AT&N: Modern-Era Layout

I think you may have missed a few things. (A closer look...) The AT&N comes into Aliceville (top center) from the "south" (top left) to the "X" or diamond at Aliceville. The Alabama Gulf Coast RR [AGR] (former Frisco - Remember, it's a fantasy, "modern era," AT&N layout) comes in from the "northwest" (top right) to the "X" or diamond. Both lines have "S-curves" so that they cross at the diamond at Aliceville. The SE interchange (below the diamond) never existed, but I thought, "Why not?" It's a little hard to see in the image, but there IS a tower or station at the diamond in Aliceville. As for the Pensacola line looking like a stub... I could have used another S-curve (and still may) to make the Pensacola track end at the inner edge of the layout. My reason for not running a track "off the layout" was due to my fear of equipment running/rolling off the end of the track and falling 36" to it's death via an impact with a concrete floor... but like I said, I may still have that line run off the layout. I'd just have to be very careful. I could attach a piece of plexiglass to the edge of layout at the end of the track (or all the way around for that matter) for a little peace of mind. After a little more time to think about it, I'm leaning more toward placing "Sulligent" in the pulpwood yard since I want the cotton oil building to be the centerpiece of the layout and the pulpwood yard operated right next to the cotton oil building up until the mid 90's. Moving Sulligent would elimate the need for a scenic divide in the Mobile Yard. This would also allow the yard to be at the edge of the layout which would add 12" more inches to the loop. In the prototype world, Sulligent would really be off-layout but I spent 40+ hours tediously scratch building the cotton oil building. After the blood (exacto knife incident), no sweat, and tears I went through to build it, I want to display it somewhere. I appreciate all the input I've recieved. I'm a teacher so I'm hoping I can make some progress over the holidays. - Brandon

 

As you flange-up your plan, you may find this publication useful. Many in the model railroading community consider John Armstrong to be one of the best subject matter experts on the topic of layout design. It is well worth the price.


http://www.kalmbachstore.com/12148.html

 

John Armstrong was a subject matter expert. He also wrote this:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Railroad-What-It-Does/dp/0911382046

This should be required reading for anyone interested in railroad operation, both prototype and model.

( I was loaned my first copy in 1989 while participating in a mentorship program with Mark Kotter, who was the BN's division superintendent based in Springfield ).

Paul

 

A little more "tweaking" done tonight thanks to some of the most recent suggestions on this thread. If I name names, I'll forget someone. Click on the image to enlarge.


I expanded the layout all the way to the lower edge. I could have completely filled everthing below the access opening with yard trackage but I wanted to leave room for industries. Viewers will view the layout from the left end. For that reason, my Sulligent Cotton Oil Co. building is the centerpiece (as I wanted it to be) and it is large enough to "hide" the end of the Blakely Island / Alabama State Docks track. The spur infront of the SCOC building is of course now BNSF trackage (please hold your applause until the end [sarcasm]). I managed to do a little better with the wye at Reform. By moving Aliceville to the left, I can get a train on the Pensacola branch of the AGR by first pulling up toward Columbus on the AGR, then throwing a switch and backing through the diamond. Then another train can pull up into the Columbus branch of the AGR to leave cars on the interchange for the AT&N "Mobile/Reform" daily local. Speaking of the Pensacola branch... I replaced the switch and the "East Aliceville Interchange" with another diamond and a simple "Aliceville Industrial Park Spur." The AGR now "extends (SE-NW) beyond the layout" if you will, in each direction from Aliceville. Also, the ABS (formerly GM&O) at Reform heads "WNW" off the layout toward Columbus. The left leg of the AT&N/ABS interchange switch at the wye is also "off layout."

To my knowlegde, the Cochrane Bridge pivoted on a center support to allow Tombigbee River traffic to pass. 5-10 years after a vessel struck and collasped the bridge and the SLSF re-routed traffic from Aliceville to York via Kimbrough, the Tenn-Tom waterway was built. My Cochrane Bridge would span the waterway. Is there a draw bridge that lifts up (or any other idea) to keep me from having a "duck under." My knees already don't like concrete.

