The Transcontinental PRR

[GaryHinshaw]

I think I missed the story line where the western leg is the former SN.  What a concept though: the stalwart of the east joins with the Podunk of the west.   How about going for complete symmetry: model the SN branch into Pittsburg CA.  The Transcon PRR joins Pittsburgh and Pittsburg, steelmakers east and west, with a steel connection.

[seusscaboose]

Not sure I quite get what's starting, but 

I feel like the upper level is a little short on work for the local.

Sometimes it is ok to have some jobs that are simpler than others...  those jobs can be assigned to newer, inexperienced crews, while others tricks can be given to crews more familiar with the pike.

in my limited experience, it has been very good to have a job or two for learning purposes.

also, you can add an industy there in the future if you need it...

my 2 cents

EP

[eric220]

I think I missed the story line where the western leg is the former SN.  What a concept though: the stalwart of the east joins with the Podunk of the west.   How about going for complete symmetry: model the SN branch into Pittsburg CA.  The Transcon PRR joins Pittsburgh and Pittsburg, steelmakers east and west, with a steel connection.

I forget at the moment whether it was the SN or the OA&E when the PRR took over, but yes, that's the route that my PRR takes from Sacto to the Bay Area. The irony of modeling a steel mill in Pittsburg, CA on the PRR did not escape my notice.  In the end, I think that the area is way to small to do a steel mill justice.

Sometimes it is ok to have some jobs that are simpler than others...  those jobs can be assigned to newer, inexperienced crews, while others tricks can be given to crews more familiar with the pike.

in my limited experience, it has been very good to have a job or two for learning purposes.

also, you can add an industy there in the future if you need it...

my 2 cents

EP

That's an interesting point that I hadn't thought about.  I might be able to accomplish the same thing by breaking up the local jobs.  I had planned to have one on the lower level and one on the upper level.  I could break the jobs in half to make them simpler for learning purposes.

[eric220]

A couple questions, do you have a complete trackplan somewhere?  I tried looking through the older posts and your website but didnt see any.  Also, on your website (which looks very professional) your system map has a blue line running through Illinois, what is that representing for you?  My CN line is going to be set in the same general area.

Mike, that blue line represents trackage rights over the CN.  There's another one running from Ottowa to Motreal.  BTW, thanks for asking that.  The pdf that you get when you click on the map is WAY outdated.  I need to hunt down the current one and get it up there...

Here's the current iteration of the track plan:

Lower level:   Upper level:

[wm3798]

Oh sure Eric (P)... "Here ya go, new guy... you can run this local out to Tucker!"   

BWahahaha!!!

[S Class]

So, question.  In the next expansion east, the mainline is going to swing out to make room for the loop around the end of the peninsula.  This leaves a pretty big void in the scenery (as a reminder, the grid is 24"):



This area begs for an industry of some kind. It will be set in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Any though

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=38.031749,-121.934402&hl=en&ll=38.031749,-121.932364&spn=0.007944,0.009098&sll=38.031563,-121.934788&sspn=0.007944,0.013186&vpsrc=0&t=h&z=17

http://maps.google.com.au/maps?q=38.028949,+-121.944476&hl=en&sll=-25.335448,135.745076&sspn=42.669037,79.013672&vpsrc=0&t=h&z=16

To the west on the map is a company called criterion catalyst if you're still unsure of the turnaround that looks like it could be a decent industry.

Warehouses, abandoned and lifted track, about 4 spurs of differing length and a buttload of covered hoppers, maybe throw in some tank cars and change it from a chemical to a plastics company so you can add box cars on the old warehouse spur.
Looks like it has potential.

[eric220]

So here's what I'm thinking for the CA industry:



It could be either a port or a sugar refinery, depending on how I build it. I'm actually starting to think that it will be a mix of the two. Who's to say that if there was already a port there, C&H wouldn't have decided to build its refinery attached to it? Either way, I can build the track now and decide what the industry will be later.  I've included an interchange as well, which is represented by a turnout off of the mains and the SP/ATSF crossing over the mains.  SP/ATSF access would be via trackage rights over the PRR.

