Hemi, yep- ME makes the Code 40 flextrack. It's not as durable as, say, the Atlas code 80, so care must be taken to cut the rails. The ME track is not as "floppy" as Atlas, so you have to work the curvature in. Also, MT "pizza-cutter" wheels don't seem to run well. However, it mates up well to the Atlas code 55 turnouts (which is what I'm doing). Also, it looks really nice. I've used MEO track in HO (mostly the code 70), and it was good-looking. After looking at the spurs I laid, I almost wished I had gone to code 40 with code 55 in the staging. But in the name of economy, I'm using the code 55 I have on hand- the code 40 is the big frill as far as track goes.
Perhaps a day late and dollar short. Congradulations Frisco Bob. This layout will produce hours of fun. Very creative!
I'll see what I can do after I wake up this afternoon (another fun nite on graveyard shift), now that I have my camera back from my son (who was using it on a school project).
Sounds like things are moving along. Can't wait to see pictures, especially of the Walthers grain elevator.
Ideas/suggestions, take em or leave em. Would you consider altering your plan so that the industrial area is more inside the middle kind of like the redwing division layout. Looking at your plan and it seems so sparse. I was able to really cram a lot onto my door panel layout. At first it seemed too busy, but I am finding it is really good this way. I've got double mains, long staging tracks, a yard, a return loop, and an industrial/small town area. I used a 28" door and my minimum radius is 12.5" I can run most anything and it doesn't look too bad. Even my long MT open auto rack looks good on these curves. (That could be a matter of opinion, but I like it.) Something else I did that made my layout more interesting is no straight tracks parallel to the edges. My straight sections have long graduated curves in them. It's fun to watch the trains snake their way through them. My last and most critical suggestion regards the actual track planning. After many failed layouts I've found that it always helps to get your switches out and some flex track and just lay things out on your layout board to see how it looks. Get some cars a and locos and structures out too so you get a better l idea of how its all going to look and work.
Geeky, Appreciate the comments. On the design- like most designs, it's fluid. The lack of structures between the paper mill & feed mill may be taken up by other buildings, or even a wooded area. For obvious reasons, it's generally not a good idea to have both industries close together (if you'd even been downwind of a paper mill, you'd know why). Since I don't have all the spur placements down, I'm holding off on town-like structures until that happens. I do know that on one side, I'd like for the track to go into staging crossing under a highway overpass- I have such a kit from Rix Products. That would allow for a state highway of some sort to be included, coming into town, having some interaction with the railroad, etc. I can appreciate where some folks like a lot of actioin in a small space, but I'm not too much into cramming everything I can into an area. As it is, the paper mill itself will keep one locomotive busy swapping out cars of pulpwood, woodchips, kaolin, acids, and finished paper. If anything, I can see where additional yard trackage may be needed out front. Again, the design is fluid, and I'm sure something will change along the way. One other thing I need to remind folks about- the area I'm modeling is rural South, not too many people, lots of trees, kinda laid-back (except for maybe the paper mill and poultry feed mill), and is part of a secondary line that doesn't see nearly the traffic a primary main line would- maybe two through trains a day, a local weekdays, that kind of thing. That is what the Carolina Central accomplished, and this is what I'm trying to do. Were it not supposed to be against the wall...........imagine the possibilities......:tb-wink:
