Building the Beer Line in N Scale

[nscalemike]

Dave,

First, let me just say I don't know much about the Beer Line, except the articles in MR several years back.  However,  I think you are on a great track to bringing this line to life!  I don't think you will find it is too much to handle, as although the plan "looks big" over half of it is just single track loop.  No switches, no spurs = easy maintance, low cost, quick construction.  I think you could put that single line on a 10" shelf around the wall, have your workbench underneath it with no problems, and it'll give yourself some nice continuous run.  I say 10" because that will still give you an opportunity to put some basic right of way scenery on there, maybe even throw in an extra spur or two down the road if you feel the need.

My suggestions as far as the modeled line areas would be to keep the long wall around 18" in depth.  You might have to cut off the corners of some of the foreground buildings and maybe move the spur on the right end back towards the main a little, but it'll be easier to reach in that way.  I love the way you have that center pennisula and wouldn't change that at all.  Also, as far as the yard, unless you need the ladder to start that close to the industrial area I would shift the yard to the lower right corner, start one ladder just past the doorway, curve all yard tracks, then have the second ladder in the center of the short wall.  That will give you a bit of a run to the switching area and some seperation between the two areas. 

This looks fun and I'm going to be interested in watching it progress along!

Mike

[Ali Kenneth]

Dave,

If you even vaguely do justice to the articles in MR and the Milwaukee Historical Society book about the Beer Line, which i would heartily recommend to anybody with an interest in switching, then i will be in awe of what you produce. I would love to make an approximation of part of the Beer Line so i am really looking forward to your model.

Good Luck,

Alasdair

[Dave Schneider]

Thanks for the support and comments everyone. I have changed the plan around tonight, basically eliminating Gibson Yard, adding the E.R. Godfrey warehouse (which I really like as described in another thread of mine https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=25002.0), and laying out the staging on the left side. My work area would fit well under the staging, and it can serve the same purpose as Gibson. There is still some nice space in the middle for future expansion like the Schlitz elevator (http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll290/djs_ank_ak/Dorn_Aerials/Image22.jpg).

 

I think that I am on the right track with this iteration but would still welcome ideas and suggestions.

Best wishes, Dave

[mcjaco]

Looks yummy to me!

[DKS]

2nd layer, maybe? A shallow one just to hold the staging, so you can model more scenes up top.

[Dave Schneider]

Thanks for the suggestion David. At this point, I was thinking about simple construction with no grades. I plan on scratch building most of the structures, so I should have enough to keep me busy for a while! Here is the latest version of the plan.



The main change is to include Humboldt Yard in the upper left. This is one of my favorite scenes on the entire Beer Line. I needed to reverse some of the features, but I managed to include the engine service tracks where the transfer power laid over, the North Avenue bridge, and the stub ended yard tracks for pipe load into the Milwaukee Road peak-boo gondolas. Plus I have a place for the Walthers Yard Office....I mean it is one of the things that they actually make in N scale, so I need to use it. There is a place for Tews Cement on the other side of the bridge.

Humboldt Yard


The other end of the yard will be Gibson, even though it is in the wrong place relative to ER Godfrey. I needed a place to put my Gibson Yard office. I have only built about 5 square inches of Beer Line structures to date and don't want any to go to waste! I added a place to park a switcher at this end of the yard as well.



Across the lift out section for the door I dedicated a small space for a track scale. I had the track work custom built and have been trying to find a place for it. It should make for a nice little scene.



I do have some concerns about whether the curves in the yard are too tight. They range from 15-22.5 inch radius. I will mostly be pulling cuts of cars from transfer runs here, rather than running a full-blown classification yard. Any thoughts on this?

Just a couple of other small changes from the previous plan to improve operations. I added a longer run-around track at ER Godfrey. This will be a busy place to switch and I think it needed this longer track. I also changed some of the Snake Track layout to include a very cool curved track and building (Ben-Hur/Kelvinator appliances). There is some very interesting buildings along this stretch.

The Snake Track


Best wishes, Dave

[DKS]

Does this orientation of things offer any advantages? Offhand, the one I see (which may be trivial) is the geometry of Humboldt Yard (top right corner).

[Dave Schneider]

David,

While that orientation does put Humboldt in the proper orientation, it puts it in the wrong place relative to the "Switching District" and the Snake Track. It might work if I flipped everything else as well, but that might lead to some visual dyslexia.  I do like what you have done with curves in the yard. I think that mine are too severe for good performance.

