Suppose that in a parallel universe not too far away, the Missouri Pacific took over the San Diego and Arizona Eastern, connecting El Paso with Tucson, Phoenix and San Diego? Suppose further that the new subsidiary was christened the "Arizona Pacific Lines" (APL), and the blue and gray locos wore red buzzsaw emblems patterned after the parent road, but with "Arizona" replacing "Missouri" on the "Apple" version of the herald? I wanted to model that proto-freelanced road once upon a time. I never did, but rather than hit the delete key and get back a little disk space, I thought I would share what I have in case it is of any use to anyone. Here is an old-school 30x80 hollow-core door layout created for that purpose. The track is sectional Atlas C80, and the layout was drawn up with Atlas RTS software: Those who are students of the John Armstong approach to track planning will recognize his influence. There is some Ed Vondrak and even some Bill Barron in the layout, too. The scenery is the Sonoran Desert in the 1970's, with rapid urban encroachment under way. The purpose of the layout is switching, with many places to spot and pick up cars for a layout this size. All mainline curves have 19" radius easements, but there is a half circle of 9.75" radius on the passing siding. A lot of planning went into this, a lot more than I can share in a few captions. I can give you more details if anyone is interested. The buildings are mostly from the DPM catalog of that day, BTW. Hope there is an idea or two here that someone can use.
Here is a scenic rendering done in MS Paint: The bottom half of the layout is "Apache Junction" with the "off the layout" line to the right heading out to the copper mines East of Phoenix. The top half is the "Chandler Industrial Park" South of Tempe and Mesa. The big blue building is Mega-Moto Electronics, who got their start making car radios many years ago. This is their Mega-Moto Semiconductor plant. The big red building is their upstart rival, INTEST Semiconductor. (The best electronics in the World are always "INTEST"...) Meg-Moto is a Gripps Luggage, a Woods Furniture and a Goodnight Mattress connected by a skyway over the siding. INTEST is a modern tipup building I was going to have to scratchbuild. Pikestuff components would make that an easy job today. The large green building on the right is the DPM freight transfer building, with a truck dock below, and a turn-around/driveway above the team tracks. There is another small factory in the lower left, but I forget the name of the building. (DPM changed a bunch of them, I guess.) "Willhelmini"? Something like that. The typical DPM buildings like the Roadkill Cafe, corner apothecary, credit union/bank and the bakery are arranged in blocks across main street from the station. The Hilltowne Hotel is in there too. The alley loops around behind the stores and shops to provide both off-street parking lots and delivery access, something sorely missing from most urban layouts I visit. Notice the curbs and sidewalks? How about the brick platform for the station? The short siding is the house track. Seldom seen today. The small cluster of sheds and tanks at the lower right was going to be a kit-bashed service facility for the AJ switcher. I'll be happy to answer questions if anyone needs more detailed information on the "Apple" - the Arizona Pacific Lines. Oh! BTW, we had Apple computers back then, in case you are wondering..... Also, "APL" was A Programming Language, and that was how I earned my salary as a branch manager for a service bureau in the 1970's. I got out of that with personal computing on the horizon. Perfect timing, it turns out.... [ June 25, 2005, 06:44 PM: Message edited by: LongTrain ]
LT: It's a nice looking layout. Why don't you give it a whirl. There's plenty of railroading in that trackplan with some nice shuffling of cars to boot. Stay cool and run steam.....
Thanks, PSG Bob! Actually, I did it. I left out a couple feet of straight track and built it in 30x60. I also had to leave out the big buildings, and most of the small ones, too! It was the living room layout I took down 18 months ago. The Rockport & Cranberry Cove has the same basic trackplan, but with a fiddle yard on a shelf. I don't have a trackplan. I should do one in RTS so I can show you guys a schematic, I guess. It will use Unitrack, so the RTS plan will not be true to scale. The way the layout works is to start the day in the small home yard, pick up cars and make a run to the junction to make connections. Sort things out and return home, switching that single-ended siding at the top of the plan on the way in. I've operated this plan for many hours, and it does what I want it to do. The Cranberry will have Maine Coast scenery and a harbor as the focal point, but the operating routine will be the same, except the fiddle yard off-stage lets me actually meet the connecting train. It should also add a lot of complex car-suffling to get the two trains sorted back out and headed along their way without crowding in a bunch of extra track.
