Orchid and Exchange a VR branch

S class Dec 20, 2010

  1. S class

    S class TrainBoard Member

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    Hi all, not my first post but the count is low currently I have been lurking about here for sometime due to a lack of anything modeling related but as a slight change in life has occurred I can get back into it for my second layout.

    first though the essentials


    Layout type: modular
    Size : 400mm wide (6”) by 900mm long (3’)
    Total length of layout: 2700mm (9’)
    Track Atlas Code 55, #7 turnouts on main line and #5 turnouts on sidings, one Peco code 55 double slip
    Minimum radius is about 250mm (10")
    Era: early 90’s- 95
    Time of year: September (southern hemisphere late winter/early spring)
    Prototype: Generic albeit heavily influenced by Vicrail/V/line (former Victorian Railways)
    Expected rolling stock: small locos and short/light bogie stock
    Focus: on paper and timber industries.

    Orchid and the exchange is my newest and second true layout, it has its roots in the V/line tangerine era and represents the remainder of a small Victorian railways branchline, which in the 1990’s were being economically rationalised to allow for privatisation (getting Jeffed as it was known after the Victorian premier at the time Jeff Kennett, English readers would know this as being Beachinged). For what was once a through station on a much larger line it has now been truncated at the settlement of Orchid, a half horse town that survives on the local agriculture and the most important employer in the district – the paper mill. This mill is also the reason that orchid still has any rail service to allow trains to shunt through the exchange sidings to the mill where container wagons are loaded with paper for export and covered wagons are loaded with newsprint for printers in the ‘big smoke’. Loads in to the mill consist of single loads of Kaolin clay and occasionally a flat wagon with a refurbished rotor or other piece of machinery is brought in or out though mostly it is empty wagons for loading and empty containers. At the town end of the mill the company has leased out a disused siding formerly used for unloading now ceased inbound loads of coal (the mill having switch over to piped gas/electricity in the 80’s) is used by a local timber cutting company and mill to load sawn logs for export, finished timber for construction/ furniture making and woodchips for recycling.

    I’m considering several things with the layout, as it stands I know I can easily move a single 900mm long module but I am considering making two of the modules 1200mm (4’) long with the last module still at 900, giving a total length of 3100 mm or 3.1 meters (11’) this would allow the yard area to expand out allowing longer trains and partially remove the need a switch back in order to access the mill area, the plan is still under consideration I would like to keep it linear I’ll play around with this and report back on my decision but any comments on this would be appreciated.
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    for some Jehovah unkown reason the images seem to want to embed in the text:tb-mad: but hopefully they'll come out good, the images are first of the two left modules and the right hand one, unfortunately I can't get it all in the picture for anyrail to do one image and as this laptop runs vista any attempt to opening some software to stitch them together promptly crashes the machine (and it's only just been rebuilt). more to come in the post christmas period as I need to go get me some wood.

    comments and criticism are appreciated and always considered
     
  2. S class

    S class TrainBoard Member

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    0
    8
    [​IMG]

    Considering this plan with the mill off at 90 degrees makes the sidings much more usable, moves the mill away from the town and makes the spurs longer and able to hold more

    the main boards are now 1200mm (4') long and the mill is still 900mm (3'), gonna try one more with the 900 linear tonight.

    the only problem I have with this plan is the faffing about to make the curve into the mill
     

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