Brain storming bench work and track plans

durangedpenguin Feb 18, 2012

  1. durangedpenguin

    durangedpenguin TrainBoard Member

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    So still new to the board. I have been doing what research I can and putting together plans to start laying down bench work and track. Though I'm a little indecisive and was hoping for some outside input. I have my focal point of what I plan to model. I want to model the joint line in Denver around 1955-6 time frame...mix of steam and diesel. Also being able to model using multiple RRs. Namely D&RGW and Santa Fe. So Denver's Burnham North yard is my focal point of the layout. I am planning a double (Possibly Triple) deck layout. I may upset some fellow Rio fans but I am leaning toward not modeling Big Ten. I feel like my points are going to be from Pueblo to Denver, Denver to a helix (Big Ten Simulated), Out of the helix to Salt Lake City.

    I have attached a rough floor plan of what I have to work with, along with a map of Burnham yard. Not asking for someone else to draw it all out for me. Just would like some outside input. Haven't figured out how to take a snap shot with the Anyrail layout software I have yet. Any and all help and input is greatly appreciated. This will be my first layout on my own... so whatever knowledge I can get share with me...I'm happy to absorb.

    /R
    Justin C.
     

    Attached Files:

  2. MC Fujiwara

    MC Fujiwara TrainBoard Member

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    Welcome Aboard!

    What scale? You have a good space (especially if we don't have to worry about those shelves at the bottom), but it's going to be a big difference between N and HO (or any other!).

    Having three levels each with a yard (even a small one will take up moocho space) might be kind of boring. Dont' forget to leave room for trains to run through scenery! Check out Mark Dance's N scale Columbia & Western RR, either here on his YouTube channel or a great article in Model Railroad Planning 2012.

    How tall is your roof? If you want all those scenes you might consider a mushroom, style layout: will overlap some central area & cut down the helix lengths.
    Check out Tony Koester's Designing and Building Multi-Deck Model Railroads (Kalmbach, 2008).

    Instead of thinking in terms of towns, I suggest jotting down the specific scenes you want to see on your layout.
    Pueblo and Salt Lake City could be represented by staging, with Burnham yard being the central focus of the lower or middle level, but what scenes do you want to see your trains running through?
    What kind of industries?
    The steel & metal works or the granite works on the outskirts of Pueblo?
    Breweries around Denver?
    Branch-line mining / lumber anywhere along there?

    So I'd think about what scenes you want and what kind of operations you want your trains doing before deciding on a benchwork plan.
    I've designed a two-deck-plus-staging layout set in 1988 along the Tennessee Pass & into Pueblo in HO that might give you some ideas.
    The bottom deck is mainly for photography, watching trains run through key scenes.
    The "Pueblo" yard has the interchange with the UP line up to Denver, but look how "selectively compressed" Pueblo is.
    So we got the flavor: the overpass at the north end, the chemical treatment ponds that boarder it, the bridge over the Arkansas River at the south end.
    Originally we were going to have a metal works on the peninsula, just like south of Pueblo, but he wanted a brewery like around Denver (which was a wish but didn't make the layout) so we put in a brewery.
    So it's not a faithful-to-the-prototype layout, but one that attempts to capture the feel of some Colorado scenes.

    In N you'd have 4 times the layout with that much more room for scenery ;)

    Anyway, just some questions and thoughts to get us going.
    Looking forward to seeing your layout come to life!

    [To post pictures from AnyRail, you first need to "export" the AnyRail file into a JPEG file (far left menu at bottom), then upload the jpeg into either Google Photo or Photobucket or something like that and insert that URL into the Insert Images box.]
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 18, 2012
  3. paulus

    paulus TrainBoard Member

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    Hi,
    i completely agree with MC Fujiwara.
    BTW you seem to be an engine terminal lover, Burham had a huge one.
    The main reason for my comment is the size of your space.
    The short side seems to be 16'3'' while the longer side is labeled 10'6".
    The width of the shelves will be about 2 feet; under the layout lots of shelves are possible.
    Since you seem to be new to modelrailroading i would be careful before undertaking a 3 deck (on one deck you can have several levels)adventure.
    Even in HO you could build a great 16x10 single deck plan, needing a crew of 3 to operate, and probably taking more then 5 years to build.
    I am a little bit more modest then MC Fujiwara, i would say in N-scale you have 2 or 3 times as much railroad with that much room for scenery.
    Keep in mind human space can't be shrunk; should even be larger, more railroad means more operators.
    Have fun
    Paul
     
  4. Railroad Bill

    Railroad Bill TrainBoard Member

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    Well, I admire your intentions and am envious of your space. If you can get any thing like the Burnham Yard realized, it'd be great. One can create the functions and appearances of most scenes even when space constrained, but you might do it w/o serious compromise. After 3 yrs experience I now believe "less is more."

    Not sure why multiple levels are on your mind. Are you thinking yard and industry services on one level and cross-country touring on another? I'd find a way to do it on one level. For me one-over-one would compromise scenery/structures/details/vizibility/access of each level. Helix? My N-club (not N-trak) wants no part of them (portability) and my HO club has a permanent MRR and its helix is in an otherwise unusuable corner pocket of an irregular space. The helix dominates planning because its a space hog.

    Will enjoy seeing realization. (Ahh, in my dreams!)
     
  5. gregamer

    gregamer TrainBoard Supporter

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    To export a picture of your AnyRail layout go to File->Export As->Picture

    A box will pop up allowing you to choose tthe Entire Plan or View Area. I usually pick entire plan. And you can define th size in this box also.

    I like the yard. Noticed it looks like it has two roundhouses, will you do both of them? Is it a passenger station on the back side of the yard?
     
  6. durangedpenguin

    durangedpenguin TrainBoard Member

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    I appologize for not including my scale *Facepalm*. I am modeling in N scale. So I know that I have a pretty decent amount of space. I haven't put much thought into the industries...namely because I am still in the research/planning stages. I picked Denver for a few reasons. I've always loved the D&RGW, though there is always a place in my heart for Santa Fe. I have always wanted to run the California Zephyr. Now yes... I have also been tossing the idea around for going from Chicago to Denver which would give me all that track and scenery to model and I could do the switch over from CB&Q to Rio pulling of the Zephyr. Plus more Santa Fe action but at the sametime....less Rio. After Fujiwara asked about my ceiling height, and taking into account I still have to enclose the room. I am going to do a triple deck layout, but it will be more like a double. The 3rd deck will consist of hidden staging under the 1st deck. Hope that makes since. I have been trying to find as many sources for information for planning online but have coming up kinda short. I am planning a trip to denver later this year to do some railfanning and take some photos for reference. I realize this will be a long project but my goal is to have bench work up and track laid/started by the end of the year. Might be asking a lot, but setting a goal.
     

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