Baton Rouge Southern 3.0 - a Design discussion

[Philip H]

Since moving south we've begun looking for a house to both shelter my trains, and make space for wild kiddos, furry beasts, and the woman who makes it possible!  We think we may have 2 or 3 houses that will fit the bill, so I decided to get out of the armchair sort of and start working on some LDE designs that can be modded once a space is procured.  After that happens I'll do a more thorough Givens and Druthers analysis, and then probably a separate build thread.

While we may move again at some point, we are probably down here for the duration.  None the less I am looking at developing a common design spec, probably adopting heavily from the Freemo N community.  Minimum radius will be 14 inches, and maximum depth of scene will be 16 inches. DCC is a given (NCE Powercab expanded as needed).I also want to have some sort of nearly prototypical signal system - but prefer plug and play to complex relay based logic (@C855B  and @draskouasshat I'm looking at you both).  I also want to have a few more animated thingys, including grade crossings and lighting for buildings, etc. And of course, the Elkins Yard (late of the Wm Western Division) will be used as Baton Rouge Yard, which a few additional buildings.

I have used a free on-line railroad mapping tool (http://www.openrailwaymap.org/) to generate some maps of KCS operations in Baton Rouge in PDF format.  They are presented here as attachments to get people thinking about what might be forthcoming.

So, what do I need from the a$$hats today?  Not much.  Lets start with the KCS Switching District map (we'll get to the others later).  This is a rail served industrial area at the north end of the yard, which is switched by the yard directly as needed.  Could be a fun layout in and of itself (think Lance Mindheim's downtown spur or LAJ layouts).  But to do it would probably defy the 16 in depth rule (unless I do it as a series of peninsulas).  How would the rest of you approach it?

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[C855B]

Ugh. Plug-and-play doesn't really exist with signal systems. Signals - and turnout routing - both require a certain level of programming. You can plug in the bits, but telling the bits what to do, and when? Another story.

The closest I think to plug-and-play in your case would be the NCE Mini Panel. I've never used one, so somebody else needs to jump in here. It sounds like it would handle basic routing, detection and signaling, and is programmable from the NCE handset. However... and that said... I noticed on the NCE page about "automation" that there weren't a lot of words spent before going into the role of JMRI.

As to the switching district? Wow... that's a lot of wyes. Looks like an incredible amount of fun. Auto-reverser hell, however.   Peninsulas, yes. The reach problem is all those switches. You KNOW stuff's going to end up on the ground. I like Alsen west. That looks like fun, too. Something that could keep you and a crew busy until the wee hours.

[Philip H]

Alsen West is actually a major focus of my last layout - the three or four tracks on the extreme left of the PDF are for a Carbon Black plant.  The rest of the tracks are a holding/class yard operated by Watco (as the real Baton Rouge Southern) on the grounds of the former UTLX Tank Car service facility (Here's the current google maps satellite view: https://www.google.com/maps/@30.5814902,-91.236854,654m/data=!3m1!1e3).  That roundhouse looking ring was a geodesic dome (taken down by KCS in 2007) https://redstickmodern.files.wordpress.com/2007/11/geodesic-dome-north-baton-rouge.jpg

[Philip H]

So the Land Acquisition Department is pleased to announce the completion of a permanent right of way purchase (with attached service structures) composed of a 5 bedroom 2.5 bath house.  Bonus is that interchange with CSX will be easily accomplished since the property is located 200ish feet from the CSX mainline.  Pictures of potential layout spaces forthcoming.

[basementcalling]

So the Land Acquisition Department is pleased to announce the completion of a permanent right of way purchase (with attached service structures) composed of a 5 bedroom 2.5 bath house.  Bonus is that interchange with CSX will be easily accomplished since the property is located 200ish feet from the CSX mainline.  Pictures of potential layout spaces forthcoming.

Congrats on the roof over the hole in the ground for the railroad. 

[Philip H]

Congrats on the roof over the hole in the ground for the railroad. 

No holes in the ground down here - water table is too high.   

[Dave V]

So the Land Acquisition Department is pleased to announce the completion of a permanent right of way purchase (with attached service structures) composed of a 5 bedroom 2.5 bath house.  Bonus is that interchange with CSX will be easily accomplished since the property is located 200ish feet from the CSX mainline.  Pictures of potential layout spaces forthcoming.

Congratulations!

[wm3798]

Good news!  5 bedrooms!  I guess we should just go ahead and send furniture for the one we'll be in at least twice a year!

Lee

[eric220]

Congrats on the new digs!

For simple signaling, what about the Atlas system? (Assuming it's still being made.) The logic it created simply by daisy-chaining the control boards. One of their partners, Custom Signals, still seems to be up and running, so hopefully the parts are still out there.

http://www.customsignals.com/index.php

[davefoxx]

Congratulations, Philip!  Looking forward to seeing your next layout come to fruition.

DFF

[Philip H]

Good news!  5 bedrooms!  I guess we should just go ahead and send furniture for the one we'll be in at least twice a year!

Lee

You could . . . but you will have to pass the Red Headed Review Board . . . . and it has to be good enough for both my mom and my MIL . . . . .

Congrats on the new digs!

For simple signaling, what about the Atlas system? (Assuming it's still being made.) The logic it created simply by daisy-chaining the control boards. One of their partners, Custom Signals, still seems to be up and running, so hopefully the parts are still out there.

http://www.customsignals.com/index.php

I had looked at this for a while . . . but the non-Darth Vader signals in and around Baton Rouge are old classic type D's.  Frankly after seeing how @John made his I may well role my own for the signals them selves.  The detection and logic are still my millstones.

[wm3798]

MIL...what?

[Philip H]

MIL...what?

These days the Mother In Law is traveling south frequently to provide free child herding services during school breaks.  It maintains Philip's last vestiges of sanity.

[Philip H]

A couple of pics from a possible layout space in the garage:

The walls here are 9'4" on the wall with the carpet square and 10'5" on the adjacent wall to the right
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The new workbench (for household and wood working as well as model projects):
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And the pegboard wall to the right of the bench:
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There is also one spare bedroom inside upstairs that may be available. Negotiations continue.

[Kisatchie]

There is also one spare bedroom inside upstairs that may be available. Negotiations continue.

Hmm... I'm sure you can
wrangle 3 bedrooms for
the layout...