The best news of the day for me is that there are 4 long spurs and 2 short spurs. With a loop train and blocks, there is potentially room for 7-10 individual trains on the layout without having to switch out any equipment. That is AWESOME to me. I hate railing trains. I'd much rather rail them once then have them "holding" in a block / ready to roll out at a moments notice.

I also replaced all of the Atlas snap track turnouts with #6's so that my SD40-2 and 4-8-2 wouldn't have any problems negotiating any turns. All curves are 18" radius track.

Your feedback is not only appreciated, but desired. I don't want to make mistakes I can avoid. - Brandon

 

Yet still more track plan tweaking tonight. One reason: I thought it would be best if the turnouts were aligned "straight" for the mainline instead of using the turnouts for the loop. I thought that would lessen problems later on. The AT&N began at the Reform wye (top right corner) with the GM&O (now the Alabama Southern RR). From there it wound up intersecting & interchanging with the Frisco (now Alabama & Gulf Coast Railway) at Aliceville. I've moved Alicville to the top left corner. This allowed me to "declutter" the layout a bit and design a longer interchange track between the AT&N & the AGR. It also moved Aliceville closer to the Cochrane Bridge which is more prototypical. The AGR mainline is purely there for looks. I'm still looking for a way to incorporate the 24" longs Cochrane Bridge without having a duck under. Any suggestions would be appreciated. From there, the AT&N enters Mobile and Mobile Yard. With the AGR interchange, the short ABS interchange (at the wye), and the 2 yard tracks, there is potential for 4 trains and a "work" train on the layout simultaneously. The #6 turnout at the bottom left into Mobile Yard is the only turnout I don't already own. All I have to buy (that i don't already have) are the #6 left turnout and the 90 degree crossing for Aliceville. I'm leaning toward a road around the center (similar to the road on my current layout) with room for businesses between the AT&N and the highway. It's still going to be way too "ovalish" for some people's taste but I'm trying to maximize the ammount of mainline, maximize the number and lenghth of storage tracks, and clean up the mainline/loop as much as possible. More on this later. - Brandon

 

I've been so busy trying to finish another project in time for Christmas that I haven't had any time for MMRing lately. However, the delay has given me more time to think about track planning. I sat down late last night and came up with another track plan. While it's more or less just an oval, there is enough switching/operating to be done to keep me interested longer than the last layout, plus the oval maximizes track length in my limited space. Besides, for me, it's more about the construction and scenery than it is about the operation. I moved Reform, AL off-layout in order to incorporate Sulligent, AL better and create a smooth interchange at Aliceville, AL. It also features a double track for holding trains at Mobile, AL as well as the ferry slip at Mobile. Cochrane Bridge will be a swing bridge. I hope to get the other project done shortly and get back to MRRing soon. - Brandon
P.S.- The lead track will NOT be open on each end. I only use "mirror" turnouts with the Right Track software to keep double track perfectly parallel.

 

Another video of my layout before I dismantle it to change track plans.



The RS-1 I bought from Keith Robinson is a real smooth-running work horse. Also in the video are my SD40-2 hauling a local & my 0-6-0 in excursion service.

 

I'm looking very forward to the new track plan. Very soon, I'm planning on setting all of the structures aside, salvaging as much track as possible, and dismantling the existing benchwork. The only thing I plan to leave is the back drop. The new layout will be 8 inches higher (48" clearance from the floor) so that I can duck under without crawling under any more. My knees were glad to hear that. Also, the duck-under will be just wide enough to fit a #6 left turnout whereas the existing crawl-under is 24 inches deep. I elected for that plan in order to avoid the hassle of a lift-out section and to keep the duck-under as small as possible. Some of my recent plans included Mobile, Aliceville, and Sulligent. I decided that was simply too much for my small space. My latest track plan is actually an older idea of mine that I decided would (1) suit my small space, (2) suit my desire to have my hometown featured on the layout, and (3) have a small yard for switching. The new layout is going to be a theoretical extention of the modern-era, fully restored AT&N from its former real-life end at Reform, AL, on northward to a connection with the BNSF at Sulligent, AL. I will have an interchange with the Alabama Southern (former GM&O) at Reform (incorporating the old AT&N wye and depot). From there, the northern extention of the AT&N will cross over the ABS and continue to the Sulligent yard/BNSF interchange. Basically it's going to be an oval with sidings but at least the sidings will offer some switching. Running multiple trains simultaneously and keeping them running wasn't all it was cracked up to be. The new plan will allow me to have up to 4 trains on the layout... 1 on the main, 1 on the Reform interchange, and 2 in the Sulligent yard. In this image, Reform is at the top where L to R is South to North. At the bottom right, the AT&N enters the Sulligent yard. In this image, the bottom right is the west end of Sulligent and the bottom left is the east end. The duck-under will be trimmed to fit the turnout. I'll be so glad when I can get started.

