I thought I posted this previously, I guess not. I see what you are going for. I can easily let the Paper Supply Company run straight, or curve it to parallel the 410 series industries. The new challenge becomes what I am doing with 26th Street. I could run it across the passing siding, or I could cut it over to meet Southwest Boulevard as it would do. I could also do it at a much sharper angle, so the bend in the road is less like an intersection. I think it is close to something I can work with, though. Would just be a matter of clearing the space so I can actually build it.
I like this alignment. I think I would leave Paper Supply Company as a straight track and the 410 series curving off. The differing angle will give more variety and depth to your layout. As for 26th Street, curving it around toward Southwest Boulevard would be more prototypical. I think running it straight across would leave more room for a building for Roberts Furniture.
Given the odd angles of a few industries, especially around the Paper Supply Company, I think I can take a liberty on Roberts Furniture and make it a non-square building. With the Paper Supply Company flipped, I can run 29th Street and 30th Street as one piece right where 29th Street is supposed to be. 30th Street terminated at the paper company spur, so it works out. The tracks for the lead from Zone 3 are still visible today, though it's a gravel lot instead of paved. The only significant questions left are: How much of this route was considered street running, with the rail in the road? Is the R Track at Funkhouser (474) inside the warehouse, or a particular type of loading dock? I have added in preliminary split lines for breaking up the bench into manageable pieces for when I need to move it. They also help in keeping Tortoise switch machines away from any supports so they have room for easy installation.
I like this setup. Good idea thinking ahead on fitting your support structure around your switch machines. It is worth while to also draw in your intermediate bracing with the frame before construction. I have a separate file of my track plan that I figure all of my bench work in before I build it. Also keep in mind that you will want to leave the area under the frogs open to run a feeder wire down for power routing the frog. As for street running, it has been a while since I did my deep dive on this area, but I do not recall any indication of paved street running. It is hard to tell in the old grainy black and white photographs.
I have access to a free 3D parametric modeling software, so I am going to design up the bench in that. Possibly see if I can get a to-scale image out of AnyRail and overlay it on the model. Should be easy to preplan the ribs if I can. Worst case, I need to run long lengths of wire off the frog to avoid the ribs. Better that than trying to do remote throws. If I think I need it, it should not be too hard to add a fold-out extension to the right side lead. Are there more recommendations for reference material on Kansas City? I see in the bibliography thread that I need to pick up a copy of Railroads of Kansas City. The web site Railroad Picture Archives did not have much. I suspect archives for Kansas City might have something, but that is a shot in the dark.
If you do not already have Tortoises for your layout, may I recommend MTB MP-1 Switch Motors? I can sell you them for a lot less than Tortoises. I would charge you $11.00 each plus shipping to you. They operate on 12 vdc and can be controlled with single pole double throw (SPDT) toggle switches, or any device that can provide a ground to one of two terminals. They are not stall motor machines. They have internal limit switches for the motor. Motion is linear side to side and throw can be adjusted to 3mm, 6mm, or 9mm. Please see the attached photograph.
I would have to start with one and mess with it. I do not have any tortoises on hand, but I do have a working familiarity with them. The big issue with tortoises and hand laid switches I have noticed is the switches tend to have a bit more resistance to them on average, so I have to increase the wire size for the throw rod. Could be a construction error, but they definitely need more effort than Atlas snap switches.
Try a little lubricant on the bottom and sides of the throw rod. This will help too if you plan on ballasting turnout throw rods to keep them from sticking.
I will talk to our switch builder about it. I know a couple of the switches are currently held down too tightly due to having the wrong size track spikes. Once I get the Tortoise set up with the thicker throw rod, it works like a charm.
