Proposed N scale trackplan

Well, the BLM (read: wife) has red-flagged previous plans for a layout in the garage. Ratz!

However, there IS a spare room off of the family room that, while small, could serve my purposes.

I did a little fiddling with the Atlas RTS program, and came up with this idea:


Six by 11 1/2 feet in size, 54 inch-high track, slight duckunder in top left of plan. Again, the track at the bottom is semi-hidden, and the "star" of this show, as it were, is the Miami Branch of the Afton Subdivision. The Miami Switcher (most likely a GP7) would be busy switching Miami-area shippers and the Miami Branch (former NEO), picking up & dropping off cars for the Columbus Switcher, and staying out of the way of the through freights. Cars will not be dropped & picked up by road freights, as the Columbus Switcher handles this chore.

In HO, this plan could be stretched out to, say, 11 by 21 feet and still work.

 

Bob -
The plan looks quite doable!

I am not sure how closely this plan mimics the prototype track arrangements, but it looks like you're focusing on the prototype as a basis. For my money's worth, that is quite commendable.

(1) For your proposed duckunder location, consider shortening the "left" yard ladder (squeeze to the right), shorten the industry track above that and consider a lift-out or swing-out bridge to ease entry. Even at my ripening age, I am finding myself grunting and groaning more anytime I have to crouch, kneel or otherwise crawl under anything.

(2) Bravo on the staging! Too often space is not allocated for it. It looks like you could perhaps add another track or two.

(3) For the main/runaround "north" of the BF Goodrich location, I can't tell if there's a crossover here, but if not, would one ease the switching crew's efforts?

Overall, I think you have a great plan here. I'd personally love to see one of the ex-NEO units with SL-SF sublettering and numbers working here. What era(s) will you be modeling?

Best Regards,

 

Bob,
You have what looks to be a pretty well thought out plan.
A few considerations that you might think about since it is obvious you are thinking about operations:
1) How do you access stuff in the staging yard (in case of motive power failure or rolling stock problems (derailure or coupler)?
2) At 54" off the floor, 24-28" is just about maximum reach for you and me. Worse for someone not quite as tall.
3) Don't be afraid to bow yards or other strands of track to get things within reach - (I recognize the software doesn't allow you to curve the edge of the decking) but the area of the Miami Co-Op will also be difficult to reach without cutting the facia in tight towards the curve. You might remember that Rick's deepest benchwork was at 19th St and Rosedale and for the most part, mainline was against the wall.
4) If there were more small industries on the prototype, take advantage of modelers license (if you are so inclined) to place one or two along the left wall perhaps or maybe in the lower right.

Hope this helps toward a successful and fun to operate railroad.

 

Chris-

Thanks for your comments. Allow me to answer them, one by one:

1. The entryway is at the top left, on the left wall. I have a 32" door (swings out) to work with, and a track elevation of 52 or 54" (haven't yet decided). The benchwork will most likely be leftover hollow-core doors that I have to use following house remodeling, and will be sitting on shelf brackets and legs attached to the floor & bottom wall. On that industry, I was leaning toward a building flat, and I can work with a 3" wide narrow shelf, with a curved piece (possibly detachable). At the tender age of almost-54, I can well do without duckunders too

2.At least one more track can be added- one can never have too much or enough staging.

3. When I did the Miami Branch plan, I kinda fudged a bit- the switch to the Goodrich tire plant is at the north end of the siding, but I moved it to the south end. Since only one train runs on this branch at any time, it works well- it also helps to switch the industries on this branch,

Now, if I could find a decent S2 or S4, I'd model it. As it is, I'm modeling the last 5 years of Frisco's existence, which was when I first saw action on this track.

Also, the Frisco main line as modeled isn't exactly as it existed, but due to space I got as close as possible. The former KO&G line south to Muskogee was used to serve the Miami Co-Op in real life, but the track ran behind the facility- on this layout, I have it out front for ease of switching. (Hmm, I could be modeling THREE railroads here if I turned the clock back a few years, say to before 1962.........nahhhhhhh, I'll stay with what I have- I know for sure what was running then).

Matter of fact, I may even put in part of the Neosho River bridge on the south end of town, and semi-hide it behind some trees as the track goes into hiding.

 

Rick-appreciate the comments.

1. The staging track will be code 80 with rerailers at each end of the staging track. The divider will be low enough to both hide the track and allow me to reach the track.

2. At 5 feet 8 1/2 inches tall, I'm not gonna be scraping ceilings, but I have given thought to help access, and I plan on using a footstool.

3. Currving the Co-Op trackage is a good idea........I may do that ( in real life, the track
curved to the southeast (it was the former KO&G track south to Muskogee), but even though I'm shooting for an LDE approach here, I can see where compromises can be made and still keep the flavor of the Miami, OK area).

4. I still have some research to do on the Miami area, but I see where I can add several industries (a lumber yard, scrapyard (great place to put the less-than-ideal-looking rolling stock)). BlitzUSA is on the present north end of the branch these days, but I COULD stretch it a bit & include it, or at least move the Glastran boat plant south a bit. The BF Goodrich plant required a lot of inbound loads (mostly caarbon black) and sent out a lot of tires. They were served just about every weekday, as it was a big facility.

Again, I appreciate everybody's comments, and yes, I do plan on making it sectional- since I'm using castoff hollow-core doors from my house remodeling, I have ready-made sections

 

I happily accept! Anyplace I can get ideas of how prototype arrangements are done is a plus for me. Now all I gotta do is run it by the missus and nail down a weekend (preferrably not when the Hogs are playing at home in Fayetteville).