CSX EDU Sub

[CSXBaltimore]

Point of Rocks is a great choice for this, although having it "backwards" would bug me personally. Given your space, can you reverse the plan?

Not sure I follow you when you ask about reversing the plan.  In the space that I have, I would need the peninsula on the left due to other constraints in the room. Is that what you mean? My original intent was to model POR from the perspective of standing on the road and looking towards the river. That puts the wye on the left and the tunnels on the right.  However, I flipped the tunnels to go towards the back of the layout as they would go further into the room if prototypical. I dont really have space for that.  Notionally I could flip the track plan left to right and keep the bench work the same, and that has the tunnels come into the room on the peninsula.  I thought about that a bit, but then got stuck with the south side of the wye.  I guess I could just make that dead track that 'leads' your eye into the scene.

Is that what you were thinking?

One other thing. Given your topography, I don't think you have to have your staging yard truly hidden. Putting a high enough rise there to block the view when looking horizontally, coupled with prototype sized trees should give you PLENTY of cover for it without actually making it impossible to get to.

I used this trick at Wago Jct on my old layout (may it RIP). It worked great.
http://conrail1285.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/2018-05-26-23.02.50.jpg

I definitely had to jam my hand in amongst trees to rerail cars from time to time, but it was really no big deal.

Speaking of trees and minimalist plans, I highly recommend reading my treatise on winter trees. Not because you're modeling winter, but because you'll have the ability to give your scenic elements the space they deserve and build them to scale, which means you should also go with properly scaled trees.
http://conrail1285.com/winter-trees-in-n-scale/

I LOVE this idea. That could remove the entire requirement that the layout be movable or having to work on underside access.


J

[CSXBaltimore]

Here is an update to the layout based upon the open staging yard suggestion.  I also made the penninsula smaller so that the track curves were more fluid, and also played around with the geography a bit. 

I still am not solid on the scenes or geography yet, but this is starting to feel way more solid for a track plan and overall concept.   Part of me is also considering if I should leave that large straight section straight, or push it back a bit and add a curve or some such.

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As usual, thoughts welcome.

J

[MK]

That's so Freudian!     

[CSXBaltimore]

That's so Freudian!     

Dang, I was just Digitraxed.

J

[Ed Kapuscinski]

What's the track alignment like near PoR?

Do that.

[CSXBaltimore]

I think I am fairly close. The rail is pretty straight to the tunnels. Though my tracks diverge a bit more abruptly at the wye due to space constraints. Obviously the tunnel turn is inverted towards the back wall to confine the layout to its current area.

J

[CSXBaltimore]

I did some mock ups of curves today just to get a feel for how different curve radius' look.  I had planned 18" as my mainline curve but after putting some stuff together I think I am going to go with 20" where I can.  On this layout its mostly doable except for the east end, where I think I am just going to have to suck it up. 

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The engines are sitting on 18" radius, which opens up under the well cars. Gonna rework this a bit at least for the south side of the wye as it heads around the peninsula.

One of our members also recommended to me to consider using the stub track on the north end of the wye for some type of industry. I like that idea and am playing around with some ideas on how to approach it.

J

[CSXBaltimore]

Update time. Decisions have been made and things have changed.

I started looking into how I would get the benchwork together and how it facilitated access to the line, etc, and things just didn't sit right with me. I also ended up not being a fan of the idea of having a train layout in an open family space with cats around, etc.

So with that in play I talked to wifey and was given quick approval to have our unfinished storage space in the basement converted to a fully finished train room with the caveat that it still needed to function as a storage area as well.  Suweeet!!  The contractor came in early last week and took measurements and a description and once he gets me the estimate back we will schedule the work. If things lineup well I should be starting to build bench work near the holidays.  This gives me a month or two to consider a new design that is inline with the first.

Ill be able to have a space approximately 9' x 11' up against 2 walls in a room thats a few feet larger in each dimension.  I should be able to make a U shaped layout with access to both sides of one end, effectively making that side a peninsula.  Ill post some stuff once I start drawing it up.

J

[wm3798]

Have it wired as if it were a countertop area.  An outlet every 4' or so, set 42" above the floor.  This will allow you to get some second hand kitchen cabinets to use as a base.  Set your layout bench at 48" above the floor, and there's room on top of the cabinets to store your train detritus and do your under-layout wiring, and the cabinets become nice enclosed storage underneath.
You can also incorporate 30" tall wall cabinets above, set to the ceiling (bottom of the cabinets at 66") which gives you a nice backdrop, and a built in lighting valance, oh, and MORE storage cabinets. 

Base cabinets are 2' deep, so you could theoretically reach everything, and stretch out your return loop lobes to 36-42" without creating too much of a reach problem and with minimal extra benchwork structure.

Hit up your local Habitat ReStore and see what kind of used kitchen cabinetry there is.  For a 9x11 L shape, you should be able to find something pretty readily.

You could also include a 30" work bench cabinet that's under the layout with about 16" clear.  I did this with an old desk under my layout.


Now that you've got the space, figure out how to use it well!
Lee

[LIRR]

my layout is about 60" above the floor. plenty of room below for a workbench. plenty of storage below for train related and general household stuff...

[CSXBaltimore]

my layout is about 60" above the floor. plenty of room below for a workbench. plenty of storage below for train related and general household stuff...

That is an interesting idea. I hadn't thought about it being that high up. It is, however, quite a good possibility.

Thanx!

J

[txronharris]

Not to try and simplify things, but there were two layouts previously that would fit something like this that had lots of scenery and continuous run. There was a Montana Rail Link that I remember being really cool, and a Utah UP layout (or maybe front range-not sure). Both had similar shapes and seem to have lots if the elements you mentioned. I’ll see about finding a link or two.

[txronharris]

I think this might help. Combines some staging and mountain type railroading. I know its not CSX country, but scenery can be modified to suit:

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS888__889&hl=en-US&sxsrf=ALeKk03oLI3Lso3RML4aLeWLRISiZ-83WQ%3A1603903100241&ei=fJ6ZX72FDuG7tgXPqr3ACQ&q=n+scale+montana+rail+link+layout&oq=n+scale+montana+rail+link+layout&gs_lcp=ChNtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1zZXJwEAMyBQghEKABOgIIADoFCAAQzQI6BQgAEMkDOgYIABAWEB46BQghEKsCOgcIIRAKEKABUJcPWMcaYIUjaABwAHgAgAHrAYgBgQeSAQU1LjIuMZgBAKABAcABAQ&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-serp#imgrc=bIXrFBW4V3TEXM

This was the UP one;

https://mrr.trains.com/how-to/get-started/2017/05/the-salt-lake-route-part-1-the-inspiration-for-a-small-layout

This might be of interest too. Its an old post from a different forum and looks like it could be a CSX type layout providing lots of operations and incorporating some staging:

https://www.trainboard.com/highball/index.php?threads/terrain-input.78686/

[p51]

Looks like a lot of potential for scenery, but would you get tired of 'roundy round' with no operating potential?
I'm just asking. It does work for some folks but I've seen people build layouts like that and about a week after it's 'completed', they get bored with no operations potential...

That's so Freudian!     

Yeah, that's exactly what I thought when I saw that rendering.

[LIRR]

it's a good height....railhead about chin-level for me. a nice track-side view, operating while standing. longer cars on tighter radius not as noticeable.