Industrial switching layout

[jon612]

Thinking about starting a switching layout with what I have on hand. Grid is 12" and the wall it will be on is 13 feet from corner to door opening

Atlas C55 flex with #7 switches (I have #10s but it's hard to squeeze them in.) Switches will be manually thrown with Bullfrog from Fast Tracks.

Walthers kits are shown in the plan. Red Wing Milling and the Concrete elevator are already built. I just can't seem to get Red Wing to work with the size of the footprint, so I will probably leave it out.

The building at the top left will have to be kit bashed/ scratch built out of something that I do not already have. The elevator provides the bulk product for said building. I have considered adding more bins to the elevator to help give an alley look to the track serving the large building but am not sure if it would make spotting boxcars too difficult. Maybe well positioned doors would help?

Thoughts, obvious track errors, opinions, drink more beer?

Edit: I forgot to mention, the green cars are 50' boxcars and the orange one is a caboose. No big modern power, Geeps and an Alco S2 are what I have. This will also be built as 2 modules. Any staging track will be to the right side if decide to add one.

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[LIRR]

I’d make the passing siding longer..move the switch beyond the switch to Roberts.

[nkalanaga]

If you want more bins on the elevator, and don't want to have to work around it to spot cars, how about only three or four doors, spaced for the cars they'd use, and a car puller (winch) at the end of the track?  Spot the first cars at the doors, with a second set coupled to them.  When the first cars are loaded, a plant worker can connect the winch cable to the first car, pull the string to the end of the track, and they'll load the other half.

That's how they did grain loading at the elevator near where I grew up.  They could only load one car at a time, but the siding would hold at least ten on either side of the elevator.  Spot the first at the elevator, load it, move the string down a car, load the next.  They used a farm tractor with a steel plate welded to the front to push the cars!

[jon612]

Runaround lengthened.

Added the additional bins on the elevator.

Great idea with the cable! I changed part of the building to red to help imagine that that part of the building was added on to help keep up with dog food sales. This also allows me to start with a smaller scratch build too. The first building will have 2 doors and the red building could accommodate a 3rd.

I added a couple of chemical tanks at Roberts just to help get a tanker into the mix. I can also use the freight terminal as a transload spot too.

Ultimately what I want is to have is a track plan that I can get up and running with what I have on hand. However, I don't want to be limited to only using kits. Eventually, Roberts Printing might be torn down to make room for the Super Dog Food company with elevated pipes and/ or conveyors connecting the separate buildings. Over time, shippers might prefer trucks over LCL and the freight terminal might become a scrap yard or a lumber yard. Who knows, everything might be replaced with night clubs and condos. Then I won't be able to run any trains at all 

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[Ed Kapuscinski]

Over time, shippers might prefer trucks over LCL and the freight terminal might become a scrap yard or a lumber yard. Who knows, everything might be replaced with night clubs and condos. Then I won't be able to run any trains at all 

Oh man, do I need to add "find the a-hole who parked their car blocking the tracks" to http://traincrew.conrail1285.com/ ?

[mu26aeh]

Oh man, do I need to add "find the a-hole who parked their car blocking the tracks" to http://traincrew.conrail1285.com/ ?

Yes.  Happens at Spring Grove when they have a car to set out/retrieve when they use the door by the trailer docks 

[jon612]

Oh man, do I need to add "find the a-hole who parked their car blocking the tracks" to http://traincrew.conrail1285.com/ ?

Would love it as an ESU file. Who needs a horn when you have an angry conductor?

Here is an old elevator turned condo. I did a kitchen remodel here about 15 years ago in a corner unit. It's rather interesting building and they display historical pictures of the building and surrounding area in the lobby.
https://www.google.com/maps/@44.9506438,-93.3203833,135m/data=!3m1!1e3

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Would love it as an ESU file. Who needs a horn when you have an angry conductor?

Here is an old elevator turned condo. I did a kitchen remodel here about 15 years ago in a corner unit. It's rather interesting building and they display historical pictures of the building and surrounding area in the lobby.
https://www.google.com/maps/@44.9506438,-93.3203833,135m/data=!3m1!1e3

Reminds me of the Quaker Square Inn in Akron.
https://goo.gl/maps/BWbQ8Gd9iPzaYbdi9

I think you should DEFINITELY do that with the layout. It's a fact of modern life that lots of our past beloved railfan haunts are now "mixed use developments". But the up side is that now you can often find decent coffee or places to eat at em.

[jon612]

I was thinking of having the back side of apartments at the upper right. Might be a good project for a later date. I need to get something going without getting bogged down on too many "could be" and "would be awesome" projects. I took down my Uni track switching layout about 2 years ago for other big plans. It's fun to doodle big plans but I never get past doodling. I want to get back to moving some cargo.