I've had some time off lately waiting for a new job to start, so I've been keeping my brain busy trying to figure out a good trackplan for an odd space in my house. Originally, the railroad was to occupy the largest room here, but I've had to scrap that plan since that is now a band room with all of our space-munching musical equipment in there.
It was a nice enough idea, but I'm glad I had to change spaces for the trains, becuase what I came up with offers a lot more in the way of operations and other model railroad goodies. So, now that we have seen that track plan for reference, here's the new idea...
The blue shaded areas are closets that poke into this room, giving me an 8x16 foot space with this odd little 5x5 notch that I was having a hard time figuring out. The opening to the upper left leads to my kitchen and during operations would be the site for a three-level detachable rolling staging yard. I've had some success with things like drop bridges and lift-outs, so making a yard that detaches and rolls into the layout room when not in use is a pretty feasible concept (and really the only way this track plan can work). I came up with a few really bad track plans until I started thinking multi-level...and then that 5x5 notch became the perfect spot for a helix. If I swing the mainline out and enter the helix "the wrong way", then I can have the line come out of the turn very naturally and keep the upper section closer to the walls and send the thing back to the kitchen, eliminating the need for another staging yard area.
The upper level has a couple of things going on that I don't see much. One is a planned 4-way junction representing the theoretical crossing point between my two freelanced roads, and the point where the KC&F fulfills the last part of its name by running over the old D&NO to Falcon. The name comes from a shabby portmanteau of Kiowa and Elbert, the two established towns closest to the area. Trains coming from the north (Denver) can be fed into the railroad through a long cassette or possibly a bridge to staging in another room (which might allow for longer trains).
The other end of the D&NO at Kelbert would travel along the front of the layout, dipping down in front of the fascia until it could turn under that level and into a yard sandwiched between the upper and lower levels of the portable staging yard. The D&NO trains wouldn't add much to the operation over this stretch since they do their interchanging at the small yard in Falcon, but it does offer a way to run longer trains that wouldn't be appropriate elsewhere. The staging yard operators would be "throwing the football" to each other, so to speak.
This is the other thing I don't really see at all. I understand that sending trains along the fascia carries all kinds of dangers, but treated properly I think it could be a great way to deal with diamond crossings without having to resort to duckunders, nod-unders or drop bridges. I'm thinking I'll create a scenic separation point where the train would be considered "off-layout", paint the rest of the track and roadbed to match the fascia color, and keep the trains themselves protected behind a plexiglass shield. I can't wait to try this one!
Benchwork will be a lightweight framework of 3/4" plywood cut into 3" strips and used in lieu of 1x4s to support a 7/16" OSB sub-base which will support a 2" foam insulation scenery base. A series of openings can be cut into the OSB base to allow wiring to pass through and reduce the weight on the upper deck. Only the helix and its "pop-out" scene will have actual plywood subroadbed under them.
Anyway...this is what happens when I have nothing to do. Thoughts?
Freelancing two railroads...and I'll probably think up another one by the time you read this.
Having the track descend out of sight at the front of the layout is not common, but I have done it a few times, as on this HOn3 SP Keeler Branch layout. A challenge can be the length of run needed to drop down enough to duck under the visible scene. I haven’t done the calculation on your drawing, but I think it might take more distance than you have shown, especially once you allow for transitions from level to grade.
To my eye, painting the descending track and roadbed flat black is very effective and might be less distracting than using the fascia color (unless the fascia color is itself flat and very dark). The flat black taps into our experience with theater scenery and the like to suggest something that “isn’t really there”. Clear acrylic or plexiglass shields at the aisle edge are helpful to avoid accidents.
Where the track departs the helix at Wolf Creek, do you have room for a straight length of track between the curves to eliminate the problem of the s-curve? Note also that this track will be exiting the helix on a grade which must be transitioned to level -- which in turn might result in an unwanted grade on the elevator siding.
If your alcove between the two closets is truly 5’X5’, a 30” radius helix won’t fit. You’ll need clearance on the outside of the track as well as room for supports. You may still be able to work in a useable helix, but the radius will be tighter and the grade steeper, of course.
Personally, I’d probably try opt for more operation on the visible layout itself (as in your first plan) rather than ping-ponging trains from staging yard to staging yard, but that’s entirely personal preference.
By the way, your first plan is (intentionally or unintentionally) somewhat reminiscent of Harold Geissel’s Chester Valley RR from the August 1939 issue of Model Railroader magazine, but with the (positive) addition of staging and the extra turnback loop for more running length. It is interesting how similar spaces sometimes result in similar designs.
Best of luck with your layout.
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I'll offer a few comments. I agree with Cuyama about using flat black as a theatre effect to trick the eye into understanding that the descending track is not part of the scene. I use flat black on the section of my layout that passes by an ugly utility panel in the basement and the result works well.
Additionally, any thoughts about using some of the closets' space? Of course, closets are floor to ceiling boxes that have 5 or 6 shelves. Trackwork would only need to occupy 1 shelf and you would need (want) about 12 to 18 inches of clearence above the track work, and the rest of the space could be used as closets.
You could use the closet on the left to house a staging yard. Of course, consideration would have to be given to punching small holes in the walls and if sloppy family members would toss things into the closet using little care.
Edit: Or use a little of each closet to widen the helix.
- Douglas
OK. This is exactly the the kind of constructive feedback I was hoping for, so thanks very much.
