Just thought I would put this up here and see what comments I would get. I was going to post it else where, but it was on a post of another person doing the same thing I am doing now so I didn't want to take away anything from his post so I did my own. First the back ground.
My layout will be a freelanced layout. It will be a shortline called the Wisconsin Northern Shortline, or WNL for short. The history is based off that of the Wisconsin and Southern, where it will be with in a few years of the Milwaukee Road going out of business and the WNL bought trackage from former MILW rail lines. I am a pretty big Packers fan so 4 out of the 5 planned locos will be numbered in tribute. RSD15 number 1577, number 8781, and SW1500 number 9206 are a tribute to Bart Starr, Willie Davis, and Reggie White respectively. The numbers come from the former players number as the first two digits and the year they were inducted into the hall of fame as the last two digits. An Alco C420 is numberd 800 in tribute to #80 Donald Driver, and a GP30 that will be modeled after Wisconsin Central GP30 #715 that resides at the National Rail Road Museum. I was going to stick with the Packer theme but after hearing news that the NRRM is trying to seel the 715 and possible scrap it if they can not find a buyer made me rethink. It will be left the original WC paint scheme, as if my WNL recently bought it and hasn't repainted yet. The rest will be painted in the WNL paint scheme, which is essentially the GT paint scheme but with the battery boxes, number board, and cab face painted blue. Only the short hood will be painted the orange, but the blue/orange paint will match that of the Grand Trunk. It is also being modeled in it's operating infancy, so for now the layout would represent the entire WNL trackage, which I believe would be around 20-30 miles, but as I said I'm only modeling the WNL's begingings. As time and space goes on I will add on to this original layout and model it just how it is, the WNL expanding. The WNL will interchange with a Class 1 RR at, you guessed it, the interchange track (I'm leaving that open because it could interchange with a number of railway's, assuming the WNL is established before the CN fully buys out the MILW. Doing this lets me model my WNL as a private railway, and not a subsidary that CN would have gotten when it fully bought out Milwaukee Road) .Now I will take you on an operating session. Please note that the session modeled would be what I will call a "grand session", or rather, a session where every rail serviced industry would be switched/spotted. I do understand operating like this every session would be unprototypical and from asking around I have found that not every industry will need switching every time, or need all it's cars switched and the such. So some sessions would be ask simple as maybe switching out a few empties, or even just refueling the fuel tanks at the shop. I also plan on having a rather large collection of rail cars made up of different types of cars, different road numbers, and different rail companies that way no interest would be lost due to using the same cars/numbers/RR's all the time. So lets go for a ride on a session, and don't be afriad to critique me.
The sketch of the layout plan is included. The size is to a reletive scale, 3 squares equals a foot, but the track and structures are not to scale. I just drew them in about what I want to get an idea of how it would look. This is also not my final draft as I realize some work will probably need to be done on the track by the grain elevator, and probably more sidings added to the yard. I may also delete the interchange track and just connect the main line to a staging yard hidden in the closet where the existing interchange track is located. Now lets go on that operating session.
