Allegheny Eastern: Clean Slate

[wazzou]

It's not a crossing--as noted previously, one track rises up over the other, based on this prototype industry:

Sorry, there wasn't a lot of space between the images, or enough for me to notice the wedged in text describing the sidings.  I've got it now. 

[DKS]

I think it's pretty close...

Watch the angle of the turns--they were originally plotted around 90-degree intersections (the red L is 90 degrees for reference). You may have wanted them to be angled, but I think they work better squared. Also, watch the radius of the curve circled in blue; it looks really tight, and it can be a lot broader.

[kelticsylk]

Watch the angle of the turns--they were originally plotted around 90-degree intersections (the red L is 90 degrees for reference). You may have wanted them to be angled, but I think they work better squared. Also, watch the radius of the curve circled in blue; it looks really tight, and it can be a lot broader.

Hadn't quite got it right when I posted. Here is the latest version based on your plan...


I never realized how undersized most of the commercial models are. Started looking at my Sanborn maps again and taking dimensions. Trying to use more realistic buildings, not the ones supplied in the software. The grain elevator in Owertown is a ADM kit from the structure library. It looks miniscule.

[DKS]

Looks good. Glad you like my sketch.

...how undersized most of the commercial models are.

You got that right.

[kelticsylk]

Overkill...


I started making my own "symbols" based on dimensions from the Sanford maps. The homes shown are typical of the street I lived on I Philly. Many towns in the northeast are crowded with rowhomes with stores in the corner houses. The backs of the houses face each other across alleys where the garage is located under the home.

Since the houses are two story with basements I thought a few blocks of them might make a great view block. They might be built a block at a time. Because each building is basically the same only the colors and details (awnings, etc) would change.

Drawing this much detail is killing my computer so I stopped. I'm using multiple overlapping shapes to form each item so the refresh time lags quite a bit. If I can figure out how the parameter files are created I can use less memory. That might improve things.

Not sure I could actually model this sort of thing. Just playing with the software.

[kelticsylk]

Operating the Track Plan 4: Quotidian

The virtual operating sessions have continued to affect the design. Likewise the input from the gang over at Railwire. The Catausqua style crossing through the four track main is gone. Believe it or not, the biggest issue was not the crossing itself. The location of the crossing created operating problems for trains coming into the yard. Going out of the yard there was also a huge problem. The AE had to climb 3" to pass over the main after leaving the crossings. Trains headed east would have had to battle a 4% grade to get to Owertown. The grade doesn't affect the virtual trains, but real life N scale engines would be hard pressed to pull anything up that slope, if at all. With the track realligned the grade is now less than 1%, definitely more reasonable. The ruling grade on the Average Eastern is now a 2% climb heading westbound out of East End...

Average Eastern February 24, 2014

You may notice that the yard in Average is much shorter now. The yard was almost as long as Jumiata on the previous Allegheny Eastern. I changed it after having to back a loco almost a scale half mile to run around a train. With small locos and short trains the yard tracks don't have to be more than six feet long. Even that may be too long...

Average Yard

East End was also changed to facilitate movements. With two interchanges in the same yard it gets a bit hectic when AE and Q Company trains show up at the same time...

East End Interchange Yard

Quotidian, with its large industrial area has been a thorn in the side design wise. Fortunately, David K. Smith over at the forum stepped in and saved the day. The current design for the peninsula is all his...

Quotidian: DKS Version

I adopted Dave's plan and started to redesign Owertown to match. The two towns are directly adjacent and I combined them to create the illusion of larger towns. I needed something that would tie the two together. I decided that a large residential area would be just the thing. Studying my Sanborn maps I noticed that almost all the major towns in the anthracite region were crowded with row homes (town houses to the more genteel among us). I went with the idea and filled the area with the aforementioned dwellings and a few other structures...

Owertown

It's more of a idea than an actual design. I deleted an industry and turned the team track into a siding that runs in the streets. Not sure that Owertown will look anything like this but it would make an interesting view block.

But we are discussing the operation of the layout, not the scenery. As I mentioned earlier, actually operating the plan allows me to check the design before I attempt to build it. Quite a change from my previous design methods. Faults turn up pretty quickly. You pull into a yard and realize there is no way for the locomotive to escape or run around the train. At Quotidian switching the industries is pretty straight forward. There are two sidings that require switchback moves, but these are handled separately from cars spotted on the more conventional trackage.