To address some of the concerns: The alcove is actually 5' 5" x 4' 8", so a 30" radius helix will work in there with room to spare for supports and so forth. This is fortunate because I'm basing my helical math on Jim Hediger's design which is also 30" at the track center. BTW, something I neglected to show on the track plan was the elevation; the lower level will be 38" and the upper around 55". I stand about 6 feet tall so this puts the lower level just a bit below my normal single-deck elevation of 42" and keeps the upper level right around my chest.
The siding at Wolf Creek will likely be scooted towards the yard to get it out of the helix and the required easements in that area, and it should make the scrapyard spur seem like a tiny little brachline.
The planned fascia color will probably be a dark green similar to an interlocking panel. I've used black before, and I'm not ruling it out but I'd like to try something different this time around, and the green might be fitting depending on how I handle my control panels. As for running the D&NO across the KC&F, whether the trains can continue or not, the junction will be represented. I would prefer to keep all 4 ways running as it will be the only occasion for a longer mainline train to make an appearance on the railroad. I'm also looking at that location as a cutoff point for the helpers since the worst of the push out of Denver is over by then, so that adds another operational wrinkle.
The closets. One of them is a utility space holding the furnace and water heater, so that's off limits. The other closet is a storage area for modeling gear and serves as a quiet dark corner for fermenting homebrew and aging the bottled beer (sunlight is the enemy).
There is a possible option to use another room as a space to build the Denver end of the D&NO in a highly compressed form, and it might offer something a little more entertaining than rolling trains out of a staging yard. Right now it's storing unused musical gear, and with the D&NO connecting at a 55" elevation, any railroad built in that other room would leave plenty of room under the benchwork to stash a few drums and other boxes.
The real drag in running the D&NO across the KC&F is that an engineer can't really follow the train unless he's willing to crawl through the fire tunnel into the main layout room. I'm hoping that the junction itself can run a little interference and give the operator time to move around to the layout entrance, or the engineer can start making his way around when the train enters the unscenicked span between the two areas. It's pretty convoluted, but there are too many things going on in that part of the house to allow a permanent installation.
Even without all of that, the main layout has plenty to offer and is still a complete point to point run, so I don't feel like I'm obligated to start laying track into all corners of the house. It's all really a matter of how involved I want the D&NO to be in this layout.
Uh..did you just say that "the operator would have to crawl through a fire tunnel" during an op session?
I would never intentionally design that into a plan. Although it may sound tolerable in theory, I strongly suspect you, or any guest operator, would regret that design element after about the second op session.
Which also goes back to Cuyama's comment about pingponging between staging. Some things that seem tolerable and not a big deal during planning end up making the entire layout less enjoyable when its actually set into motion. So think clearly about whether or not having to make physical exertions or intricate maneuvers during operations won't end up being a pain-in-the....
Fortunately this aspect of the railroad is optional. The KC&F can operate on it's own quite well without having a whole other railroad actively crossing it. I'm just exploring every rabbit hole before I actually start cutting lumber. That said, the more I think about it and read some of the feedback, the more inclined I am to simply run the D&NO trains out of a 2 track cassette for the sake of interchange and eliminate the need for an operator on that side of the plan.
Of course the junction itself could just be a dead model that never really sees a train in the opposing direction, but it will be something for a KC&F engineer to deal with on his way south.
Maybe starting with something simple to build and operate then adding complications later would be the way to go. Building and installing the helix into the tight space will probably fulfill your adventurous spirit for a while.
I made a few changes to the track plan. On the lower level, I moved the yard at Bennett a little farther out into the layout so I could include more of the Union Pacific and a few recognizable parts of Bennett. The UP line angles toward the backdrop so it can disappear on its way to Kansas, and the KC&F yard has been angled toward the aisle to break up the parallel with the layout edge. I also made the yard body into a diamond shape instead of a pyramid giving me a few more cars of capacity in a smaller space than the first design.
The tracks at Wolf Creek have been completely redone to make the switching there a bit more challenging and get the siding off of the main and out of the helix. Speaking of, the helix will be a simpler affair, ditching the pop-out lobe on the second turn. I'll probably use some detectors and indicator lights to monitor trains inside the loop. Either that or a camera.
The upper level was modified to make the D&NO junction at Kelbert more of a functioning interchange. In a different space it could handle the mainline ideas I had, but for now I can shoot small trains to and from a 2-track cassette. The other idea I had was to make the small yard at Falcon part of the staging yard, since that was the next place the trains were going anyway. A couple of feet of scenicked yard pokes out into the scene to suggest the existence of the yard and the town of Falcon, without having to clog up the area. Thanks to Tony Koester for that one; I remember him doing something similar on the Allegheny Midland. Doing this also helped put a little more mainline between Kelbert and Falcon.
The dropdown of the D&NO in front of the main to Falcon is a total of 2 inches by the time it leaves the room. Despite what the track plan shows at the staging yards, the 2 D&NO tracks will be in front of the KC&F yard, not underneath it. CR102 acts as a scene divider to help usher those trains into staging.
I've also added ammonia stands near the grain elevators in order to make some non-harvest traffic for the road. Bennett had one installed when I lived there in the 80s to supply the farmers with fertilizer. There was usually a tank car delivered there pretty regularly, and I figure other elevators along the line might have gone in for the same thing. Other business includes the lumberyard at Kiowa Creek, and a few "theoretical" industries in Colorado Springs calling for lumber, sheet steel and aluminum and corn syrup, all of which can be tucked into the yard at Falcon and thus be "delivered".
Thanks for the input, folks! It's already leading me to better ideas for this thing before I get too far into it and build a giant mistake.
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