Pennsylvania Railroad Juniata Division 2.0

[Carolina Northern]

You may have hit on the right balance.

Remember, the whole thing is for your enjoyment, not somebody else's standards.

Don

[davefoxx]

Vignettes.  I like it.   

[pdx1955]

Actually, the vignette idea is starting to win out.  Where I can double the two-track main on itself, it can be Middle Division.  It can be Lewistown.  Then the two-track parts can be who knows...  The A&S under wire, Sunbury on the Northern Central, etc.

The way to be non-committal and yet somewhat prototypical is to do prototype scenes that may not all tie together.  After all, I'm never gonna operate this layout per prototype, so who cares if a train jumps divisions between towns?   

If you separate the vignettes by hard backdrops they don't even have to be the same season. Winter a la Ed on one section, autumn on another...it could set the stage for a number of "railfan" locations and signature scenes. Or you could consider it a string of Layout Design Elements (using Tony Koester's terms) .I like Chris333's suggestion of the open staging ...you could call it "Altoona" and you could store all your extra locomotives there!

[crrcoal]

 

I could...  But I'm a Pennsylvania Guy.  So caveat to my caveat...  Keeping it in the Keystone State.

[crrcoal]

Maybe something along the lines of Bob Rivards SOO? His layout is chopped up into different signature prototype scenes. Lots of cool possibilities with vignettes. I'm really looking forward to this ride Dave!

[Lemosteam]

Vignettes.  I like it.   

Vignettes are right up Dave's alley, but kinda spoil the roundy-round effect if you want to follow the train all the way around the layout.

[Dave V]

Vignettes are right up Dave's alley, but kinda spoil the roundy-round effect if you want to follow the train all the way around the layout.

I don't know that they do, though...  I appreciate the ideas about changing seasons and such...but I like my Pennsylvania on a hazy summer day so it'll stay that way throughout.  The only real cognitive dissonance would come if I added a section under the wire.  But really, if it doesn't bother me (and I'm 95% of the layout's visitors!) it doesn't matter.

Going back to this idea I'd scribbled:



Replace Duncannon with Lewistown and put some sort of yard where Lewistown is on the plan and call it East Altoona.  Open visible staging plus some freight car storage, and engine terminal, and the freight depot that currently sits in Lewistown on the JD 1.0.

Done!!!

I suddenly like this much more this way.  The "Newport" part can be some other stretch of Pennsy as yet unidentified.  I might even toss in an arch bridge there since, well...Pennsy.  I could put a river along the edge and call it the Northern Division along the Susquehanna.  It's all good now.

It doesn't use the whole room but I'm okay with having the Midland not tucked underneath as I was starting to worry whether it'd fit...  I still have a mountain to build.

[Lemosteam]

Just a quickie. You have a lot of room really. I don't know how much staging you want, but you could use it as a yard and put your TT/roundhouse in the middle.

I was drawing this up last night except without the center blob.  Then the short side of the CMR can go against the wall between the doors and the long wall run would have a two track staging all along that side with four tracks in front along the Lancaster countryside in a wavy curvy fashion.

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[Dave V]

Now that's interesting...

Hmm...

I like it!

Except...  The wall segment between the doors is very close to the window as this construction photo shows:

[robwill84]

I like the vignette idea, and I like the plan above that makes good use of the walls with two large "blobs" on each end, and keep the CM displayed in the middle where you can appreciate it. you could even up the radius to something like 20 inches or more on each blob. Isn't there rumored to be a T1 on the horizon? Well, thats my two cents, back to lurking. 

[Lemosteam]

Now that's interesting...

Hmm...

I like it!

Except...  The wall segment between the doors is very close to the window as this construction photo shows:



Aye, you still have the option of storing the CM under the left blob.  I just think a center blob will be in the way, be less photogenic and will cramp the room.

[Dave V]

In the 9x9 footprint I came up with this, although I'm not super-thrilled by the visual proximity of Altoona and Lewistown.

[pdx1955]

Well, if you went higher with the benchwork and went over the CM then you could add more distance between Altoona and Lewiston.

 However, looking at the plan it doesn't look that jarring as the viaduct breaks the scene up. You could start the staging tracks using curved turnouts further around the curve or down the wall a bit on the left (say behind the master mechanics building) so they wrap around the bottom a bit more. This would give a larger hilly/treed buffer space at the Lewis Tower area so the number of tracks wouldn't get as wide so fast. 

[Dave V]

I'm supposed to learn the results of my promotion board (O-6) sometime late January/early February.  If I make it, then I have to decide if I want to accept it because it means I'll have to move.  If I don't accept it I have to retire pretty quickly.  My wife who's a reservist is waiting to hear whether she's been selected for a three-year activation here in Colorado Springs.  If she gets that and I get O-6 we have some soul-searching to do.  However, I'm expecting my chances at O-6 are not stellar...  After command I went to be a professor for a few years and just based on some of the things a board is looking for in your reports I'm expected not to be selected.

Once I know for sure that I'm staying in the Springs (so hopefully no later than mid-February) work can begin.  I want to have a pretty good basis to start before then though so I know how to proceed.  I may not need the 100% solution as long as I know the footprint and can tinker.

The hidden CMRy with the whole-room concept is somewhat tempting, but I still find myself more comfortable in the ~9x9 footprint with the Midland out on its own with its own backdrop.  If a better job offer comes along I think I can salvage a 9x9-er better than a 10x14-er.

However, looking at the plan it doesn't look that jarring as the viaduct breaks the scene up. You could start the staging tracks using curved turnouts further around the curve or down the wall a bit on the left (say behind the master mechanics building) so they wrap around the bottom a bit more. This would give a larger hilly/treed buffer space at the Lewis Tower area so the number of tracks wouldn't get as wide so fast. 

Yes, I was thinking the same thing.

[Chris333]

Is there a reason you draw the left side at 9' when you have like 10.5'?  Extra foot in staging is a lot.