 

I suppose one can never have enough layout space so I spent most of this past Saturday moving things around in the storage building / train room to make more room for a larger layout. The additional space will take me from 8 ft x 64 inches to about 12 feet x 64 inches. The old layout is only 36 inches off the floor. When I built it, my kids were shorter and I thought I would be sitting on a stool most of the time. Instead, I wound up mostly standing. I ran some test to see how low I can duck while bending over at the waste. I determined that the new layout needs to be 48 inches off the floor to keep the duck under from being another crawl under. I will have to taper one corner so that the door can swing. With four additional feet on each side, I was able to play with the track plan a little more. I read some tips somewhere online to use scenery to divide the layout into scenes in order to get a feel for trains leaving one scene/town and arriving at another rather than it feeling like trains are simply running a loop around one big scene/town. Since I wanted two scenes (Sulligent and Reform), I did my best to separate the two towns but I'm open to suggestions & ideas that are better. I really like the idea of the rural, country farm so I thought I would use it to separate the towns and hide the track somewhat. I tried using more switches and industrial sidings but I wasn't satisfied with the overall look. I decided instead to put industries along the mainline. I still have to dismantle the old layout. I saved my Right Track Software design as a Bitmap and opened it in MS Paint to add some scenery and labels. I then had to save the MS paint file as a GIF for uploading to frisco.org. Here's the result of the latest plan. I almost forgot... The loop is the AT&N extention from Reform to Sulligent and the horizontal track through Sulligent is the BNSF. Through Reform, R to L is "north." Through Sulligent, L is west (RR north) and R is east (RR south)- Brandon

 

That's a great idea, Karl! I'm moving the mainline at Reform, 3 inches toward the center of the layout by removing the 3" inches of straight track in the middle of each curve and adding 3 inches of straight track on the west side of the diamond. Giving up a street for real estate was a great idea, especially since I won't actually be using that turnout at Reform for anything other than scenery. Thanks.

- Brandon

 

Keith Robison is @klrwhizkid; not I.

 

I knew that. Not sure what I was thinking. Sorry, Karl. Sorry, Keith. If you're like me, both of you have probably been called much worse.

- Brandon

 

Similar plan but with the mainline at Reform, AL moved 3 inches closer to the center of the layout per Keith Robinson's suggestion. I like this better. I attempted to create a slightly more centralized footprint for each town to further divide the layout into 3 scenes: Reform / Rural Country Farm / Sulligent.

 

• "Or, at least a run-around track for Reform if there's to be any switching there."
  ​
  
  
  
  
• "It's a shame you don't have that wye at the AT&N depot functional."
  
  ​
  
  
  

Both are good ideas. A run-around track at Reform and a fuctioning wye are both ideas that I have toyed with. The run-around would be very do-able. A few of my plans included one. If I put one in, it will be north of the diamond to leave everything south of the diamond as original/prototypical as possible. Right now my biggest decision is whether to
1. put in the old wye south of the diamond and re-route the left leg back straight to the diamond - or -
2. to simply forget the left leg and use a simple right turnout - or -
3. to use a right turnout and a left turnout to do an offset wye - or -
4. to use a 3-way turnout to have both of the original legs of the wye with an added straight option for the fictional line to Sulligent.
As for the wye being funtional, I've tried about 100 different plans, some with the right leg turning a corner of the layout, but I never was satisfied. I like Reform centered on that 12' span of the layout but there simply isn't room to have everything I want. I'm ok with sacrificing the functionality of the interchange a little for the sake of having Reform where I want it.

- Brandon

 

Actually the wye would come off the siding, coming straight over to Reform. Course that would close the center, It is as some have said a really nice plan. More a choice of what you want out of it. I closed more of my standing room, for more layout. Generally, I am the only person around, mine is not a operating layout.