First I'd like to Thank Corey Lynch for his Help in resizing this file. A little Background.-I envision a bridgeline serving the northern wilds of minnesota's ore and timber country interchanging with a class1 rr in the port city of DuluthDuluths heavy hitters would have been NP and Soo along with the Great Northern .The DM&IR is of course a well known ore hauler while the D&NE (Duluthand Northeastern) is a more obscure shortline of old.I am thinking along the lines of a shortline that took hold of the north and gained control of the old ore lines trackage and lumber baron trackage even before the days of the big ore rr mergers.With this as a general guideline we move ahead to the year 1961.While steam has almost seen its end in most of the country.Steam is alive and well in northern Minnesota.Steam is practical where the winters are long and ore needs to be warmed just to empty the hoppers.Some diesels are seen to be sure on local freight runs and simple commuter runs but the heavy hauling is still the territory of the Steam Locomotives. Motive Power wil be mostly 2-8-0 cons and 2-8-2 mikes.A couple Road switchers and a couple old GP's.I have a couple 4-8-4 northerns but will use them for static work as ore steamers perhaps in the yard.I May see how they handle the radius's but am not holding out much hope and dont see it as a priority anyway. In the sketch you will see where the yard area comes in and i am sure this can be much improved.at the end of the benchwork i have a small space and then my workbench. I hope to complete a Rip track to this area 1 day just for the rolling stock that needs repairs.Any and all comments will be appreciated and will be taken to heart.Dont hold out, i can take it OK i cant figure out how to get this railimage posted .Too tired i guess.any hints please help and i'll try again later. [ 19. April 2003, 05:13: Message edited by: Tileguy ]
Well, this needs a little work. First question: HO or N? Next, how permanent is the benchwork? A folded dogbone with two 36" ends would be a lot more workable than 45 and 18. However, if you are set in the benchwork, I would recommend an "out-and-back" with an option for continuous running. I'll plan something up and get back to you with an option for this. It may be better off in the long run with your limited space, but will eliminate any hidden staging. And actually, ubb code is pretty simple. Simply copy the image's url from railimages (it is under the picture), start your thread, click on image under the text entry box, paste in the link, and you're done.
N scale for this one,I knew years ago i would never have room for a decent HO layout so i sold all my HO about 8 years ago and began collecting N scale.The benchwork is pretty well set due to rooflines,doorways etc. I tried the copy thing with the picture and it didnt work so i entered it longhand.not sure why it didnt .I have IE and followed the instructions.Oh well longhand is fine so long as i can get it to work Some additional notes on the current layout, Current Yard area is dropped a couple inches and is an old door cut in half.The next section of benchwork along the far wall is 2" extruded foam which i have made a cut leading up into from the far back track lead.that lead goes under the left loop and rises to the top of the foam.continues around and begins to climb just before crossing the original track coming up off the yard.it is a 2% grade that continues to climb until reaching peak at about the end of the second radius.it levels out and then begins to drop as it comes around the right section of the benchwork down to a town area.Because of this,i could reasonably run a track across the hinged section and have hidden staging underneath that entire right section of benchwork. I have risers in place up and out of the yard area and through the radius's in the center section of benchwork.the entire right section of benchwork is for lack of a better word Virgin.The roadbed has been placed in sone sections of the center and yard area but i can make some changes if i have to for better operational interest.I hope this additional info helps corey.Thanks again