Also. I didn't mean to dismiss your suggestion of a second layer out of hand.  I was tired last night from 2 hours of snow removal after work and was probably too abrupt. My thoughts on benchwork are to build it as modules that can be more easily moved if need be in the future. I will lay track and scenery across the joints, and cut it later if needed. I'm sure I could figure out the benchwork for grades and another layer, but at the same time I am trying to limit what I model to something that is manageable.

Best wishes, Dave

[SAH]

My thoughts on benchwork are to build it as modules that can be more easily moved if need be in the future. I will lay track and scenery across the joints, and cut it later if needed. I'm sure I could figure out the benchwork for grades and another layer, but at the same time I am trying to limit what I model to something that is manageable.

Best wishes, Dave

I really like the concept Dave and whole-heartedly agree with your approach.  My Spencer section has have moved 4 times and still works great.  Once you get some of those signature buildings and scenes complete I'll bet you'll not want to part with them.  Keeping everything managable makes it work.  Looking forward to further updates.

Steve

[Dave Schneider]

Sorry to keep inflicting my track planning ideas on everyone, but this is plan at present. I added Gibson Yard back into the mix on the right side. Transfer trains will leave staging on the left, drops cars for the switching district by Gibson and then reenter staging/Humboldt Yard on the left. The scale track has been relocated back near its actual location at Gibson (shown by the cyan track).  I also skewed the area where the Snake Track connects, to break up the long tangent section. E.R. Goidfrey has moved into the proper position relative to Gibson Yard. A cassette on the left side will allow for the Chicago & Northwestern to also switch it. These are the opposite sides from the prototype, but an acceptable compromise.



I have reworked the Snake Track to include at the large Steinman lumber yard. The curved building is Ben-Hur appliance manufacturer.



Here is Ben-Hur and Inland Container from Bing Maps.



I played around today with bench height by just laying out some foam. Yes, I will use wood for the benchwork. I will probably go with a rail height 50-52 inches above the floor. Here is the section where the snake track will depart.




Best wishes, Dave

[GaryHinshaw]

Dave, the plan looks neat.  A few questions:

* Do you plan to operate solo, or do you know some folks in town to staff a crew?  It looks like there could be plenty of work for 2-3 operators.

* Are the photos reproduced at 1:1 or have they been compressed somewhat to fit? They seem to capture the heft of the prototype quite well.

Cheers,
Gary

[Dave Schneider]

Hi Gary,

I will probably "operate" on my own...most of my modeling friends only exist on the Internet!
There will be a beer fridge and a flat screen on the wall....my son commented that he may never see me again. Packer fans are always welcome.

My interests are largely in building accurate structures and freight cars. Operations will follow the prototype, but I am not a hard core operator at present.
The photos are mostly 1:1, although Inland Container shrunk a bit. For better or worse I am a rather rigid thinker, but I have overcome some of that by rearranging design elements into new places. As wise person once said you are building a railroad, not a museum exhibit on which there will be a test later. Who was that guy???

Here are a couple more bits of the layout for those who like this sort of thing.

The "Lower Gibson" industries. These have all been moved around to fit...I am so proud of myself.



A: Admiral appliance warehouse. Love this photo and the Admiral sign.



B. Ma Baensch Spiced Herring and Potato salad. I mean who could resist building this place? Still going strong to today.





C. Metal Forms. These are the guys that invented the metal forms used to form curbs. Still in business in the same place along the Beer Line (trail).



D. White Pearl Macaroni. Another very cool angled building with silos. Received flour in Airslides, which I also like.



Overall, a nice variety of car types.

Best wishes, Dave

[packers#1]

Hi Gary,

I will probably "operate" on my own...most of my modeling friends only exist on the Internet!
There will be a beer fridge and a flat screen on the wall....my son commented that he may never see me again. Packer fans are always welcome.

The Beer Line and Packers? heck yeah man!
I'm really enjoying watching this thread come along. My own switcher, coupled with you thread here and the ER Godfrey thread and MR's project layout, are skewing me towards a Beer Line bias. Keep the updates rollin man!

[MVW]

Wow! You're gonna have some fun modeling those industries. That Baersch structure would look fantastic on a layout.

Great research, and thanks for bringing us along for the ride.

Jim

[chuck geiger]

Dave - How did you imply aerial pics into the track plan? Googlinsky?