to find.

 

Thank you, Jim. Hopefully I can find what I need. In other news, I took the measurements on the floor plan and divided them by 87.

 

Sometimes I ask myself, "Why didn't I think of that first?" I just came up with another tweaked track plan that allows for a longer double track through town (at the top) and still has dog bones that require only a 4'x4' footprint each. The new minimum footprint for this layout is now only 12'x9'. That's good because I can fit it in a 12'x'12' portable building and still have some space in the corners for other things. To put a building where I want it, I realized that I need one that is only 12'x 12' or 12' x 16' at the most. I really needed to come up with a plan that would fit in a 12'x12' building and still have a little extra space in the corners. I think I've succeeded without giving up too much. The dog bone on the left is for a 12'x9' layout in a 12'x12' building. The one on the right is for a 12'x12' layout in a 12'x16' building. I'm probably going to go with the smaller one. I could have longer sidings (dog bones) if I wasn't concerned about benchwork and "reach." I must say that the idea of longer sidings is growing on me regardless of benchwork, especially since I'm planning on the layout being at desk height only. That would help a lot with "reach" issues. Stay tuned.

 

Another tweak, this time without using flex track in the plan so that I could get a better idea of the length of each track (even though I intend to use flex track on the layout). According to my calculations, for each dog bone, the 22" main is about 10 ft long, the 18" siding is about 8.5 ft long, and the 15" siding is about 6 ft long. All four industrial sidings about 3 ft long. The footprint is still 12'x9', and the dog bone footprints are still 4'x4'. The industrial sites in each dog bone are subject to change, but the plan for everything else is definitely settling down. I have a running loop, plenty of sidings, and at least four opportunities for switching.

 

I think I can make my sidings a little longer by using curved turnouts. I like the way the springs in Peco turnouts hold the points up against the rails, but I need turnouts with inside radii of 22" to maintain 22" radii throughout the S-curves. The smallest Peco curved turnout that I've been able to find is their #7 with an inside radius of 36". (http://www.peco-uk.com/product.asp?strParents=3309,3322&CAT_ID=3327&P_ID=17396) I'm not sure that would fit in my 22" radii S-curves. Does anyone know of ANY curved (code 100) turnout with an inner radius of 22"? The software I use doesn't include curved turnouts as an option, so I used flex track to get as close as I could to what I have in mind.

 

How about one of these?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/152352614970

 

Go to Walthers site and look up the code 100 curved turnouts. They are made by shinahara and are D.C.C. ready.

Tony LaLumia

 

Thanks Robert.
I have a Bachmann Spectrum 4-8-2 that a Bachmann repairman told me requires a minimum of 22" radius curves. Peco ST244's and ST245's are too tight. Even the Shinohara #6's inside, 20" radius is a little tight. I think a Shinohara #7 (24"/28") would work better but I haven't found it yet in code 100, only code 83. It doesn't look as though Shinohara points stay up against the rails the way Peco points do. Atlas has a code 83 turnout that is 22"/30". Those radii would be perfect if they made it in code 100... even though I'm not a big fan of Atlas turnouts because they too don't push the points up against the rails the way that Peco turnouts do. I really don't want to use Atlas turnouts and I really don't want to transition back and forth between code 100 and code 83, but I may have to. In the meantime, I would still like more code 100 ideas, especially anything with Peco turnouts.
Below are two images of my 12x9 dog bone layout, shown with all code 83 track and the Atlas code 83 curved turnouts. I simply put two curved turnouts together and two #8's together. It aligns perfectly (with a little flex track), but I have so much code 100 track that I need to reuse. However, the Atlas code 83 curved turnout is almost enough to make me switch completely over to code 83. In the images below, all curves on the main have a minimum radius of 22". The end curves are 22", 18", and 15". I'll probably end up using flex track and making them 22", 19", and 16" since I want all 3 curves to be as large as possible without having equipment on one track side swiping equipment on another track. Larger curves = longer sidings = longer trains. Then again, I may leave it as 22", 18" and 15" just to help avoid any potential for collisions with equipment on parallel tracks. The industrial spurs include #4 turnouts and 18" radius curves.
Some of my 4 axle diesels and 0-4-0's stall on my current insulated turnouts, especially at low speeds. Since I run DC and since this plan is basically a loop, would it help to use turnouts with electrified frogs? How would electrified frogs affect a transition to DCC if I were to transition at some point in the future?

 

It's not a big deal... Don't let the difference in rail size be an impediment to getting the trackage that you need.
https://www.walthers.com/transition-rail-joiners-code-83-to-code-100