Midwest Terminal; a modern era first layout

[Rossford Yard]

I once had a Peco curved turnout at the critical spot of yard entry coming around the bend.  Every single train derailed and I replaced it with another, but the same thing happened.  Don't ask how I know this.....but you can't install the Caboose Industry ground throws on the inside of the turnout and run auto racks and 89' flats.

[CRL]

You can if you extend the throw rod. 

[Rossford Yard]

I did that on a few of them in different locations, and J_Von_Random may have to do that on his compound staging ladders.  Being out in the open, and part of a multi-track area, I guess I didn't feel I had the room in that location.

[J_Von_Random]

I've fiddled with the right hand staging ladder using the peco curved turnouts.... and the 36" radius of the outer route just forces the benchwork out even farther. One easy if somewhat costly solution would be to use a fast tracks #10 18/15 jig. But precisely balancing all the factors can't be done until I get a measurement of the room. I now know that it is possible to fit what I want into the space, so I can move to the industry selection and planning.

[J_Von_Random]

Finally got a chance to measure the room: 10' 6" by 15' 9". Nearly two feet longer than the guesstimate!  This will make it *easy* to get the train lengths I want.

Unfortunately the right side has only two feet of clearance before hitting the closet door, so the sketches I've posted will need to be flipped.

[J_Von_Random]

Tried to make the design work with less space than expected by the closet door..... And then figured out that it all gets much easier by going all the way around the room. If bridges can be built without too much difficulty.
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[Rossford Yard]

I think its a big step up to go around the walls.

I have a 3 foot wide door going into my attic I had to bridge.  I used the Lance Mindheim "keep it simple" method of a lift out.  Stiff plywood, and metal stiffener rods below, one on each side.  Adjacent benchwork has a 1 x 2 frame notch for it to sit in, so it really must be 3 feet, 2.5 inches.

For electrical, instead of banana plugs or whatnot, I put some aluminum strips on the frame and on the bottom of the bridge plywood, aligned, obviously.  When it lifts down in place, electrical contact is automatic.

I would consider a low ridge or structures on the 2 foot wide side of the layout to hide staging as before, leaving all 4 walls open for some switching fun!  Or, scenic the small yard as a real yard and have it do double duty of a small classification yard and visible staging.

Looks like its gonna be great!

[J_Von_Random]

I'll need to try versions with and without hidden staging.

The major advantage of around the room after the elimination of turnback curves is that the on-stage section can be much thinner (quick adjustments show 14" deep is doable without much difficulty). Expanding the depth of the yard side, *and* having hidden staging may eat too much depth. The primary limitation is that curve on the upper right corner. There are only 24 inches between the wall and the start of the door frame, and hidden staging quickly eats that up. The other limitation is that my desk will be along the bottom wall, so it may not be practical to have that be on stage. [EDIT: also it eats room in the corners that could have been scenery or industries.]

OTOH if it can be made to work it would......... now that I think about it that would get pretty much everything I might want out of the layout. As well as a good excuse for those NS MP15DCs I've been drooling over .

The big bridge I envision being in two pieces: one straight across the closet door, and the second angled across the entry door.

[J_Von_Random]

Much closer to what I want now. Still needs tweaking...

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