Hoss, if this was my layout I wouldn’t have the single track at the end of the peninsula. I operate my layout by myself and like to have 2 trains running unattended while I switch the yard. I would use substandard curves (which are still broad for N) to let me run more trains. If you will mostly have an operating crew and rarely run the layout by yourself then the bottleneck becomes an asset requiring your crew to coordinate to get trains through the single track sections efficiently.
I'll certainly keep that in mind. I'm still very much working through the design (see post below) so feedback like that is good to have.
My wife and I went railfanning along the route I'm modeling over the weekend. Our goal was to take photos of trains and interesting buildings and scenery along the way that would look good on the layout. However, it also caused me to rethink how I want to situate the yard. While it worked okay, I never really liked the thought of having my trains go out the south end of the yard just to immediately circle around and "pretend" to head south. So, I decided to turn the layout sideways and make a few other changes. Now trains leaving to the south with go south for a while and trains leaving to the north will go north for a while and north and south are separated by a partition. North and south also don't magically connect at the end anymore either, making it a twice around. I also took out any sort of turnaround track just to simplify wiring. While I like the idea of being able to turn an entire train around, that can also be done in the yard by running the locos around the train so it isn't really necessary and creates complications I don't really need. I whipped together a rough sketch on MS Paint yesterday... And then did a little work on Rail Modeller Pro last night... I'm obviously not done yet. The thought (goal) is to have a single mainline (dark blue) that is the priority track. This one will be for the fast freights or passenger trains that can be set out for continuous running until I get tired of watching them run. While a train is running continuous I can be switching in the yard, serving some industries, or trying to work other trains along the mainline by using sidings or the areas that have double main. It would be super easy (as Country Joe noted above) just to do double main everywhere and I may end up doing that, but I kinda have mixed feelings on that because it isn't prototypical for the line I'm modeling. Anyway, more to come as I continue to refine and hopefully improve the design.
Today I did a little Googling to get a better understanding of how rail yards operate and realized there are a few minor changes I can do to make the yard operate more efficiently...
One thing I'm considering since I took the turnaround connections out is adding a turntable at my engine service area. The prototype one in Temple uses a wye to turn engines... ...but I don't have room for a wye at my engine service area. I was under the impression that turntables were somewhat obsolete, but I found a BNSF article that said BNSF still has 33 active turntables in use nationwide. Like this one in Phoenix... My other option is the giant hand out of nowhere, which is highly efficient but not so prototypical.
I would go with the turntable but keep in mind that I’m not a prototype modeler. If the turntable would enhance operations and make the layout more fun that would be good enough for me. I consider the prototype less important than good operation. My approach is not for everyone and may not work for you. Some model railroaders enjoy the hobby most by modeling their prototype as closely as possible. All layouts are a compromise between prototype fidelity and what works in the available space. You have to decide how much you are willing to compromise to have a layout that you truly enjoy.
I like the idea of keeping it as prototypical as possible, but I'm giving myself enough grace to do what I want or what works best for the space I have. I don't feel too bad about adding a turntable because I know BNSF and UP both still use turntables to turn engines at various yards around the country. Grace extended. Another example of grace I'm extending to myself is the end of line loops below. This area is likely going to be very Telelchapi-esque in appearance even though Telechapi Loop is in California and I'm modeling Texas. The inside track may even be in a tunnel. I'll call it the Texas Telechapi! : )
I spent a little time this weekend working on the industrial area north of the yard. In real life this area is called Central Point Rail Yard and I recently learned it isn't operated by BNSF originally thought. Instead, it's operated by the Temple & Central Texas Railroad. You may or may not recall that it sort of makes a loop north of the Temple Yard and many industries are served by TCTR on this loop... Real world, this "loop" is somewhat divided into two sections I'll call north and south because the track is no longer continuous where the boulevard cuts across. The north end is served by the trio of SD40-2's I posted on page 3. The south end is served by a GP38-2 and a SW1500 (also pictured on page 3). I don't really have the space to create a loop like the prototype but I wanted to try to re-create the same idea. Below, the lavender colored tracks represent the loop operated by TCTR. I've put a section of track outside the mains and a section of track inside the mains. I'll have a pair of TCTR SD40-2's painted like the prototypes serving the outside industries and a GP38-2 and SW1500 serving the inside industries. The idea is to keep them off the mains as much as possible. They'll handle switching and industry service on the lavender tracks and a local BNSF train will pick up and drop off. This entire area will be elevated above the yard and inside mains. I'm not sure how much yet though. Probably around 3 inches. Tracks Shown Dark Blue - Main 1 (priority) Light Blue - Main 2 Lavender - TCTR Lime - Temple Yard
I also did some work on the engine service area this weekend. This part of the service area was intended to closely mimic the prototype in Temple, except that real world the service area is a mile or so south of the yard. I just put it at the south end of the yard to save space. Real world... My world... I had an issue though. Real world they have a wye (see a few posts above) to turn engines around. I don't have space for that so I opted for a turntable. This isn't prototypical for the actual Temple Yard, but BNSF does still have 33 active turntables they use nationwide (one example from their Phoenix yard shown above), so I justified it as a space saver. My wife got super excited when I mentioned the turntable because apparently she has memories of one, so that's a bonus. And since I was adding a turntable I took a few other liberties as well with a few tracks I thought might be useful.