In this 45 minute video the FM diesel (represented by a GP-7) based at Quotidian is breaking down a string of cars set out by the eastbound peddler. Rather than drag the whole string of cars into the streets of our fair town, the crew will handle the cars in smaller batches. The first cars to be worked are two flat cars on the east end of the train (right). From its base on the drill track the switcher rolls east to the other end of the yard. Here's where operations reveal the SNAFU's that need to be corrected. Aaccess to the industrial area is a facing point switch. The easiest way to work the cars is to couple to the east (right) end. Doing it that way involves fouling the main. The drill track should be on this end of the yard, facing the access track. Have to correct that.

Despite that, we still have to switch these cars so we couple up to the "wrong" end and drag the first four cars, all flats. Two are bound for Arbogast & Bastian with heavy machinery. The others is a shipment of wood going to C.A. Dorney, the furniture company. The FM backs unto the main, and changing direction, pushes the cars into the industrial area.

The first stop is Arbogast and Bastian, but the siding already holds two empty flatcars. The switcher pushes it's train past the siding onto the tail track of a switchback. The cars are uncoupled and the FM drifts back to fetch the two empties. After coupling to the empty flats it heads back to the train. The empties are coupled to the first two loads, while the C.A. Dorney cars are uncoupled. All four cars are shifted to the siding and the two loaded cars are spotted at Arbogast & Bastian.

The loco and the empties then head back to the carload of wood. Another move backward clears the siding and sets the train to head for the furniture factory. At C.A.Dorney there is another empty to be picked up, a boxcar.  The train couples to the boxcar and moves it to another tail track. Another two moves and the flats are spotted at the factory.

The FM heads back to the yard with its three car train and leaves them in front of the depot. Since there is a drill track available at this end of the yard, the cars probably should have been left there. Although a passenger train (gas electric with trailer, isn't due any time soon, it is not a good idea to irritate the riders. Having to wait for the cars to be moved or leaving them off in the middle of a train yard tends to ruin their day.

Regardless, the switcher heads off to grab the next set of cars and blocks the main for the third time. It picks up three more loads and fouls the mainline yet again. The first two cars are slated fot the Quotidian Construction Supply Co. The switchers has to pull two empties off the siding. The two loaded cars still coupled to the loco are used to pick up the empties. They are pushed up the track and coupled to the car waiting on the tail track. The two loads are then located at their destination. The engine then returns to its train. The third load is spotted on the same siding but this time at the lower level of Canan Knox Supply.

The empties are moved to the track in front of the depot. The FM then heads ove to pick up the last two cars, empties bound for Aolbright & Son Cold Storage. Because the cold storage building is on a trailing point siding, the engine needs to couple to the west end of the cars. It runs around using an adjacent yard track and pushes the cars out onto the mainline. This time it enters the industrial area at the head end, pulling the cars. It  runs all the way up the tail track and pulls two loads from the plant siding. After parking them on the tail track the two empties are spotted at the storage building. The switcher puts the empties on one of the yard tracks and runs around to the west end of the train sitting in front of the depot. These cars are then placed on the same yard track as the empties from Albright & Son. The cars are ready to be picked up one of the peddler freights...

Sorry to take up so much of your time. Now I have to go make some changes to that yard.

Regards,
Frank Musick

Building a dream layout on a nightmare budget


The Average Eastern Railroad

[VonRyan]

Looks like a solid winner to me.
Good ops possibilities, plus plenty of good mainline running for relaxing as the trains roll by.

[kelticsylk]

"Refinements"

No overlong videos this time, just a summation.

Having run a few operating sessions I made more refinements to the track plan based on those experiences. The yard at Average has been shortened quite a bit, with most tracks about six feet long. Running around a train requires far less travel. There is also an escape track conveniently adjacent to the engine terminal...

Average: February 27, 2014

There is also a new industry. It's a large plant with three sidings. I just have no clue as to what they produce there...

Mystery Manufacturer

I mentioned in the previous entry that the drill track at Quotidian was at the wrong end of the yard. This has been corrected and the yard redesigned to suit. Once I started detailing the structure symbols I also played around with some siding locations. Nothing major, just minor adjustments...

