Karnak, IL Interchange Track Plan

[6axlepwr]

I am going to use this as my official thread on my layout.

Last night I finished the design of my layout. This layout is based on a real world interchange in Karnak, IL. The era is 1968 to 1970 when coal was booming in southern Illinois. This interchange saw a LOT of action during this time. At least two trains a day. My best friend who lives in southern Illinois is also a treasure trove of railroad information on the area. He models the Missouri Pacific Joppa Sub which is the old C&EI line that ran from Benton Jct. (Benton, IL and interchange with the IC) to Joppa, IL. Lots of coal in the whole region. The room is now ready to get started on the layout. Last night I finished painting it.

My operation is the Cairo Port Terminal & Chicago Railway. It is based on a real rail line that ran from Cairo, IL to Chicago. Started life as the Cairo & Vincennes Railroad https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairo_and_Vincennes_Railroad. I have rewritten a new history for this line in order to give my railroad life. The focus of my railroad is the interchange yard located in Karnak, IL. This area is dead flat and swampy. The town of Karnak is VERY small, and is home to two railroad served industries. A grain elevator and a wood box manufacturing facility.

- My room size is 21' x 9'. You will notice from the plan that there is a gap in the benchwork. That gap is where a lift out bridge will go. That area is the door into the room and my milling table. The lift out will contain all the track you see crossing that area.
- The gray track is the CPT&C and the blue track is the MP. The cyan track is shared. Now this is not shared in real life.
- The staging yard at the bottom represents four locations. For the CPT&C. The left side is Harrisburg, IL and the right side is Cairo, IL. For the MP. The right side is West Frankfort, IL and the left side is Joppa, IL.
- The CPT&C track running along the upper wall will be hidden. The MP track along the left wall will be hidden and the shared track along the right wall will be hidden.
- The smallest radius mainline curve is 15.2". The rest of the mainline curves are 17" to 22". The smallest radius curve is 11.6" and that is OK, it is the CPT&C lead into the grain elevator track on the right. The start of the curve from the CPT&C into the interchange yard in the upper left starts out as 14.4" radius and transitions to a 22" radius.
- In a few places the benchwork will be adjusted.

https://flic.kr/p/2oeV5bJ


https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52666010902_05e87cdbe9_k.jpg
]https://flic.kr/p/2oeV5bJ]

[thomasjmdavis]

I did some of my growing up in West Frankfort in the early 1960s.  Don't remember much, other than that the C&EI tracks and yard cut the town in half.  I think I rode the "Meadowlark" RDC on one or two occasions and we all watched coal trains- since whenever they came through, traffic stopped for a while.  I'm assuming since you are modeling the tracks as MP that you are modeling an era well after my 1955-56 modeling time frame (and I am modeling Chicago, principally), but I will be watching the developments with interest.

[6axlepwr]

My best friend grew up in West Frankfort. He lives in Centralia now.

Brian

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I dig it man!

I'll say this before Lee @wm3798 chimes in on it: can you play with making everything a bit less parallel to the benchwork?
Maybe make the depth a little deeper on the interchange area and angle the yard tracks a bit?
I know, I know, I do not practice what I preach, but I do speak from experience.

[ednadolski]

What is the room entry/egress.... lift-out, duckunder, .... ?

EDIT - nm, just saw it in the original post.

Ed

[wm3798]

Straight lines and Right Angles...



Name two things that ruin a model railroad.

(I had to come up with Carnac reference somehow... )

Lee

[Van Horne]

Excellent!!

Straight lines and Right Angles...



Name two things that ruin a model railroad.

(I had to come up with Carnac reference somehow... )

Lee

[6axlepwr]

Straight lines and Right Angles...



Name two things that ruin a model railroad.

(I had to come up with Carnac reference somehow... )

Lee

1. the corners are not going to be right angles. They will be curved. Both inside and outside. I cannot yet figure out how to do this with the drawing program I have.
2. To maximize the main point of this layout, it would not be easy to angle the trackage.  It would make the curves to tight. The staging yard does not matter. Each side of the layout is an individual scene. I am not going from town to town with this layout. Most layouts I see that go from town to town have the front of the train entering a town and the rear end still in the town it left.

Originally there was not going to be a continuous loop. It was just going to be Karnak with a simple staging yard. I wanted to figure out how to incorporate the MP and have two full railroads at play. Because I have limited space, I cannot meander the layout it has to be specific to what it represents. I wish I have a few more feet so that I could curve the Karnak interchange yard like the prototype. But in order to curve it properly, the continuous run tracks on the let side would be super tight curves because the yard actually curves into the corner and not away from it.

The plan is pretty much set, but I have plenty of time to add or subtract from how it operates. Oh and also this room is also my modeling room. The layout is above my work areas. I have a modeling area, decal area and a paint area as well as a milling machine area. I cannot cut across the room and make cool angles with fancy benchwork.

Brian

[milw12]

Ed and Lee, being the artists that they are, may be talking less about fancy angles and more about cosmetic curves. It will be more work but should be possible to add an extremely wide radius to the currently straight tracks for visual interest and have a negligible impact on track lengths, etc.

However we all know the heartland lends itself to linear railroading, things curve around and grades can surprising for the 'flatlands' but it's no Appalachia 

Regardless what you choose I find your concept fascinating and have often thought of similar ideas. Your schematic is shocking close to a design I've been working on for my 'big one', same means to a different end. I'm looking forward to following along!

Lucas

[wm3798]

@milw12  , agreed about the Midwestern setting.  Long stretches of tangent track are the norm.  All we are saying is that track need not, and should not run dead parallel to the table on which it is built. 

Even the slightest angle, with or without that scenic curve, will make the scenery design a bit more challenging, but infinitely more interesting.

Lee

[6axlepwr]

I am taking your suggestions to heart and I am working on it. So far it has a lot of change to it.

Brian

[ronw1970]

Looks good tp me....great theme.. not another Miami switching layout... dont worry about cosmetic curves

[kc9jts]

I think I may have an old interlocking diagram for that Karnak somewhere in my collection.  Let me see if I can dig it out.

[6axlepwr]

I have the Missouri Pacific diagram for Karnak. I also have a 1963 aerial photograph of the diamond and yard tracks.

[Sokramiketes]

I have the Missouri Pacific diagram for Karnak. I also have a 1963 aerial photograph of the diamond and yard tracks.

Maybe if you post one of your detailed locomotives everyone will understand who they're talking to!  Glad to see you back in N, and can't wait to see this all come together.  It's going to be great because everything you touch is.