Detroit Connecting Railroad

[joem5127]

After a move, a remodel, new garage construction, an ongoing classic car project, and running a busy small business I’m ready to get started on a model railroad project. But I’m stuck. I’ve done some experimenting with hand laid turnouts and built the bench work that will be the start of the next layout but in a years’ time that’s as far as I have got. I have a problem when it comes to the next step, building it. I like it all. From the 1940’s to present day, back woods short lines to class 1 high iron. Big city brick canyons, appellation coal hauling, plain state grain collecting branch lines, to western ports, they all have their own appeal and I can appreciate them all. They all have their own unique challenges in capturing their flavor and atmosphere. All of this makes it hard for someone like me to pick a concept and stick with it. For some reason I have an attraction to late ‘50’s early ‘60’s Wabash. All Midwestern 1970’s roads, I grew up watching Big Blue so I have a soft spot for all things Conrail, and modern short lines and industrial tracks fascinate me. I also spend a lot of time in Detroit and have discovered the Detroit Connecting Railroad currently operated by the ADRIAN & BLISSFIELD RAIL ROAD GROUP. This little 2.5 mile industrial runs 2.5 mile south east from a connection with CN at Milwaukee Junction.

[joem5127]

My previous layout was an around the walls shelf depicting the Wabash Columbia Branch in Missouri. It was a successful layout in that it ran well had interesting ops and was a good test bed for honing my skills. Like all layouts it had it’s good and it’s bad points. Like many I have been recently influenced by the layout planning work of Stein Jr, Byron Henderson, Lance Mindheim, and others. After studding some of their plans and concepts and finding Trevor Marshall’s recent postings on achievable layouts I think I have settled in on a concept for my next layout. I think the 2.5 miles from the East Grand Blvd overpass to about the Mack Ave grade crossing in Detroit is perfect for shelf layout planning. Using Google Maps or Bing Maps Birdseye will give a quick over all view. The line has a couple of interesting customers and is just oozing with character. My first go at a plan for the layout is a blending of layout plans that have caught my eye along with a blending of the prototype. These plans are what got my mind going:


My "plan" so far. A marked up version of a Stein Jr. version of a Lance Mindheim concept.

I'm looking for some help in refining the plan and concept. The "givens": HO scale Space for stage 1 is a shelf 24" x 10'. It can bend around the right corner a few feet and onto a staging shelf about 12" wide max 6-8 feet long and can run a tail track further along the left wall about four feet. Track will be hand laid using PC and wood ties, code 70 and 55 rail. Control will be Digitrax DCC.

[joem5127]

I took these December of last year and are examples of the feel I want this layout to have.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

That is a VERY nice looking SW900 they have. Very classy.

[lajmdlr]

My previous layout was an around the walls shelf depicting the Wabash Columbia Branch in Missouri. It was a successful layout in that it ran well had interesting ops and was a good test bed for honing my skills. Like all layouts it had it’s good and it’s bad points. Like many I have been recently influenced by the layout planning work of Stein Jr, Byron Henderson, Lance Mindheim, and others. After studding some of their plans and concepts and finding Trevor Marshall’s recent postings on achievable layouts I think I have settled in on a concept for my next layout. I think the 2.5 miles from the East Grand Blvd overpass to about the Mack Ave grade crossing in Detroit is perfect for shelf layout planning. Using Google Maps or Bing Maps Birdseye will give a quick over all view. The line has a couple of interesting customers and is just oozing with character. My first go at a plan for the layout is a blending of layout plans that have caught my eye along with a blending of the prototype. These plans are what got my mind going:

My "plan" so far. A marked up version of a Stein Jr. version of a Lance Mindheim concept.

I'm looking for some help in refining the plan and concept. The "givens": HO scale Space for stage 1 is a shelf 24" x 10'. It can bend around the right corner a few feet and onto a staging shelf about 12" wide max 6-8 feet long and can run a tail track further along the left wall about four feet. Track will be hand laid using PC and wood ties, code 70 and 55 rail. Control will be Digitrax DCC.

Joe
You revision looks like it will be fun to switch. To switch the scrap yard looks like you could switch both them & Materials at the same time w/ their respective cars on both ends of your loco. Materials probably wouldn't like any other switching to "get in their way" but would work around when their cars were being switched out. Materials probably would get switched daily? & scrap yard once per week?. You could avoid that all together by having the scrap yard spur come off main siding thru a Xing thru the Materials siding.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I KNEW this sounded familiar.

The Detroit Connecting is actually one of the default routes in the Trainz Simulator game.
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/174/trainztb3.jpg/

[joem5127]

I downloaded Anyrail and roughly redrew what I was thinking.



 The scrap yard is one of the busier customers on the line. The materials unloading area is where an off line plastic molding customer transfers plastic pellets from rail cars to trucks. I added the second run around track for a place to hold off spot cars. You guys are right adding the material unloading area to the same lead as the busiest customer isn't the best idea. I thought is was sort of funny that it was included with Trainz, and from the screen shots everything is much too straight and clean.

[lajmdlr]

Joe
On the Los Angeles Junction Ry they have the Fruitland Team. It is 4 spur tracks for unloading pellets & flour/grain into trucks. And there's no building needed for unloading. But there is a small office building though. You could do the same thing using the middle siding. Just spread the tracks wide enough for a truck to drive between the tracks. You can see the team tracks by using "2575 Fruitland Ave 90058" in a Bing or Google map search. There are some tracks just west of Fruitland Team that used to be Santa Fe Vernon Team but now both teams are BNSF. Will have both teams on my layout. The Vernon Team gets alot of "shapes" as Santa Fe called any metal (usually steel) products. Recently there have been aluminum ingot stacks. They unload coil steel & all kinds of structural steel using an overhead crane on its own rails.
Andy Jackson
Bellflower CA