Quotidian February 28, 2014

East End has also been updated. The yard is much shorter with a different flow. The interchange track now serves as a drill track. Q Company trains now have their own siding and share a run around track with the AE...

East end: February 27, 2014

The Quotidian Company Mine and powerhouse are closer together with a tighter radius curve between them. The facilities for the Shay have been moved to the aisle side of the Q Co. "main"...

Q Co. Mine February 27, 2014

The siding for the Q Co quarry has also been relocated to the aisle side...

Q Co Quarry February 27, 2014

The track plan is at a state where I feel I can start construction on the real thing. The mainlines for the Class 1 railroads are pretty straight forward and, for the most part, are already in place.

I would recommend this virtual running to anyone developing a track plan. Seeing the trains going through their paces highlights problems before they are written in stone. This doesn't mean I won't still find faults. I'm sure I will. It won't be the first time I've had to tear up track and make changes.

Regards,
Frank Musick

Building a dream layout on a nightmare budget

The Average Eastern Railroad

[kelticsylk]

Sweating The Details

I keep fine tuning the trackwork for the layout. The changes are  minor realignments here and there. One thing I did was to reduce the amount of hidden track. I also decided to eliminate a few of the tunnel portals. Tunnels are pretty rare considering. It's more likely for railroad tracks to disappear under a highway overpass. As a result there are only two tunnels represented. The first is where the four track mainline of "ABC" railroad leaves Average... The other is on the "XYZ" railroads two track mainline just east of the East End interchange. The opposite end of the "tunnel" is the highway overpass at the west end of Average...

East End Tunnel and Average Overpass

I have also added more detail to the  trackplan. In doing so I found I had to make a few more modifications to the trackage...

Average Eastern March 5th, 2014

While the actual layout may never actually be this elaborate, it sure is fun to see what I can come up with scenery wise. The Owertown/Quotidian portion reminds me of the Allentown/Bethlehem area. Like weeds in the garden, the two cities have grown into each other.

Most of the industry names I've used come from the real world. The only exceptions are the fictional ACME Corporation and the Quotidian Company, what the locals refer to as the "Q". Some businesses are named after companies I found on my Sanborn maps. Others, like O'Town Dino Lube, are adaptations from actual places. I searched the internet for different industries and got listings of names. I chose the ones that appealed to me. Some of them, like Strange Auto Parts, seem humorous but they are genuine.

There are several parts of the two towns, chiefly Owertown, that I spent time developing. There are several "vignettes", most of them featuring car or trucks to suggest that there are actually people in our miniature homes and industries. Owertown city hall, for instance, houses the police and fire departments...

Owertown City Hall

Then there is Milliard Fillmore Elementary, a public school. School is about to let out and all the buses and family station wagons are lined up waiting for the kids...

Milliard Fillmore Elementary School

While a large part of Owertown is rowhome residences, there is a commercial district centered on City hall. Located on the west end of town, it's afound bit like the town squares here in Tennessee. The square is surrounded by small businesses. There is a movie theatre, grocers, barber and other such...

Commerce Square

On the east end of Owertown there is St Aloyisus Catholic Church, one of two churches in town. The other,  located on Church St, is Owertown United Methodist. A block or so from St Aloyisus is O'Town Dino Lube, the Sinclair service station on West St. Behind it, on Owertown Rd is Strange Auto Parts. East on Owertown Rd are some single homes and Rockett's, the local drive-in and hang out for the teens in town. The parking lot is usually full of chopped coupes, highboys, motorcycles and most anything else with wheels...

The East End of Owertown

The AE serves three big industries on the south side of town. One of them is the Bunge Grain Elevator across the road from the Sinclair station...

Bunge Grain

The other two industries are on the opposite side of the railroads main stem. One, the National Biscuit Co. originally sat on the opposite side of town, served by a siding that ran along Filmore St. I relocated it here and and added the Excelsior Machine building. The two companies share a siding...

Shared Siding

I had included an area east of town for a small farm but it seemed out of context. At one point it occurred to me that I had never seen a model railroad with a hospital. I removed the farm and replaced it with the Kern Medical Center...

A Model Hospital?

