Need help planning a Station in a 18"X15' space

[eric220]

I just noticed something.  Your Memphis plan is 19 feet wide.  All of mine are 15 feet wide (per the thread title).  Which one of us has the right dimensions?  I was reworking my design to a diamond plan and got you two 130" tracks in 15'.  If there's actually 19' to play with, I can easily give you every station track at >130".

Edit:  Going back and looking at your original plans, I think I see where I made a mistake.  I think I just gained a lot of real estate.

[eric220]

My mistake was assuming that your walls were 15' apart, but in fact they seem to by 19' apart.  You're just allocating 15 of those 19 to the station.  All of the left hand exits from my plans are wrong.



In this version:

• I borrowed an extra 18" for the left throat (left of the white box, which is 15' wide), but much of that could be traded for track length.
• The short platform tracks are 122" long.
• The long platform tracks are 150" long.
• There's now a runaround and freight bypass for the REA as well as the Post Office.
• A double track exit is shown on the left, as per my original plan, but it can easily be condensed to one by eliminating the upper track.

I like the double track exit on the left, with one track going to the reverse loop and the other going back into the upper level mains for continuous running.  It seems to me to reinforce the idea that trains have multiple destinations from that end of the station.  In this version of the plan, all platform tracks and freight tracks have direct access to either exit track.

[eric220]

Another thought on this latest plan occurs. When the left side ladders were separated, you needed two platform runarounds, one for each platform. With the latest configuration, you really don't need the lower one anymore. You can either eliminate it or repurpose it to make the REA and Post Office terminals three tracks instead of two.

[CodyO]

After a quick phone chat with eric we decide to go a bit more with this plan



My long station tracks are about 143" the other tracks 114" and 112"
I went with just having trains go into the reversing loop working on how to hide the front track in a tunnel or something so it will be a bit outa sight

Thanks again eric

[eric220]

Am I correct that the freight/reverse loop runaround after passing the station dips down, crosses Small Valley Stream, and leads to Very Small Town?  If so, I really think that there should be a provision for freights to bypass the right passenger station ladder.  A simple runaround would suffice.

I'm going to continue to lobby for the double track on the left side.  I really think it cements the idea that this is a junction of two branches, and it provides infinitely superior operating possibilities.  Minimally, I would strongly recommend a connection from the left side of the reverse loop back into the mains.  Right now, there's no way for a train running counter-clockwise to access the station other than via a backing maneuver.  It may or may not be in the ops plan right now, but I really think that you'll be happier if trains that are running on the upper loop have access to the station from either direction.

[CodyO]

Changed the plan a bit to allow better helix access Ive shorten the passenger tracks  and I`m imagining the left ladder can be built a bit better!
the portageville NY viaduct will be modeled in its full non compressed 1:160th form! its always nice when you have space for that!

[DKS]

OK, even though I've been sort of following this thread, I really haven't wrapped my head around it completely. Now I'm trying to, and I'm hitting a wall trying to grasp what the goal is here. As I see it right now, with the current plan, trains arrive at the station, and when they depart, they have no option but to flip around the reverse loop, pass through the same station, and leave the way they arrived. There is also no provision for trains facing the opposite way to enter the station.

Cody, could you please summarize what you want trains to do, from an operational standpoint (and not a visual one), with no reference to any existing track plan?

[CodyO]

I want trains to run up the helix and then reverse and go back down with some laps inbetween that
Passenger trains will have consists modified here and serve as there place to run too
Passenger station is the focus and my main hope is to be able to use this as the area where I break and make trains

Freight trains will be able to serve some industries that have yet to be determined 
A mine will be one of them

[DKS]

So, at the other end of the helix is just a reversing loop? No staging or anything else? And if so, what is the purpose of the reverse loop on the station level?

[eric220]

DKS - my understanding is that the bottom of the helix connects to the existing lower level.  Effectively, the lower level and upper level are both independent double track loops with a double track helix connecting them. The way Cody currently has it designed, the helix spits out all trains in a clockwise direction on the upper level, and only trains running counterclockwise can access it to go down, hence the need for a return loop.  The top track passing the station was actually designed as the freight bypass.  It's next to a platform track, but there's no platform serving it.

As to the ops plan for the station, I'm also somewhat confused.

Cody, feel free to correct me if I got anything wrong.

[eric220]

Did some playing around.



Trains now have access to the helix form either direction, so you don't need the reverse loop.  Whichever track a train uses to climb the helix will determine which direction if will be going on the upper level.  Effectively the entire upper level can turn the train around when it returns to the lower level.  There's a polarity issue there, but putting in an auto reversing section on the inner helix track should fix that.

[CodyO]

For reference here`s the rest of the planned layout only the main deck is built and design is not matching the current trackage  except for the helix connections and the staging design is a bit old but that remains unbuilt
Main Deck

Staging yard


Eric I like your plan though the station was planned to be 1" lower than the mainlines with a further drop to 2" happening over the reversing loop to clear the helix just hw it was planned but I can see the helix changes working out if I play with it a bit more!

DKS-The main ops plan for the station is for all passenger/express trains to be broken and rebuilt in the station instead of within the staging yard which would be done by hand

[eric220]

DKS-The main ops plan for the station is for all passenger/express trains to be broken and rebuilt in the station instead of within the staging yard which would be done by hand

OK, so this has changed then. What you're describing sounds like a terminal, like Buffalo, New York, or Philidelphia on your line. The station that we've been working with has been designed around the idea of combining and separating sections of trains at Bethlehem. That's a very different operation than being "broken and rebuilt". If you want a place to store your passenger fleet and assemble trains, you need something totally different than what we've been discussing.

[eric220]

Though occurs.  I seem to remember you telling me that the upper level represents another railroad (LV?).  If you want a terminal, and you're willing to reverse the helix (I don't see any problem with that, given the way you've shown it on the lower level), the PRR coming up the helix to meet with the LV at a union station representing Buffalo on the upper level would be interesting. Just keep in mind, if you want a terminal large enough to service prototype length trains like your BL set, it's probably going to have to expand quite a bit to accommodate the coach yards.

[CodyO]

The ops plan for the station is as follows
Main focus will be headend cars and swiching sections of trains with some trains remaining fully intact

Example #1  Coach train from Philly will enter and leave the station and the passenger consist will be left intact as this is only a 60 mile trip

Example #2 Sleeper/Coach Train from Philly will enter the station and have the sleeper section removed and placed onto another train

Example #3 All Pullman train from New York or Buffalo will have some of the sleeper section removed and placed onto a train to Philly

All trains would be subject to REA and RPO removal and add ons

After this the intact changed trains will return to staging where they also originated from

This is also why I changed the plan for everything to head directly into the reversing loop since at some point everything needs to reverse to get back to staging and the lower deck

I hope this cleared things up a little bit