The day (or session) would start at the servicing facility, where all the engines are stored when not being operated. The train crew readies RSD15 #1577 and RSD15 #8781 for the day by running onto the fuel track to get some diesel (the second track above the shop), and then running onto the sand track (track directly below shop) for any sand that may be needed. 1577 takes quick jot to the fuel transfer track (first track directly above the sop) to pick up an empy tank car. The crew of 8781 refuels and resands as needed, and heads over to the town A yard and readies a consist of cars from the previous session by spotting a cut or two of cars onto one of the double main lines and waits for 1577 to join. After 1577 has picked up the empty, it runs down to town A yard (I have no names for the towns yet), uses the unused second main line as a run-around to spot the empty tank car onto the outbound consist, then runs back up front and connects with 8781. The crew from the 8781 takes a truck ride back to the service facility and the crew of the 1577 takes over operations. After the aproriate checks, the crew heads 1577/8781 out of the yard, taking the left track and heading out of town. They take it easy and go around untill they hit the interchange track. 1577/8781 then goes down one of the two sidings (I forgot to add a siding to the interchange track so bear eith me on this one), uncouples, and again uses the main line to make a run-around to the other siding where it couples onto the consist of todays (this session) cars. 1577/8781 runs back down to the town A yard and deposits the consist onto one of the main lines. It uncouples, makes another run-around move to leave the yard at the end end, and this time takes the right track where it follows it up to the hidden area and goes down the hidden spur behind the grain elevator (G) and couples up to a consist of 15 log cars and sits there for a while as I'm doing this one all on my own. At this point the crew of GP30 #715 is ready for action and wanting to get to work, as they love their job to an extreme level. They head down the track to town A yard and break up the consist of cars into smaller cuts of cars and spotting them on a track depending on where they go. Town B and the grain elevator get their own tracks, while town A gets a few tracks. After the consist is broke up and the crew couples 715 onto the first cut of 5-6 grain cars and heads out the yard and around the track, throwing a super bouncy ball at the awaiting RSD15 #1577/#8781 M.U. consist as a joke, and rounds the bend to the grain elevator. 715 drops off the empty 3 bay covered hoppers, does a run-around on the the elevators siding, and heads off back down the main track untill after it's on the hidden area where it gets to rest for a while so I can do some more spotting. ADM's SW1500 #800 switcher then takes the cars and spots them on the siding of the elevator so the first car can get filled up. By now Alco C420 #9206 crew is getting angry for not getting work yet. They head from the service facility, down the tracks, through the town A yard, and over to town A where it picks up a loaded gondola of scrap metal from the sink factory (F). 9206 gets onto the main line and heads back to the yard, where it spots the gondola onto an empty track. By this time #800 is ready, and moves another empty car or two through the grain loading process. Hopping back over to C420 #9206, the crew has picked up an empty gondola, and runs back down the main line, to spot the car at the sink factory on the spur next to the main building. RSD15 1577/8781 comes back into the picture for a short bit as they come off the hidden siging at the top and run through the big wye (which I have to draw another track line on to connect, I forgot a few things didn't I) on their way to the interchange track to drop off the loaded log cars. #800 backs up spotting yet another emtpy grain car to be filled, then GP30 #715 comes down the track and enters the yard. 715 couples onto a consist of cars for town B and heads out. They wave to the C420 crew as it waits for an operator at the sink factory, and goes on to town B where it parks on the main line to wait for it's next turn. #800 spots the last few empty grain cars, #9206 heads back to the yard on the mainline, and 1577/8781 slows to a crawl as it passes through a siding at the interchange track. They uncouple and pause for a coffee break. Feeling left out, #715 uncouples it's inbound cut of cars, picks up a few empty center beam flat cars at the lumber yard (L) in town B, and spots them on the main line just past the lumber yard turn out. The crew then heads through the siding on the main line in a run-around move, couples onto a few more center beam flats, and goes on ahead to spot the cars in the lumber yard where it takes a coffee break. Now that everyone has had a good long coffe break, 1577/8781 pick up a cut of empty log cars and proceeds to head back to the hidden siding behind the grain elevator. #9206 pulls out of its current spur, and then bakes up onto the spur to couple up to an empty box car in the coil unloading bay. The 9206 crew runs back onto the main line and hauls the empty box car to an outbound track for town A in the yard. It picks up a box car loaded with steel coils on the inbound town A track and jogs back over to town A where it spots the box car into the unloading bay, flashes the peace sign to the sink factory employees on a smoke break, and runs back to the yard where it picks up a cut of empty grain cars and goes on to take them to the ADM elevator. 