One other item I added was something I wanted to incorporate into the Allegheny Eastern, but wasn't able to. Growing up in Philadelphia I had ridden the PCC cars of the PTC and P&W. I wanted to model something like this. The streets of Owertown are the home of Eastern Electric, a streetcar line. Nothing complex, just a simple loop around "downtown". I used dashed lines to indicate the tracks running in the street...

Eastern Electric Traction Company

The PCC cars are modified Bachmann products. I kitbashed a double ended unit from two Bachmann shells and painted it to resemble the trolleys of the Altoona and Logan Valley. There is also a "normal" PCC which has yet to be painted...

Eastern Electric Double Ended PCC Car

The only modifications I have made to these units is to grind down the frames so the cars sit at a more prototypical height. I have found that the Bachmann trolleys will negotiate very tight radius curves right out of the box. No rework is necessary. As a result all the curves are 3" radii.

If my memory serves me right many larger northeastern communities consist of rows of identical buildings. There are differences, but they are mostly cosmetic and reflect the preferences of the owner. It seems to me that the best way to model the rowhomes and businesses around city hall is to build each block as a single unit, with sidewalks and alleys and other details. Each block can then be worked into the grid formed by the streets.

If I can pull it off, the "twin cities" might become the highlight of the layout.

Regards,
Frank Musick

Building a dream layout on a nightmare budget

The Average Eastern Railroad

[jpec]

Liking the streetcar addition...I've used Tomix Wide Tram track several times with great success. It mates up perfectly height-wise with foamcore and the addition of a few extra Tomix feeders makes gives reliable operation...

Jeff

[Scottl]

Wow, this concept has really advanced.  I like how you are detailing the scenery and towns relative to the trains- it gives it so much context and feels quite realistic.

[kelticsylk]

Liking the streetcar addition...I've used Tomix Wide Tram track several times with great success. It mates up perfectly height-wise with foamcore and the addition of a few extra Tomix feeders makes gives reliable operation...

Jeff

I have a small loop of Tomix and like it. The only problem I have with it is the "wide" curves. Yea' I know, sounds weird...

Tomix Test Loop

I've successfully tested the Bachmann trolleys on curves as tight as 2.5" and prefer to use a 3" radius curve...

Test Curve

I'm planning to use code 55 flex track. The part of the street around the track will be brick. It's what I remember from Philly back in the day...

Street Trackage Back In The Day

This is actually new trackage. It's a shot from a Disney park. The track is a type they call "girder rail". It comes with a built in flange way...

Girder Rail

Dave Smith has a way of simulating this stuff using rail mounted sideways. There is also a curvable latex brick sheet from a company called Kancali...

Latex Brick

[kelticsylk]

Wow, this concept has really advanced.  I like how you are detailing the scenery and towns relative to the trains- it gives it so much context and feels quite realistic.

I was operating in Average yard and ran into trouble switching the interchange track. I was redesigning the yard and ended up with enough room to model some of the town of Average...

Downtown Average

I started to add names to all the buildings. This will give them an identity and influence the actual models, if they ever actually get built. I'm pretty sure I've made it too elaborate for my skills and budget.

[eric220]

I'd hate to hit that turnout (switch? ) at Disney the way it's currently aligned.

What's the reach at Mystery Manufacturer? It looks like it's pretty deep in there, and you'll have to reach past parts of the building to reach the tracks.

[kelticsylk]

I'd hate to hit that turnout (switch? ) at Disney the way it's currently aligned.

LOL! Never even noticed. Somebody must think trolleys come from Never Never Land.

What's the reach at Mystery Manufacturer? It looks like it's pretty deep in there, and you'll have to reach past parts of the building to reach the tracks.

The plant has been renamed for the ACME Corporation...
http://kelticsylk.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-mystery-manufacturer.html

The redesign of Average yard led to slight changes in the ACME trackage. The two open sidings share common platforms with loading doors in the building wing to the right  The siding that enters the building is for the "special" products like the dis-integrator / re-integrator pistols.

Of course, the building has to be bigger inside than out in order to handle their product line, a common feature of all ACME plants. They use a technology similar to the holes seen in Roadrunner cartoons.

By the way, ACME has an online catalog...
http://home.roadrunner.com/~tuco/looney/acme.html