HO somewhere in Appalachia.....

[LIRR]

track plan.....

[DKS]

I like the plan. Have you given any thought to connecting the tracks from the tipple into the staging yard area for empties in/loads out ops?

[conrail98]

I always liked the Long Island Rail Road smoke grey & burnt orange paint scheme, but if I used those on freelance scheme, I would always know it was the LIRR and it wouldn't seem plausible for my railroad

What about reversing the location of them? BTW, I really like the layout plan as well, nice and simple,

Phil

[OldEastRR]

Ooooo, that plan has a lot of hidden track. I'm really leery of hidden track, ever since the one layout I built with it required me to use a yardstick to shove out any derailed cars/locos onto the floor. Plus a super bitch to clean it ... just some words of warning.

[davefoxx]

Ooooo, that plan has a lot of hidden track. I'm really leery of hidden track, ever since the one layout I built with it required me to use a yardstick to shove out any derailed cars/locos onto the floor. Plus a super bitch to clean it ... just some words of warning.

He doesn't even have one turnout in the hidden track, so I wouldn't be concerned about derailments back there.  And, in HO (at least for me), the track doesn't need cleaning nearly as often as it does for N scale track.  I wouldn't hesitate to do this design, although I would probably have a low backdrop that would allow access over top when necessary.

DFF

P.S. Now that I see the track plan, I can appreciate that second track behind the truss bridge in the photo earlier in this thread.  It's like a branchline, so it does not need to be completely hidden.  Kudos on the track plan.

[LIRR]

The tipple track is 3-1/2" higher than staging, so empties in/loads out was never an option, and there's no easy way to make the connection back there even without an elevation difference.

The hidden track is not a problem at all. I had the same configuration on my earlier N scale layout. The track at the bottom was inside a large factory and the track at the left was behind a hillside. Had a derailment now and then but it was never a problem as the tracks (not in the factory) were not covered above. Reaching in wasn't a problem. The greater challenge was not falling off the chair. I built a few track cleaning cars that ran in coal drags regularly and kept it clean. Every now and then I had to clean it by hand, it was a pain but doable. Not a problem once or twice a year. Everything else is in the next room out in the open. I have two inexpensive video camera/monitor set ups so I can watch trains entering and leaving the staging yards

The one track plan disappointment (so far) is the turn back blob. I had to reduce it to 22" radius, I was maintaining 24" everywhere else, but this pinched the aisles a bit to much near the blob

[LIRR]

First mock-up.....



One issue I am having with the switch to HO is that I still think in N scale. This area looked more then sufficient for a good sized structure. I cut out a paper foot print for a building I was envisioning. It looked a bit small so I enlarged it. Then I put a boxcar on the siding and it immediately looked to small and what I was envisioning wasn't tall enough either. This mock-up is about 50% larger than the original imagineering effort.

[LIRR]

more progress, track laying proceeds east....in the distance under the visor is the last remaining section of my N-scale layout..

[LIRR]

the n scale layout is no more.....

[LIRR]

[strummer]

Nice.

I don't see it mentioned elsewhere: code 83(?)

Mark in Oregon

[LIRR]

yes, code 83

[chuck geiger]

This is just a great layout.

[LIRR]

the blob.....

[LIRR]

absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with my layout, but I think it's a cool picture nonetheless....