Next Challenge... Big Pool to Cherry Run

[wm3798]

I do post a lot of photos, you know... A little product placement might be just the kind of promotion you could use!  I'll have my people call your people...

Lee

[DKS]

With that in mind, do you think there are any alternatives on the peninsula?  I mean, what if we started with a clean slate altogether?

I sort of did that, just preserving the concept of the two subs criss-crossing. Curves can be tightned for sure, there are lots of grade involved (look at what's required to get from the Thomas Sub to Cherry Run and back to MY, where they split on the peninsula). I also didn't leave out the mine or any other sidings deliberately. That was part of the "clean slate": I was just trying to get the basics of the traffic flow down. It sounds like I sort of got that, maybe. Once the mains and subs are connected in a logical manner, I think from there it's just down to tweaking and cramming the stuff back in that's missing.

but there can't be that much track

When you look at what's there, I don't think I've added all that much. Instead of the Thomas sub connecting back to MY for continuous running from the mine area, I backed it up to the end of the peninsula to make the grades a bit easier to manage, and eliminate a hidden turnout (I know I've got one, too, but it's actually a dummy and can be omitted if a crossover is added just before the split off to Elkins yard). I think things look kind of massive and overly-streamlined mostly because I did not draw stuff strictly to scale; again, I'm just trying to establish basic ideas and the logical flow.

[DKS]

Place this where the roundy-round cutoff crosses the B&O and the river, to the left of Manor Mine?



Also, the siding at Bayard could curve around and connect to the B&O instead of the cutoff...

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I've been following this but not saying anything (since I think it's all staging anyway...), but I don't see how you're going to get more than 2 people in the room now.

[wm3798]

I like.  The only thing I would address aesthetically would be the Malcolm Furlow bridges at the end of the peninsula.  I'd move the CNL sub crossing out from under the Thos. Sub, and move it out toward the aisle, move the Thos. Sub river crossing farther east into the curve, and have both lines enter tunnels before it's too obvious that there's a crossing maneuver going on.

Nice idea with the roundy roundy bridge, but it would be more appropriately a single tracker.  I may end up using the double track bridge on the CNL river crossing as a faux Keystone viaduct... single track on a double track bridge and all that...


If only I had enough room to put the B&O staging underneath it!

One other tiny note... between the cut off to Vindex and the end of double track going west, there should be a track for empty car storage.  The engine based at Vindex (my trusty little shay!) will do all the back and forth between Chaffee and Manor Mine, so there needs to a spot for set outs.

Oh, and Ed, don't worry.  I'll be distributing literature about Weight Watchers before our next ops session... 

Now, dare I say it... I could extend the Thos. Sub under Hagerstown, then run it through the closet! to a more fully functional Thomas Sub and Elkins in the next room.

Lee

[DKS]

[img width= height=]http://lh5.ggpht.com/_F9IuZckKa2c/SagTZytt4CI/AAAAAAAAHpM/BC45Znjhgho/s800/cherry_run3.jpg[/img]

One other tiny note... between the cut off to Vindex and the end of double track going west, there should be a track for empty car storage.  The engine based at Vindex (my trusty little shay!) will do all the back and forth between Chaffee and Manor Mine, so there needs to a spot for set outs.

You may need to scribble this in, as I can't quite envision it.

[wm3798]

Like yay...


Lee

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Nope. There's no head room for something coming off the branch, you'd want the siding to roughly centered on the switch to the branch.

Dammit, this is how I get sucked in...

[DKS]

Nope. There's no head room for something coming off the branch, you'd want the siding to roughly centered on the switch to the branch.

Funny, I was just drawing it up to compensate.

[DKS]

[wm3798]

Nope... what I drew is more or less the prototype arrangement.  Due to the grades, you can't move more than 5 cars at a time.  Since this comes off of the Thomas Sub, there isn't as much overhead traffic to be in the way.  As long as the switcher has a few minutes to make his moves, he's fine.  The shorter siding only needs to hold 10 cars.  Any excess can be held at Vindex.

Besides, I don't want it to look like there's a triple track main through here...

Lee

[DKS]

Revised existing image posted previously. Also added a tad more aisle space by Cherry Run, just in case anyone gains weight...

[wm3798]

Nicely played.  Of course the deck under Cherry Run is going to be somewhat shaped by the staging loop underneath it...  Probably not by more than a few inches, though.

Lee

[Ed Kapuscinski]

So the Chaffee job doesn't need headroom on the siding? Cool. Just keep in mind, while the PROTO might not have been that busy there, I'd say your layout is actually busier than the real thing (just because of the shorter distances, etc...).

[DKS]

So the Chaffee job doesn't need headroom on the siding? Cool. Just keep in mind, while the PROTO might not have been that busy there, I'd say your layout is actually busier than the real thing (just because of the shorter distances, etc...).

I don't see the problem. You've got a long passing siding there; even if a Chaffee job is headed onto the main, mainline traffic can still get by, right? The only time there would be a problem is if there was an eastbound and a westbound passing through Chaffee at the same time the Chaffee job is doing his thing...