LT: You can run 10-12 car trains on that layout. How many blocks do you set up? The fun part of that plan is to make up a train while one is running. It would make an interesting DCC layout as well. The plan makes good use of the space and the structures in the center make a good divider. Have fun with the R&CC RR. Stay cool and run steam.....
Bob, on the minimalist version, there were no blocks per se. sidings were isolated by throwing over the points on the Unitrack switches. I usually had only one loco on the layout at a time, and my trains were 5-8 cars. typical power was one of my fleet of LL SW's, but sometimes I used a GP35 or GP38. I've run it with an MDC 2-8-0 and wooden cars a few times too. The arrangment of the passing siding would let you drill both yards at once, but I never ran it that way. I'd need more track, because there is no place to drop a car or a cut except on the mainline with two switchers working. Shrunk down to 30x60, the other switcher would wind up pushing the cars you had just left off. It does let you park one in the clear and run the other, though. I've had two short trains on the 30x60 version when we had guests.
Speaking of your MDC 2-8-0, did you ever install a MT Z scale # 905 on the pilot of the 2-8-0? Getting back to the layout, I would think you could run one full train and have a switcher moving cars around on the sidings. Perhaps it's my DCC mentality, running more than one loco on a layout. On the JJJ&E, I usually have 2 full 28 car trains going along with a switcher working the yard. Excuse me for that.... Stay cool and run steam..... [ June 25, 2005, 09:28 PM: Message edited by: Powersteamguy1790 ]
Great concept. If I wasn't heavily invested in my own Arizona proto-lance I'd scoop it right up. The history even makes it sound quite plauseable (I've wondered how to incoperate the San Diego and Arizona Eastern). The competing microchip plants are a hoot, as would be an DRW (Don't Really Work) airbag plant. I realize you must be taking certain modeling liberties, because the Apache Jct. I know doesn't really have a downtown district, just a lot of RV parks and mobile home communities (alot are now being replaced with track homes and shopping centers). All and all it's more than a good track plan, it's a GREAT concept!
"Mesa Junction" would be more geographically correct than Apache Junction, for sure. AJ had more of a Wild West ring to it, and back then, who knew it would become a massive RV park? I wish I had photos of the 30x60 version. It was really tight! Boiled down to the essence. It was like a Timesaver puzzle with a loop. Even the 30x80 version is still a small layout. 36 inch width would open it up some, and would allow 13 and 15 inch curves where it has 9.75 and 11 now. I still have the sharp curved Unitrack off the 30x60, but I almost never use them. In my mind's eye, two trains moving at once on a layout that small makes it feel even smaller. Longer trains would have a similar effect, IMO. I always ran short trains at home.
If anyone wants a closer look at the Arizona Pacific Lines, or wants to use any of the concepts, I have two files available to send as email attachments: ArizonaPacificLines.ral is the loadable RTS file. ArizonaPacificLines.bmp is the loadable graphic file. The RTS file is around 80K and the bitmap is 508K. You can grab either JPEG off my RailImages album. The trackplan will redraw at a larger size and resolution if you click it a second time. The rendering is fixed at the 800 pixel width I use for images and other heavy graphics on the board. The loadble files can be zoomed in and/or edited if you have RTS or a pixel editor. [ June 26, 2005, 12:58 AM: Message edited by: LongTrain ]
LT Very cool! I like anything that helps keep the MoPac name going. I've mulled over (a bit) what "couldabeen" if MP and ATSF had merged way back when. May just try some more research now, it'd sure be interesting to do once I'm back home in Colorado! Thanks for the inspiration.
