Hi all, this is a work in progress. I envision this as a loop/dogbone kind of thing with the two lines between the blobs vertically separated. The general idea is WP in the Feather River canyon between Oroville and Portola. A lot of the line there is seen from Hwy 70, across the river, against the canyon wall. I'm thinking this could be two levels against the wall, then model a shortline logging/sawmill in the foreground. I'm slowly building a roundhouse/turntable and would like to include it, but the time frame is really the early sixties so it's not a major focus, more a service/light repair thing. East/West staging and a freight yard could be both Oroville and Portola, really the only other industrial area was in Quincy, which also has a shortline, could be just a switcher in the yard. So the idea here is to get a folder of ideas together and sketch out a plan. HO Scale, 24" mainline so a large Loco or pass. cars can make an appearance, here's a rough sketch of the space avail.
There is something in the way of that limit shown at bottom, and you'd prefer to not cross a doorway? Can you bump out from the 18 foot side, with a small peninsula to gain a bit of added square footage?
Not really, crossing the door there's maybe 2' on the other side, not worth it. A narrow extension, (12" wide shelf?) is possible coming down the left side, but that's my dining/office area with a big window, so shelf only. About 8' to the wall, but Shelf Only. Could help with the staging, or maybe a logging side, but I gotta' live somewhere, lol.
Just for reference.. here is a basic dog-bone within your space.. one with 22" minimum radius, one with 28" minimum radius, and one with 28" minimum radius with the "red" portion showing the track you need to get "up/down" to have ~4" of elevation difference @ 2.5% grade. I mention this, because I fear you'd regret running long cars on 22"curves.. and show how much "level" track (blue) you'd have, with the elevation difference.
As a matter of fact I was just getting ready to post an update on my latest doodling, although you may see it as somewhat radical given the 4% grades on 24" radius curves, It's worked for me before with 40 and 50 foot cars, I've never tried longer ones.
I thought about this as an layout idea.. And the likes of these locomotives as power 1> 2> 3> 4> 5> 6> Of course starting with the John Bull train set concept.... Tom
