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<p>Thanks for the comments. The yard was never actually supposed to be a full fledged yard. It was only supposed to be a staging yard, actually it was only supposed to be three or four staging tracks. I have a son that never took any interest in my hobbies that started to make suggestions, and then started helping. The staging tracks became a yard through his ideas, and now that he's gone to the Navy, I keep it this way to honor him, and the memories of him and I sharing something.</p><p>This layout is a mass of memories of the area where I was born and raised. Oskaloosa (IA) had the C&NW (formerly M&StL) that ran north to south, the Rock which traversed east to west, and a spur from the CB&Q which cut off from Tracy and entered from the southwest. Oskaloosa had a small yard, which mostly served as a repair facility.</p><p>The Rock Island line came from the yard in Des Moines and worked its way east to the Mississippi and then to Illinois. In the process it serviced several industries in Pella, ancluding a window factory that I worked in. It also traveled from there to the before mentioned Oskaloosa. In the seventies the line east of Pella was severed, leaving the line from Des Moines to Pella as a sofisticated spur.</p><p>My yard represents a mingling of all of this plus the flavor of the City of Ft Madison. I always liked the way it sat above the tracks. A big city sits on a wall overlooking the yard. This city is located between several mainline railroads. Most of them just built short spurs from their mainline and backed the few needed cars to the yard entrance and left them. It was the duty of the dedicated yard switcher to bring them on into the yard, and to set out others.</p><p>The industrial city had been part of a mainline, but that has now been severed at the end of the town. Hence we get the Des Moines to Pella effect. There's enough action taking place to warrant keeping track to it. What happens is that cars are left by the railroads served. They're moved about to the industies that need them, and then moved back to the interchanges. Of course there's also the morning and evening commuter traffic which gets in the way, but is priority.</p><p>This is quite condensed, and probably clear as mud, but to go into it in more detail would make a book.</p><p>This is a view of the yard looking from the end of the layout.</p><p>[img]http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f262/DouglasLong/Model%20Railroad/IowaMidwestCentral7.jpg?t=1209152255[/img]</p><p>This is the view looking from the other direction.</p><p>[img]http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f262/DouglasLong/Model%20Railroad/IowaMidwestCentral6.jpg?t=1209154584[/img]</p><p>The city real estate is locked in, but the buildings and scenery is already going through renovations. The track will also be replaced when I get my dividend this fall.</p>
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