[seusscaboose]

nice!

[eric220]

One of the Gandy Dancers suggested direct offloading from ship to rail, and the more I thought about it, the more it made sense.  After kicking the design around a bit, I came up with this:



While I was up, I added a little more detail.  The two main structures can be built out of Walthers Modulars.  The two gray boxes on the dock are MP gantry cranes.  These particular pigs will require quite a lot of lipstick, but they're almost perfect for the application.

Don't know if I ever mentioned it, but the ship is a Sylvan Models Laker Class Ocean Freighter.

[Bob Bufkin]

Looks good Eric.  You ever think about a facility for loading California produce into reefers or trailers?  Seems like a typical CA industry to me.

[eric220]

Bob, the area of CA that I have in mind here is very specific.  There may have been fruit packing plants in northern Contra Costa County, but I'm not familiar with any.  I think I like what I'm on to here.

I got a little Gandy Dancing in tonight.  We pushed the ROW east, and have now covered over 1,000 miles of the prototype!  With benchwork around the end of the peninsula, the ROW has officially entered Colorado.



This area will be the port/sugar refinery that I've been discussing.



And this is the Snake River Valley in Colorado.



See Lee, I told you I was going to get to cookie-cutter!

I also put in some work this afternoon coming up with landforms for the Snake River Valley.  This is just a rough-in, but is conveys the idea.

[Guilford Guy]

Eric, are you entirely sold on location of the ore ship and industry in the California section? I'd be tempted to put the industries against the backdrop, and pull the ship loading scene between them and the mainline. It would also allow you to add some type of bridge scene to facilitate the ships entering and leaving, as well as some potential causeway/low wood trestle running. To play devil's advocate, a potential downside is having the boat squished into the scene, though, If you were to push the industry backwards, you could probably shave off a good deal of it, which takes up a lot of space to begin with.

[eric220]

Eric, are you entirely sold on location of the ore ship and industry in the California section? I'd be tempted to put the industries against the backdrop, and pull the ship loading scene between them and the mainline. It would also allow you to add some type of bridge scene to facilitate the ships entering and leaving, as well as some potential causeway/low wood trestle running. To play devil's advocate, a potential downside is having the boat squished into the scene, though, If you were to push the industry backwards, you could probably shave off a good deal of it, which takes up a lot of space to begin with.

Quick clarification: The ship is not an ore ship; it's general cargo, including cane sugar from Hawaii.

Convoluted answer: No, I am nowhere near casting the arrangement in stone.  The route of the mains and the area that they encircle are now cast in plywood, but that can be changed if I really want to.  The design that I've presented is more of an refined sketch.

Having said that, as much as I'd love to make the ship more visible (maybe I should hold off on saying that until I actually build it), I think I'm still inclined to leave it in the back.  The arrangement as I have it is similar to what you'd normally see from the railroad tracks.  The trains are in the front; the ship is in the back on the water; the buildings/docks are between.  Also, if I pull the ship forward and put industry behind, I have to make the water channel so narrow that I'd worry about the believability of having ocean-going vessels enter it.  If the ship in the back, it's implied that everything is simply along the shore of the river.  Also, if the industry is in the back, that's where the tracks would want to go.  Like you said, that requires a bridge, and also moves the working tracks farther back.  It also potentially puts the working tracks behind the ship, which is going to be somewhat tall and covered in superstructure, including deck cranes.

[3DTrains]

Hi Eric,

The CA industry could represent the Railex produce facility in Delano, California. This would allow the use of the new BLMA or ExactRail ARMN reefers for a "Fruit Bowl Express" eastbound move.

[John]

One possibility is to use a "ship" backdrop .. and expand the harbor facilities more ..  IIRC .. Bernie K used a backdrop for his harbor modules and it seemed to work well ..