The next thing to work through was trying to fit the Amtrak Station / Texas Railroad & Heritage Museum in with the new configuration, as well as the Central Texas Model Railroaders building. These are two facilities I really want on the layout that are positioned across the mainlines from the engine service yard. Making them fit was a bit of a challenge but I think I found something workable. Here's the prototype... And my version... The mainlines running around the outside of the station aren't prototypical, but they're necessary for the twice around loop. They'll be elevated so that will help, but I'm not sure how high yet.
Here's the overall design as of this morning. Aside from the updates I posted last night (above), I also shortened the yard and yard leads. The A/D tracks will accommodate trains approximately 12-13 feet long. The longest classification track is about the same. Yard leads are approximately 12 feet as well. I want to be able to run mainline trains in the 10-12 feet range so I shortened the yard to accommodate that length (previously it would handle 15-16 foot trains). Happy Monday!
I’m thinking 3 diesel locomotives and 30 50’ freight cars would be just under 12’ long. While considerably shorter than prototype trains a 30 car train feels very long in N scale so I think you’ll be happy with the slightly shorter trains.
That’s my thought as well. Running a prototypical mile long train or more would be 33+ feet long. I could still do that but building a yard to accommodate that would take a LOT of space. That said, the ladder tracks at the yard I’m modeling are only about 7/10ths of a mile, so BNSF struggles with the same issue at the Temple yard as I will on my layout. I could certainly pull cuts from 2-3 classification tracks though and run trains in the 20-30 foot range.
I think I could make a hobby just out of layout design. This is fun. There's still a lot of blank canvas in the rural area of the layout that I'll continue working on, but I feel like things are coming together nicely on the revised benchwork design. Comments and feedback are welcome, of course. More comments as you scroll through the pics (because everyone loves pics). Track Legend Overview Central Point Rail Park (operated by Temple & Central Texas Railroad) North End of Yard South End of Yard Rogers Cameron to Rosenberg Union Pacific Rosenberg Yard This was an exciting find for me. As I was Google Earthing along BNSF's line looking for towns and industries to model I discovered that BNSF and UP lines meet in Rosenberg and that UP has a small yard there. The BNSF and UP mainlines both run adjacent to the yard and there are interchange/crossover/diamond tracks for either railroad to enter the yard or each others' lines. I don't know how they operate prototypically there, but it gave me further reason to justify running both BNSF and UP trains on my layout while also adding some interesting operations on the "other" end of the layout. I plan to visit Rosenberg in the near future and do a little railfanning. With two busy lines there going to Houston it looks like a fun spot to watch trains. Texas Tehachapi No such thing exists in Texas. There are no loops and to the best of my knowledge no tunnels either, but I want there to be some elevation difference between the outside lines and the inside lines on the layout and this presents a great way to help facilitate that. Plus it will look cool. That's where I'm at for now!
Model railroad planning IS its own hobby!!! Texas has oil wells, wind turbines, nuclear power plants, plains, forests, mountains, deserts, swamps, ... just about everything, including the Quitaque Railway Tunnel, which was in use from 1930 to 1989, and is now part of a state park trail.
Seriously, I've been having so much fun just during the design part of this that I told my wife I thought it would be fun to start a side gig just designing layouts. Probably not much demand for that though. Clarity Tunnel is on my list of places to go hike. I've only seen pictures but that hike and bike trail out there looks awesome.
Yeah, not sure what the market would be, serving clients that want you to design their layout, but that want to build it themselves. The two activities would best go together. I see layouts on Trainboard that I sometimes take a whack at with XtrakCAD and Unitrack, just to see how some idea I'm thinking about might work out. It's fun and relaxing, kinda what I like about this hobby.
It seems to me that model railroading is sort of a dying hobby, so even if there once was a demand for such services there probably isn't much now. That's just my perception based on forum activity though. Hopefully I'm wrong. Regardless, as you said, it's fun and relaxing. I've measured rooms and drawn up benchwork for nearly every room in my house just for giggles (and partially because I'll probably build a small layout to practice and play with until I have the space to do a dream layout).
You're not wrong. Hard to know whether it is dying or just adapting to a smaller market (is there a bottom to this contraction?) When I see MRR firms going out of business, it certainly does not help, but then I also see growth in new DCC systems, and LCC peripherals. Sort of a re-tooling of the hobby. Then I see the young families drawn to model railroading shows, and hope is renewed again. Even if it is in Lego scale. I also think there is some growth in the modular side of the hobby. But I think a lot of other hobbies are slowing down too. Some are replaced with new hobbies (online gaming, etc.) but not with the same participants. Older model railroaders are being replaced with young online gamers, etc. And I imagine the model airplane (flying) communities are also shrinking. My new model railroad is still on hold until we get a few things settled after moving (like selling the old house.) I have a bedroom reserved for the model railroad (just an HCD layout, a small work area, and the home office.) So I tweak my model railroad layout plan in XtrackCAD, purchase a few new MRR items for the layout, and spend time here on the forum.
