OK sports fans, time for an update on the SLSF ArkLaTex Subdivision. I now have 1x4 pieces of wood on either side of the hollow-core door (HCD) to prevent sagging, thus givimg me an additional 1 1/2 inches of width (for a total of 27 1/2 inches of width). With this width, I've added another 1" layer of pink foam to the top of the HCD (first removing the track & roadbed), and am relaying the railroad using slightly wider radii on the curves (11 inches, which for a secondary main line works well. Still using code 55 and 40 in the visible areas, and code 80 in staging. The paper mill and foliage on the right will help hide the track's going into staging, while a highway bridge (hel-loooo, Rix Products) will help hide the left side. This is my latest version of the layout: I also added another siding in the front end that ties into the interchange track. Still no idea what RR I'll be interchanging with, but it's a tossup between KCS and MP. Control is still going to be old-fashioned block wiring and cab control. I am still toying with the idea of having a separate locomotive dedicated to the paper mill. The center of the layout so far is depicted as a parking lot, but I may put something else there to fill in the blank space- not sure what it will be, but most likely it won't be rail-related.
Nice Plan! Lots of operations possibilities while keeping the orbiting option...sweet. Will the black line in front of the staging track be a backdrop/divider extending up high enough to have sky, or will it be a viewblock of trees, hills, or building flats without any sky that is only high enough to hide the staging tracks? I prefer viewblocks more than backdrops/dividers because: 1. with just a slight lean forward over the layout I'm able to see what was hidden behind the viewblocks, but if I had a higher backdrop or divider, I'd have to lean in very far or have access from the other side; 2. if the divider is tall enough to have sky but short enough to see over, it will be just about impossible to take photos of the layout from railfan height without showing the top edge of the sky; 3. I've never been happy with my attempts to disguise the side edges of dividers I had on previous layouts--mounting smokestacks on the edge is nice in concept but, to me, disappointing in execution; 4. if the divider is extended in a curve all the way to the back corners of the layout (so you don't have the side edges to disguise but you maximize the visible surface of the layout), and is tall enough to have sky to the top of pictures taken at railfan height, then a narrow layout becomes 3 to 6 inches shallower at its center...and viewblocks can hide the staging without making the layout any shallower; 5. securing an easily removable/returnable higher backdrop/divider to the surface of a HCD might require some fancy engineering (but is certainly do-able).
It's a solid plan. A good amount of interest. Switching. Two sites for meeting trains. Or running around. Beyond the layout imagined with an interchange track. I'd have a scenic division placed somewhere in the middle. Go for it! Boxcab E50
I was thinking more of a slight rise in the scenery, covered with greenery & trees, using trees to disguise the presence of the staging yard. It allows me to keep an eye on the staging yard, but you really can't see the yard too readily unless you peer thru the trees. Any backdrops on the layout will be behind the staging yard on the other side. A blue backdrop looks better than a beige wall, IMO. The turnouts in the staging yard are old-fashioned Atlas code 80 remote-control-operated ones, which will be worked with switches at the dront end of the layout. All other turnouts are or will be manually operated (Caboose Industries ground throws). Returning to a trick I used on a recent layout, I'll paint one side of the handle green and the other red, to signify straight & diverging routes.
I like the ideas for a low rise of hills and trees. A few other ways to help obscure it: Draw attention away from the area / tree line Spot lights on other areas Super details in other areas - not too much near the visual barrier Paint the area beyond the barrier flat black Use dark colored cars on the waiting train If I was going to change anything - and that's a big if - I would add a spur between the two buildings:
C'mon....I know you want to....I'd do it. Reason is that it's a small layout and it gives you another place for cars and it'll add interest to switching the mill. It won't take up any space (you can bash the building a bit and shorten it up so you don't gain any mass on the building footprint) and papermills have LOTS of trackage usually so you have a prototypical reason for it. I like your plan and think you've got a winner. Just remember to post progress pics for those of us that still haven't started our layouts yet so we can feel even worse that we don't have a great layout like this of our own. Good luck!
Coupling/uncoupling access in the original plan could be eased by staggering the buildings a little more. But, if you slant the 3 sidings near Building 3 toward the back right corner, it will be a little bit easier to reach the cars for uncoupling/coupling. Of these two arrangements, I prefer the slanted one...not only because of the easier access for coupling/uncoupling, but also because being able to see three sides of a building makes the entire layout seem bigger. With a little judicious placement of the buildings, you can make it difficult to see all three sidings at the same time.
That second building in the paper mill complex is the kraft mill- I haven't tried to squeeze a spur between the buildings, but I would have to work around the restriction from the footprints of the buildings. However, it's worth a look, and I DO have some extra code 40 track................ The back area will be painted black- I left it uncolored in this diagram for clarity's sake. The staging track would hold the daily through train and the local, at various times in operation- plus allow some ol' fashioned roundy-round running. Let me try the suggestions out, and I'll report on the results..............
Dave, while everything you say is correct there is a certain "character" to the hidden sidings. If it was a long reach, part of an over all ergonomic issue, or part of a industrial modual I'd say make the change. Since the siding can be reached from the right side I don't see a major issue. Just my perspective. There may be elements I am unaware of.
One other thing I was going to mention which I'm going to do on my layout is instead of having the view block for my staging being a backdrop, I'm moving the sky board/back drop to the rear of the layout and I'm placing a small tree lined hill in front of my hidden tracks. My reasoning was that it would almost be like rail fanning on my own layout. You know how you get excited when you can just see a train on the other side of a hill though the trees? That's what I'm going for. And also being able to actually see where the trains are in the staging (mine will be three tracks in the back similar to your layout) will be an advantage for me. Just another random thought for you to consider.
That's what I'm planning on my layout, except any trains in staging are gonna be really hard to see thru the trees...........gets the curiosity factor up in the visitors.