1577/8781 stops before the big wye to let #9206 pass by. 9206 gets onto the hidden mainline behind the elevator and pauses for just a minute while 800 couples to the now loaded cut of 5-6 grain cars and moves them onto a spur track (this is where I have to redue the elevator trackage) and waits for it's next cut of cars. 9206 starts back to bring the empty hoppers to the elevator, where it goes onto the elevator siding, spots the first car of the cut of empty hoppers in the covered loading bay, uncouples, and continues through the elevator spur onto the main line where it heads back to the yard. At this time 1577/8781 starts up and spots it's cut of empty log cars on the hidden siding behind the grain elevator (G) and waits. 9206 continues back to the yard where it gets to the turn out and parks on one of the double main lines for lunch. 800 and 1577/8781 also take a lunch break. GP30 #715 wakes up from their nap and rolls out of the lumber yard siding, tracks down the mainline to hit the warehouse (W) spur and spots a few empty box cars back down the mainline by the lumber yard (L) and couples this cut to the empty cars already sitting there. 715 does yet another roun-around move, latches onto some loaded box cars at the tail of the inbound consist sitting on the main line, then spots the inbound box cars onto the warehouse spur. It then heads back up the main, does another run-around, couples a pair of loaded gondolas at the scrap yard (S) performs the second to last run-around to spot the loaded gon's to the cut of empties, and proceeds with the last run-around to latch onto a few empty gons to spot at the scrap yard. 715 gets back on the main line, backs down the main to couple up to the cut of town B outbound cars, and sits on the boarding steps to enjoy the perfect weather during lunch. 800 is done with lunch, runs the SW1500 over to the elevator siding, couples to the cut of cars, and pushes them down one to spot a new hopper. 9206 finishes up their lunch, runs through the tail end of the yard into town A, and chugs up the siding to the local news printers (P) to pick up an empty box car. 9206 runs back down the main line, spots the empty box on the outbound track, picks up a newsprint box car full of paper rolls, and goes ahead to spot the car at the printers. 800 moves the hoppers down the line for another empy, 9206 glugs to down the main, through the yard, and takes a rest at the service facility. 800 moves another empty into the loading bay over at ADM, 1577/8781 slips through the end turn out at the hidden siding, and drives it's way to towards the grain elevator. 800 slides the last of the empty hoppers to be filled, and 715 starts it's way back to the yard. 800 uncouples from the now filled cut of 5-6 covered hoppers of grain, quickly hops over to the storage siding as it hears 1577/8781 blow it's horn at a RR crossing a few miles upahead (just before the back drop crosses over the main) and plops this cut of 5-6 cars onto the main and couples them to the other consist. The 800 crew powers the SW1500 to the storage track and gives each other a pat on the back for a hard days work as 1577/8781 comes down the line and couples onto the consist of grain cars. They pause as the operator (that would be me in all this incase you have forgotten) slows 715 to stop on the main line at the yard, checks to make sure all the turnouts for the wye track are alligned correctly, and sends 1577/8781 on it's way to the interchange track. 715 uncouples it's cut of outbounds, moves up the line a tad, and collects all the outbound cars into one long consist on a track mainline, then heads itself up to the service facility where it sits itself on a track and parks for the night. 1577/8781 passes through the wye, stops, heads back down the left side of the wye into the yard, couples onto the cut of outbounds to make a final consist, does all needed checks, and heads out to the interchange track. After rolling down the hidden track to the left, it slows down for the bend, comes up to the interchange track and stops. It uncouples it's small consist of outbounds, excecutes a run-around on a small (and also not included in the drawing) siding just for this reason, and spots the remaining cut of cars on the main line. The crew of C420 1577/8781 then backs up, couples onto the loaded 15 car log train, rolls back up the line onto the siding to couple onto the 10-12 car grain hopper consist, exits the siding then hooks the 25-27 car cut onto the cut sitting there to make one big long outbound car consist of 34-36 cars. RSD15 1577/8781 puts the engines to the highest speed they can go on the tracks, rumps through the wye, tracks down the yard main line and twadles up the service faicilty line where it comes to a rest on an open track and rests for the night. And that's all.
Sorry the post is really huge, I honestly didn't think it would take that much to write that all out. So, again, any thoughts or suggestions on the layout plan or my operating session feel free to post.