Merry Christmas. In some sort of Christmas miracle I have accomplished more towards an actual layout today than in the entire year! I have been floating the idea of a switching module that is expandable based on the late Wolfgang Dudler's West Port Terminal Railway/Third St. Industrial District (originally by Bill Baumann). I built the benchwork and gave it a go nearly 8 months ago and had to rip up my track when I couldn't quite see how my overall concept would work. Many months of frustration later I finally arrived at an Anyrail track plan that made sense to me enough to give it another crack. Using my day off and my recent shot in the arm I managed to get all the track cut, test fitted, and glued down! It is a mix of atlas code 55 and code 80.
I will elaborate further on the industries as I finalize. I am thinking a furniture compan/ some manufacturer out of one of the mill looking buildings and maybe a small recycle paper mill out of the other (based on Coy Paper in Claremont which has 1 service spur). The lower 3 track yard will be my fictitious railroads car shops for maintenance/cleaning/inspection. I plan on using something like the Pikestuff Shops with the wall adjacent to the edge of the layout replaced with plexiglass and the inside detailed. The spur going towards the station is intended to be a lumber yard...the spur across the mainline with the shack next to it will be my terminal railway's engine facility with a fuel truck idling away etc.
Well... Aside from that tricky code 80/55 transition which isnt shown as complete in the pic, it looks like the next step is to drop some feeders to my blocks (this will be DC with a fascia panel). Turnout control for the kato and peco points will be by hand and I will likely use tortoise on the mainline code 55 turnouts and maybe some spst for the turnouts that branch off that. (have a handful of tortoises in a box from a previous layout).
Any comments/criticism/feedback is welcome!
Track work and electrical are my 2 least favorite tasks (I would take ballasting anyday over them)...however I am VERY excited to have the track all tested, wired and ready for scenery!
My fictitious road will interchange with the Boston Maine and the era is likely going to end up being early 80s/late 70s (excuse the modern Shell gas station, if I am up to it I may build an interchangable gas station to take the place of the dennys/shell for my vintage era)
I envision old BM RDC's as commuter, and Amtrak f40s/amfleet phase 3's as passenger stock and various BAR/MEC/BM locos coming through town. Other tentative modules will include a large bridge scene with multiple walthers double truss bridges and another smaller industrial complex (likely a larger paper mill ala Mark Dance's or Claremont's APC/Claremont Paper receiving oil, pulpwood, Kaolin, shipping spent liquor finished paper..this module will likely also feature a small scrap yard.
Kind Regards,
Mike
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