N Scale Basement Layout

[dowish]

With quarantine earlier this year and good summer weather, I got out the trains and set up an outdoor layout on the porch.  Using several pallets I got from work, I was quickly able for my son and I to run trains this summer.



As you can imagine, reliable operations were a recurring issue, but it was still fun running trains outside this summer.

With the recent week plus of smoke we had here in the Northwest, I got motivated to move stuff around in the basement to make room for a layout down there.  I cleared an area roughly 13' x 28', with some obstacles, which would give me the longest run I've ever had, about 2 scale miles.

I've attached a plan I came up with just to see what would work.  I'm using two HCDs that I've had previous layouts on and will build modules for the other side of the layout.  I'll need the middle section as a lift-out, or easily movable section so I can get past the layout to the rest of basement.  I'll also need some area to store frequently used stuff that is stored down there.

The plan here has 20" min radius, but I'm willing to go somewhat lower than that.  I have some Kato locomotives and coal hoppers that will derail or uncouple if the radius is to small.  I've had problems with 15" and smaller curves so I want larger than 15".  My other want would be continuous running of 3 trains, but not if it means just a triple track main.  I'm thinking a branch line or elevated mountain line but I'm not sure how that would work without seeming like a 3rd mainline, just elevated.  What I'm hoping the brain trust here can help me with is making this layout a more interesting and not just long loops of track.

Thanks for the input!

[wm3798]

That looks like great fun!  Nicely executed, too!  Do you have an operations oriented layout in mind?  Or just runnin' and gunnin'?

Lee

[dowish]

It will mostly likely end up being mostly just "runnin' and gunning'" since that's what I usually end up doing.  However, my son is more into switching so I need enough operations to keep him interested.  Additionally, when I'm watching trains roll by, there needs to be enough industry to justify the trains there.  Otherwise, it's just a oversize Christmas tree loop, and that gets boring after a while.

[Hawghead]

If it were me and I had that much space, I'd want to model a specific prototype.  If, however you don't want to be constrained to a specific prototype then I would suggest that you pick a number of different scenes from railroads you like and connect them with mainline in between each scene or area.  You wouldn't need to model each scene exactly but it could give you some good ideas and you might find that the research is part of the interest.

Scott

[dowish]

I guess you could say this would be "inspired by" the Portland, OR and Columbia River Gorge area.  Maybe I should name it the Columbia Gorge and Basement RR.

I've done some brain storming with the track plan.  The green loop would be a short-line, Portland & Western.  They car lots of lumber, agricultural things, and even have a still mill on there network.  The top part of that loop would be elevated 2"-3" and would be where the industries would be located.  There would then be a small interchange yard on the lower side of the layout that represents the various interchanges the P&W has with UP and BNSF in the Portland-Vancouver-Salem area.  The wrinkle in the plan was, I quickly realized that I couldn't fit the yard ladder in so I could have the yard where I wanted it.  I'll have to think about what to do about that some.  Maybe make it a stub yard.

The double track main would represent the UP/BNSF mainlines in the gorge.  I did add a siding between the mains, just because I've always thought that looked cool when I've seen prototype versions.  It's long enough to hold two 6 axle diesels and 24 45' 100 ton hoppers.  Seeing how long that is in relation to the rest of the layout, I may need to shorten my design train.

[dowish]

So I realized I could have the interchange yard I wanted if I swapped where things were located.  So Portland went to the upper left along with the P&W interchange.  The center siding, went to the lower center.  That siding will represent The Dalles if I'm running UP, or Wishram if I'm running BNSF. 

The P&W line is still roughed in.  I'm still thinking half will be at grade with the BNSF/UP mains and the other half elevated 2"-3" with most of the industries will be on the elevated area.

[dowish]

Construction started!  I completed the 36"x16" section that connects the two HCD.  Next up will be the 1'x4' section that will allow the 180°. Then, I've got to clear everything off, including old cork from the previous layouts.

