Thanks Jerry , I was unaware that you were battling the big C word and glad you have won!!! The room and layout look great and wish you the best. Mike & Robin
So many very interesting points to ponder here within this thread. Thanks to all who have contributed. It will take some additional thought to sort through and apply however once I've done so it will make my layout and MMR experience much better. Also congrats to Jerry on your improved health
I appreciate everyone's support and enthusiasm for my recovery and new layout. Originally I thought relocating to Northern Kentucky was going to be the toughest part of this journey. The interesting part was living near a large metropolitan area (greater Cincinnati) provided me with an extensive healthcare system within easy reach. It will also provide employment opportunities so I can pay off the medical bills not covered by insurance. Yea, that's one of the downsides! On a more positive note I am living in a train "infested" part of the country. At least for me that is a good thing and enjoy hearing the train whistles blow frequently. Plenty of NS and CSX with some BNSF power pulling that tonnage of freight.
Glad to see you back Jerry. Enjoyed talking to you this afternoon. Go slowly with the new layout as you'll need some time gathering your strength back. Shades
Jerry Seems to me that you've picked a difficult era and location for "operations". I am not that familiar with the BNSF local operations but wonder with the modern train lengths how you can represent mainline and local traffic. I don't know if Darryl Kruse has weighed in on the discussion but his railroad should be a close model to look at. If you are a Burlington Route Historical Society member the next Burlinton Bulletin has an article about The Alley Job which worked the industries up to the C&NW interchange. It would make a dandy N Scale railroad but since it originated in Eola and passed the shops before going down the old main in front of the Aurora Depot there is a lot to model before you even get to the industrial trackage. Industries pretty much died at the beginning of the BN era so it would best be a late transition era railroad. Charlie Vlk
Charlie Keep in mind this is a loosely prototypical layout, including operations. Industries are very much alive in the Chicagoland area. Every industry on the Eola Sub represents an active modern day industry. I'm modeling large industries for the most part (grain, chemicals, intermodal and cement) and box car loads for a couple of warehouses. There are plenty of industries in the Chicagoland area taking in hopper loads of plastic pellets if I also wanted to model that. I will be using the Eola yard as a classification yard and the Cicero yard as an open storage / staging yard. The Harvest Mills grain elevator can handle two trains of grain / box cars. The Dial chemical plant can handle two trains of tankers / box cars. The BNSF intermodal yard can handle two trains. The cement plant will also handle an entire train of hoppers. Think LARGE! Generally a local is an entire train going out to one industry rather than multiple industries. During operations the grain elevator and chemical plant require an operator for switching duties. The intermodal and cement plant use existing power / crew. I am also running coal, bi-level commuter and passenger trains.
First, congratulations on being cancer free. Second, keep in mind operations are more than just switch and originating/terminating trains. The part of the BNSF you're modeling has number of interesting features just in how trains go from A to B. The Metra trains run in zones during the rush periods. For example during the inbound rush their are trains which deadhead from Aurora to Lisle, make all stops to Downers Grove, and then run express into Chicago. At the same time there will be a train which makes all stops to Naperville and runs express to Chicago. Similarly the Amtraks only make a few stops and have to be routed around the commuter trains. Freight trains may be held at various locations for a lull in action to allow them to advance without interfering. The critical component of all these operations is the third track which allows trains to leap frog each other. So, I would recommend adding to your plan to maximize its ops potential.
Thanks K-59. Your absolutely correct on the leap frog movement on the "race track". I grew up on the "race track" and commuted daily from Aurora to Chicago. Saw many a freight train waiting to advance. My smaller prior layout was triple track. Making my new larger layout triple track without adding to the bench work depth would mean reducing the number of industries in order to make room for the extra mainline. I'll have to think about that some more; however would prefer more industries over prototypical operations.
Back on the topic of selective compression, I have a zoom in picture of the layout design for critique. Remember the purpose of this thread is to discuss the aspects of selective compression on a larger N scale layout. In this case a modern era layout with currently active large industries in the Chicagoland area. I expect to begin construction on this layout in 2016. EolaSub005zoom by Jerry Tarvid posted Oct 11, 2015 at 5:35 PM
