The New Northern Central

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Do they make a 4' version? 

Kidding aside, I actually have those for various curves. Don't know why I didn't get a straight one.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Took a break from futzing with track last night and decided to start mocking up some other scenes (because to make more linear progress I need to make sure everything works at this end).

So, I present the first draft of the Pershing Ave street running.

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[chuck geiger]

This is looking great, we have close to the same benchwork now. I am keeping 1" foam
and not really going any thicker. I have no real topo changes on this project. Way easier
for fascia.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

This is looking great, we have close to the same benchwork now. I am keeping 1" foam
and not really going any thicker. I have no real topo changes on this project. Way easier
for fascia.

Agreed. I went with half on this layer for that reason. The lower will likely be 1".

Also, I have learned that cutting through two layers of 1" is more than twice as easy as one layer of 2".

[Lemosteam]

The reason I hate using cork.  No way the railhead would be as high as the beltline of that Ford Fairlane!

[Ed Kapuscinski]

The reason I hate using cork.  No way the railhead would be as high as the beltline of that Ford Fairlane!

Yeah, it's an issue, but I'll solve that problem easily with some foamcore (the way I did on Windsor St).

Worked out quite well.

[davefoxx]

Even if Ed had laid the track right down on the foam (loud!), he still would have to build up the road to just shy of the railhead.  So foam core, more cork, etc. will work fine to raise the road.  As he pointed it out, it worked out really well on the Windsor Street layout, so I'm sure it'll be all good here, too.

DFF

[garethashenden]

Another vote for the abandoned factory idea. Love some dereliction. Its easy to do badly, difficult to do well.

[LIRR]

it's easier to raise the adjacent areas after the cork/track is down than it is lowering the track after the structures/scenery is complete...

[OldEastRR]

So I hit on another idea... what about modeling it as an abandoned siding? Cut the track right there at the crossing, include the derelict mill building, etc... I think this has real possibilities.

The real area has inspiration for both options.

What do you guys think?

How about just the foundations left of the old building? That way you could not only have them of the main structure but also the foundations of smaller buildings and added-on wings for when production expanded-- giving you a bigger phantom footprint.  Maybe even have one of the smaller structures still standing, or part of one with an obviously new-brick wall where it used to attach to the main building. When those old factories wanted to increase output, they stuck on additions any old way to fit the need.

Look at the layout of this model I did for jdcolombo, based on a factory built in 1889 and added to for the next 50 years:



OR, you could fill the area with heavy forest vegetation -- fill that open space. I hear that if you do 3 trees a night you'll get it scenicked in no time. 

[Ed Kapuscinski]

If it's worth doing once, it's worth doing again...

So I got started laying out the yard throat for the north end of Windsor St yard. One of the big problems I was thinking about, and that I had talked about before, was that there was no clearance for a northbound train (heading right to left) to make a pickup off of a yard track without asking for head room from the dispatcher. Everything was then going to be quite claustrophobic even with that since your power would disappear into the pit of staging pretty quickly (where there be dragons).

By switching this up like this, road trains coming down the runner (the top track that ties back in) can make pickups more easily from the yard (at least on the upper tracks). Instead of having 0" of head room, I'll now have 42" from the top track. That means that a smart yard master will use those tracks northbound pickups and set outs and crews will at least have a fighting chance.

This adjustment also gives me more room for a signal bridge for the interlocking and I like the visual of the mast signal for the track coming out of the yard the way it is in the new plan much better than it was before.

Of course, there were some trade offs. Four of them.
1. It meant having to remove an already installed (and powered) turnout.
2. I lose some track length in the bottom yard tracks, but I can live with that since they're already really long.
3. I now have an S curve coming into the bottom most yard track but I'm thinking that'll be a move that's barely ever made.
4. The north end of the REAL Windsor St yard is much more like the old plan than the new one. It was one of the few places where I had been actually replicating prototype track arrangements and that's now going out the window. But I figure what's one more finger in the eye of the prototype gods?



So what do you guys think of the modifications?

[Dave V]

Ed,

So rather than a wholesale change where runners are running down the ladder, why not keep the old, more prototypical plan and just add a crossover in the upper right between the running track and the ladder?  That way you have the functionality of both plans.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Ed,

So rather than a wholesale change where runners are running down the ladder, why not keep the old, more prototypical plan and just add a crossover in the upper right between the running track and the ladder?  That way you have the functionality of both plans.

Interesting thought.

The reason that immediately springs to mind is that it'll mean two more switches that really won't have much actual need. I can't picture what I'd use the "bypass" track for at this end of the yard since most of the work happens at the other end.

I'm ok with the aesthetic compromise for the improved simplicity.

[Dave V]

I'm guessing in general you may regret having to send a through train into staging through 6 additional turnouts in the new plan.  Just a thought.

[C855B]

... 3. I now have an S curve coming into the bottom most yard track but I'm thinking that'll be a move that's barely ever made. ...

I try not to make the assumption that any yard move is infrequent relative to the rest, especially for a track next to the main that is a potential impromptu "get out of the way!" pocket. That it's one of the longest doesn't help matters.

Unless I'm momentarily blind to another operation opportunity, it appears that most of what you're doing here is eliminating the bypass. Just shift the ladder to the bypass location and call 'er "done".