[dowish]

It's been a crazy week for me, but last Sunday I managed to clear off the two HCD and remove the old cork.  Yesterday, I manged to get over to a local hobby store and picked up a box of cork.  Hopefully this afternoon or Sunday I'll be able to mark out at least some of the track and get some cork down.

[dowish]

Well, things have gone slower than I had hoped.  Not as much hobby time as I thought I'd have.  I did get some cork down, quite a bit more than shown in this pic.



I even got a couple pieces of flex down around the curve and temporarily wired so I can run a train back and forth.



I've heard there is a prototype for everything, does that work for this? 

I'm also having second thoughts about how I've got the yard and interchange laid out.  The green line is the currently planned branch line with the interchange, but I'm wondering if I should swap things around so they connect with the red lines.  I'm not sold on the yard as a whole, it works great to stage a couple of trains but I'm thinking I'd like it a little more operational orientated, I'm just not sure how to get there.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I like your modified yard idea. It gives you way more flexibility.

I do enjoy some yard design excercises, so lets talk a bit about it.

What is it trying to do? I can picture it being an interchange point between the three lines. I'd assume that each railroad would have one train serving it each day. That means you don't have to worry about a ton of track or craziness with AD tracks, servicing, etc...

I think the basic operations would be:
UP local comes in, picks up UP cars and sets out P&W cars.
BNSP local comes in, picks up BNSF cars and sets out P&W cars.
P&W shows up, grabs cars from UP and BNSF then sets a block for each out on a track.

That really means you only need three tracks, as long as your P&W track is long enough for cars from both interchange partners.
If it's a double track mainline, I'd imagine you can even just let your locals use that for working it.

[nscalbitz]

FWIW, I know you said you want to run around, but dropping 'some' of the double track to single would add to favourable 'operational' issues.

Note that most interchanges weren't deliberately complex; they were to facilitate quick transfer (get those cars off the property before midnight"); and the same with branch lines junctions- to make these overtly complex would IMHO be a mistake. 

On running multiple trains on your length of layout, it is perfectly possible to operate along a single track using DCC several long trains. We did this on my friends layout for several displays (up to 6 when chaos struck!) on about a 60 yards (30m?) around the wall double track (Kato) loops, plus a double ended independent "branch line" of about 30 yards (I'm guessing length to convert to US speakish..)

regards dave

[dowish]

Dave,
I'll thank about going single track, it probably wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.  I'm more interested in a few long trains instead of many shorter ones.  It would also be more prototypical for the Colombia River Gorge.

Ed and Dave,
Thanks for the reassurance on a simple interchange and basically not overthinking things.    I've updated the plan with the new track arrangement. It seems a lot cleaner to me.  Ed's scenario is pretty much was I was thinking ops on this would be and I'm okay with having one of the mains double as A/D tracks.

I did add a service/fueling area since that area got emptied.  I might want to scale that back some, I think the area inside the loops is a good area for an industry for P&W to work.  And industry to work seems more important than a bunch of service tracks that would mostly just provide "flavor" for the yard.



On the other end of the layout, I added track for reversing.  It takes a lot of space so it will probably get replaced by an industry and if I really want a reversing section I'll come up with something else.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Skip the fueling area. Unless this is home base for the P&W it's space that you could use to better reinforce your theme and locale.

[CRL]

Yeah... just park an old fuel truck nearby if you have a local road switcher.

[dowish]

Okay, fuel and service tracks are gone.

I've decided on the two main industries, Cascade Steel which is located in McMinnville.  On the other end will be Stimson Lumber, located in the hills southwest of Forest Grove.  In between, I'll put one or two agriculture/dairy industries and maybe a generic warehouse.

I'm not in a big rush to layout those industries yet because I'd like to get most of the mainline laid before I start working on that.  I stopped by a LHS today and got a little more flex track, but they didn't have any code 55 turnouts so I'll probably end of ordering them online.