MEC based, but freelanced - Need help, please!!!!

[luis_lopes]

Hi all.

I have been way a bit from this forum (family stuff, you know...), but I am returning because I need some help.

I did a small showcased N scale layout in the last year for shows. Turned out OK (at least I am happy with it).

Here's a photo of it:
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Although it was meant to be a show layout, it was also a layout to test some scenery stuff. I having enough of the green layouts...

Now that thing are starting to slow down, finally I have the time to make some progress on my home layout.

Well, I think now I have things sorted: New England, in the 70's or 80's. (yes, pretty much inspired by Mr. Mike Confalone). I don't wnat to have bit time railroading, but some switching, like Lance Mindheim, James McNab, or even Bruce Petty.

I want to have some engines from Maine Central ( just love a GP7 in green and gold), Delaware & Hudson, something from the Guilford Rail System, but before the blue Guilford diesels.

I am searching for a short line, but freelanced.

So, do you think it is possible to have an industrial layout like the one Lance Mindheim has, but date it back to the 80's?

I am sorry if I make some kind of mistakes, but I really need some help, if you don't mind helping, of course.

Again, I am in Portugal, but I reallly love the US way of making railroad models. (and many things about the US...), and I don't know where to start.

I have a spare room with 5,00m x 2,20mm.
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The layout will be a shelf layout, and if I can, with a small peninsula.

I want to have big aisles space (yeap, most of my MR friends have big waist lines...), and I don't want to go deeper than 30cm (40 for a small yard on the far right end) for the layout shelfs. The 30cms are a bit like Lance Mindheim and James McNab are doing with their own layouts. This way I can make some flats to be put against the backdrop and I think that this will help to hide the vertical / horizontal transition between the the layout top and the back drop.

So this is what I have at the moment:
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I already done some planning on the long shelf of the layout, but I would like get you thoughts on this:
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That side of the layout I was inspired by the Portland Railroad Terminal, in Maine. but totally freelanced the thing. So, for that matter this in meant to be an industrial district.
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What are your thoughts?

Thanks so much for your time.

Best regards from Portugal.

[nuno81291]

Love it! I have been messing around with an idea similar to the Portland Terminal.. Going for the Mindheim style of less is more has helped me move projects along and I think it will benefit you in the long run(and short run!). The showcase effort looks pretty darn good. I like the idea of a busy industrial scene as you have planned- perhaps it would help your planning if you can pick a couple of industries that would be appropriate for your timeframe (even if they didn't exist in the Portland area). You may want to also check out the Union Freight Railroad was a series by Model Railroader that deals with urban industrial modeling/trackage.

I was going to loosely model mine as a mix of the Mystic Wharf Branch in Boston before the abandonment and including some of the current/new customers up in Portland...To this end I was thinking along the lines of cement bulk transfer, grain transfer, autoracks(today), spines with containers (yard 8 in portland today), a fuel dealer and some other generic industries like paper recyclers etc. I think you are off to a good start- and narrowing down your interest in car types/industries would help in your planning.

Any ideas for the rest of the shelves? If I were you I would be looking to put a small yard modeled coming off a mainline at the very other end of your plan (the center peninsula) and have the local use the yard for storage/tieing down in...perhaps you want to plan a scenic element after the turn to make use of negative space and forcing you to run from the yard perhaps over a water feature (or along the salt marshes in Maine for instance, or the waterfront out of Rigby toward commercial st)..this would force you to have to go somewhere to get the switch job done, and if operated prototypically could make for a very long and fulfilling operating session.

Keep it up- very excited to see where you go with this!

[luis_lopes]

Hi Mike.

Thanks for the reply and support!

I am thinking about a paper mill on that long shelf ( and all that means: woodchip cars, tank cars, box cars), a cement plant on the lower left corner ( I just love those diff pressure cars that IM announced), and the center peninsula will be a small fertilizer (I MUST have grain hopper cars from Tangent and Athearn!!!), with a car float, to serve as a fiddle yeard (this one will be inpirated by Paulo Dolkos's Harbor District Layout.)

Traction will be made by small 4 axle diesels (GP7, GP35, GP38, Alco RS2, GE U23B, and so on...)

I will use PECO code 83, because that's the easier track to get in Portugal.

What do you think so far of the track plan? Any suggestion is more than welcome.

Thanks for your anwer

This is what I have in mind

[luis_lopes]

Hi all.

Sorry for being away, but life got in the way of the hooby.

I'll post some updates soon, but I would like to ask you this:

On my layout, I have some focal points that need to be separated by scenery breaks.

The first break I wanted to place would be a bridge, but as the bench work was not prepared for that, I discarded that option, because it would make things complicated.

So, I thought on having a small town, with a level crossing.

Are the DPM kits suitable to reproduce this kind of small town? I'm not talking about the quality of the kits: I think that they are wonderful "white canvas" to make nice models to populate a layout.

I am talking about if they are suitable to my needs.

This is coming from guy who's never been to Maine, and used a bit of Google Earth and Street view to find that propane they can suit my needs.

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

BTW, Happy 4th of July for you folks. I am Portuguese, but I know a bit of you history.

Take care.