That's awesome. I still have a lot to learn about all aspects of this so something like that could be helpful. The reshuffling I mentioned above will likely give me a little bit of bedroom space to maybe do a partial around the room type of shelf layout. I also have a back porch I enclosed some time back to make it an air conditioned dog cave for my Great Pyrenees, but he passed and now that room isn't really being used. So, there are options.
I made my first purchase to start building fleet power courtesy of @Atani. All are DCC equipped and the two UP units have sound. Can't wait to see these dragging cars around the layout someday! UP 2953 - Intermountain 69327D-01* SD40-2 (ESU LokPilot Select) UP 2964 - Intermountain 69327D-03* SD40-2 (ESU LokPilot Select) BNSF 9836 - Kato 176-6303 SD70MAC BNSF 1005 - Kato 176-3802 C44-9W BNSF 877 - Atlas 40 002 689 Dash 8-40CW BN 2091 - Atlas #47812 GP38-2 BN 2813 - Atlas #47408 GP-30
I've tossed around a few different ideas for what to do with an upper level and today I sketched up a concept design that I think I'll start working on. There's really no need for BNSF and UP to share track in this area since they basically have mainlines that go to all the same major cities in Texas, but I like and want to model both of them. So, I spent some more time studying Google Earth and railroad maps in Texas and came up with a prototypical "loop" utilizing locations where the two railroads cross each other and have prototype connection tracks. BNSF and UP could actually share these tracks if they wanted to. Lower level is all BNSF mainline (blue). I'm going to make the upper level all UP mainline (red). The places they cross and connect with each other on my not-so-imaginary loop are Temple, Caldwell and McGregor. That'll be somewhat prototypically reflected in my layout with crossings and diverging tracks running off layout to wherever they go. They won't share yards but they will share mains. You've seen plenty of the lower level. Here's a concept of the upper level... Here's the overview on Google Earth...
Howdy friends! It's been a minute since I posted any updates on here. Truth be told, I've been going back and forth on several different route options. When I started this I had a few goals in mind... A somewhat prototypical layout of a location in Texas. BNSF was going to be the main operator. I wanted a location that realistically allowed some traffic from Union Pacific and possibly a short line or two. Some amount of passenger service (but not a lot). Using the BNSF Temple Yard as a focal point made (and still makes) perfect sense for me. I drive over that yard about 10 times a week and everything going 60 miles north and south from there is pretty convenient for me to railfan. As you can see below, the opportunities for this area are endless. BNSF has yards in Temple and Somerville. Union Pacific has yards in Taylor, Smithville, Hearne, and Waco. There are at least half a dozen short lines operating in the area. There are military trains to Fort Hood. A huge logistics yard in Taylor. BNSF and UP share rights on many of the lines and crisscross each other at many locations. The possibilities in this area just go on and on and on. That being said, lately I've been becoming more and more of a Union Pacific fan. Admittedly, this is partially because my wife has taken and interest in the hobby and she is UP all the way for some reason. I think it's the flags on the engines. Union Pacific comes across as 'Merica to her. And with multiple yards and lots of traffic in this same area, it would be plenty easy to make UP the main operator on my layout with guest appearances from BNSF. Plus I grew up watching Southern Pacific trains roll through my hometown, so it's a bit nostalgic in that way. But there's also a little corner of northeast Texas I've taken an interest in. Union Pacific has a decent sized yard in Longview that has caught my eye. One thing that makes this yard especially appealing to me is that BNSF has a small yard immediately adjacent to it (orange and green lines at the bottom of the pic below), so I could have sort of a combined yard. There's also an Amtrak station here and with routes going to New Orleans, Memphis, St Louis, Kansas City, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, and Beaumont...well, there's a lot of freight traffic. Bonus...the area I'm looking at also crosses and interchanges with CPKC. I have no allegiance to CPKC but their engines do look cool. So, I'm sort of in limbo right now on further design until I pick a spot to stick with. Union Pacific Longview Yard Possible Loop Route for Modeling Zoomed Out Map Anyway, I'm really just sharing this because I find these maps fascinating. There is certainly no shortage of places to go watch trains and think about modeling around here!
Nothing to see here. I'm still waiting for space to come available to build an actual layout, so in the meantime I just keep messing around with different track plans for a future dream layout. Did a little noodling on that this weekend and came up with this for the yard and industrial area. This is more prototypical than the previous version in some ways, and in other ways a bit less so...
So many "Wow!s" already... mine won't even register lol! You've certainly set yourself an ambitions project. Some interesting track plans inorporating the north side factory complex. That area was nothing but farmland when I was a boy (my house was on the north side just south of I-35). However, seems like you like the idea of a point to point layout that reaches to Cameron. That would give you many more opportunities for different scenery. I have a suggestion - on your North Temple and Industry Turnaround Loop photo, maybe you could make your turnaround go east and then turn into the UP line down and through Temple to the BNSF/UP crossing. You could incorporate pieces of the BNSF yard and engine facilities, even the Santa Fe station, in the northern loop and also industries and sidings of the UP. Then, continuing south past the crossing, you could include some small towns and industries to Cameron and then the loop could swing east and then north and become the BNSF approaching from the SE, making a figure-8 layout. Since you plan to run trains from various railroads, this shouldn't be a problem for operation. Whatever you plan, I can't wait to see how it comes out! .
Thanks for the feedback! The design has changed many times since I first endeavored to do this, and what I'm working on right now is a double decker that incorporates both BNSF and UP lines running into and around the Temple/Caldwell/Waco area. It takes the BNSF line south from Temple down to Caldwell, then hops on a UP line that goes through Valley Junction and works its way up to Waco, and then follows the UP line from Waco back down to Temple. Basically a big loop incorporated into a double deck layout running both BNSF and UP. Right now this is all just theory though. It's a dream layout for a space I don't yet have. My hope is to clear up some space in our current house soon and get to work on a much smaller layout. It may be based on the same area but will be much more condensed.
