Now that I have finally settled in the new house and have done all the stuff the wife wanted I can finally look towards my train room and getting things rolling on the layout. I did a smaller "fantasy" layout before we moved and although I enjoyed it I don't like not having a prototype to go off of. For my layout I have a roughly 6x5 space for a layout and I have gone back and forth between what I was going to do, first I was going to do a smaller circular layout for constant train running but I have always enjoyed switching so it led to me to the shelf layout type. I am thinking of doing a upside down reverse L shelf layout, which I could make a full layout later on if I choose but for right now I will keep it simple to help ensure I finish. With this layout I have tried to do as much research I could in terms of industries and location and came up with the following plan. I wanted to fit as many industries in there I could while not trying to crowd things to bad and still have a small "yard." I included Hood Industries, which is on the old Greenville Branch, to have a different type of rolling stock on the layout but I do worry it makes things a bit crowed. Also, does anyone that knows the Ayer area/rail traffic know what type of gondolas the recycling center gets? I can see them on Google Maps but I cannot tell if they are standard or higher thrall gondolas. Feedback is welcomed as I am still very undecided but hoping to get things rolling soon before the warmer weather comes and the lake distracts me from the layout.
Sorry, I can't offer any info on gondolas, nor any insights about Ayer beyond what I gleaned from a short look at Google Maps just now. I did, however, find Devens Recycling along Independence (but not a track leading toward it in the Google Maps images of 2011...it was nicely landscaped, no outdoor recycling activities/materials readily apparent, and relatively close to a school) and Micron Plastics (rail service at a nearby structure?), but also several other industries with rail service (Regency Warehouse & Distribution, New England Sheets, Catania-Spagna, Silpro, Horizon Milling, Nasoya foods, CPF). Is there another Devens Recycling structure that DOES have rail service that I didn't find? Or, are you modeling an earlier decade when it did receive rail service, perhaps from the southeast along the north side of Quiet Logistics? I like your idea of picking industries served by a variety of car types. There seem to be several to choose from. Do you know if the intermodal yard also served as a smaller satellite yard for cars transfered from a larger yard to Ayer by one train (??the Ayer Transfer??), and then sorted and distributed to all the nearby industries by a different loco(s) permanently assigned to this yard (?the "Ayer Local")? Or did the same loco bring cars from a larger yard, pick up and set out at all the Ayer Industries, and then took all the pickups to a major yard (like a roadswitcher moving between two major yards), or was it the "Ayer Turn" coming out to Ayer and returning to the same yard from which it originated? This 6x5 L could provide a nice Turn. Depending on how deep you want your shelf to be, it would be possible to set up 1 or 2 staging tracks (each track holding 6 or 7 cars) behind industries along the top of the L (behind Horizon Milling), and pull cars to the intermodal y ard, and pick up and set out cars at any industries with trailing points (Horizon, Hood, Catania-Spagna, Micro Plastics, etc) and then push the pickups back into staging; then pull the second cut of cars from staging, run around them and push them into the industries along the other leg of the L (Intermodal, Devens, etc--assuming the Devens spur was laid out with the turnout at the top of this leg of the L instead of nearer the bottom), and then run around again to push all the pickups back into staging. The Staging tracks would be hidden behind building flats that could be easily moved so that you could "fiddle" cars in staging, and also for ease of maintenance. It would be good to position the turnout to the two staging tracks so the turnout points are visible (not hidden) and the couplers between the loco and the first car on the staging track(s) can be seen and also can be reached for coupling/uncoupling with a pick and/or coordinating magnetic coupling/uncoupling. You could have the track from staging connect with the diverging route of a right turnout into the inner runaround track serving the turnout to Devens, and the straight route connecting to the outer runaround track in the corner near Micro Plastics. The staging turnout's diverging curve would connect to the straight route at the the top of a left turnout, whose diverging route would connect to the track toward Horizon and C-S, and Hood, and whose base would connect to the base of a right hand turnout diverging into Devens and the Devens turnout straight route pointing to the bottom end of the leg of the L. For a more challenging switching assignment, 3 of the cars in each cut would go to trailing point industries and 3 would go to facing point industries. To preserve your sanity, you might need to configure your yard tracks to have 3 tracks with access at each end (2 ways to make a runaround instead of only one) plus a (stub) track for Devens and at least 1 stub track for your intermodals. Note that the stub tracks will have 4 or 5 car capacity but double-ended will reduce to only 1 or 2 (because of needing escape for [at least] one loco plus the turnout, plus a S-curve as long as the turnout to get back parallel to the main track.
Finally have my bench-work done, ordered some flex track tonight but still undecided on the layout design. I felt although the previous one gave me ample switching operations it was to crowded/cluttered. I took out a couple of industries and expanded the yard a bit (will have a extension piece at the bottom of the yard for switching), still feels like it isn't perfect but I feel like I may be on the right track. Any suggestions welcomed.
