Center Peninsula PUZZLEI apologize for bringing this subject up yet again, but I am still trying to solve this puzzle.
Potential Operations on the PeninsulaHere is how I would imagine some of the operations would happen on that peninsula.
The mainline train would enter on either of those 2 incoming tracks that meet at the double slip turnout up at that yard switching tower.
The mainline loco might then uncouple right there, and proceed to get back over to the roundhouse area or the freight yard by pulling forward, then backing thru those series of turnouts that connect to the big curved tracks leading back to the turntable and/or to the freight yard. Or it might go ahead and pull the train thru the container yard, but uncouple and leave non-container car(s) there at the double slip. It still can use the tail track and its runaround track to escape and go home.
A switcher (or 2) then comes in to pull groups of container cars into the 2 tracks for unloading. As they are unloaded, that switcher (or a second one) can pull singles or pairs of those unloaded container cars over to a waiting area (the freight yard perhaps). Then come back to repeat the operation over and over, ...pulling new container cars into unloading, then over to the freight yard waiting area.
Another switcher working the right side of the peninsula would grab off non-container cars up at the double slip and move them onto one of 3 waiting tracks for selection to be delivered to the 1) big dockside crane out at the end of the peninsula, 2) the carfloat, 3) several other warehouses in that port area, 4) allied rail rebuilders, 5) another industry possibly located on that thin right hand shelf, or 6) maybe even the brick factory or waterfront scene down in the far corner on that right hand deck. (that little switcher working that side of the peninsula might be given its own little 'home' in one of the arches of the via-duct)
That little switcher might be a steam type like the infamous 'docksiders', or it might be a swarm of trackmobile types. Those multiple little switchers might lie in wait on that one siding next to allied rail rebuilders.
One of the original ideas was to have the feeding track for the carfloat run thru the pier terminal building. That idea was not well received,...just not viable some folks complained.
So I finally (and reluctantly) decided to ELIMINATE the pier terminal building, and seek out alternatives. One of the 'port warehouses' I am considering is either the Walthers Waterstreet Freight Terminal kit, or the P2K 'Moore & Co' structure located approx here,....
After I removed the Pier Freight Terminal building I began to contemplate what structures/warehouses I might put along the track feeding the car-float. That got me to thinking about utilizing Walthers Water Street Freight Terminal,...BUT I had already planned to utilize that structure as my brick factory office/warehouse. Dilemma,..do I want to use 2 of the same structures on my layout,...so I've been working on this idea for the past week,...and that has me redesigning my brick yard scene.
It all takes time. And I would LOVE to move on to running trains,...but I want to be satisfied in my mind that I'm happy with my final decisions.
Last but not least, I am trying to get a LOT of industries and tracks into a relatively small space, and it takes a LOT of full size mocking up to get all that trackage lined up in a workable form.
Its a challenge, and a puzzle.
Brian
My Layout Plan
Interesting new Plan Consideration
Pier Terminal Building Reconsideration
Over the past few days I have been attempting to finalize my track plan on my central peninsula. I've not been real happy with any of the other buildings/structures I've considered to replace the pier terminal building. You may recall I had decided to eliminate it just above.
I really like the looks of that structure, so my thoughts turned back to how I might include it again. I decided I was going to provide a space for it,... just in case I decided to place it on the layout,...and alternately, I would be able to put some other selection of buildings there on the same spot. In other words this structure could make 'guest appearances'.
Many have commented negatively about the carfloat being directly outback, and fed with a track thru the building. So I looked back at Dave's idea to have the carfloat feeding tracks along side the terminal, and I could feed the carfloat with 2 tracks I had already planned down the center of the peninsula. Here is the tentative mock-up,..(I will have to make a new apron track piece)
Interestingly I now have the entire carfloat on the layout, rather than just half of it. Too bad I don't have room for a docked ship slip.
Behind the terminal building there will be a full length (slighty abbreviated to allow for the aisle) concrete pier for the traveling crane. And yes there is a thru-track in the terminal building to get access to this dock, but at least it is NOT a feeder track for the carfloat. That is just the 'nature' of this particular loading pier (after all there were many different style waterfront piers in their day).
Fictional History of my Scene
As I see it, you have three separate Elements in the peninsula: 1. the container terminal2. the carfloat (carfloats are cool!)3. the dock warehouse/whatever-else It seems to me that having the three scenes parallel to each other (and the three access tracks also) creates some visual feeling of "being forced into the space"... Looking at how this may have developed in a fictional history, I'd assume the warehouse would have been the oldest structure. Later on the carfloat might have been added and finally the container scene.Dark2star
1. the container terminal2. the carfloat (carfloats are cool!)3. the dock warehouse/whatever-else
It seems to me that having the three scenes parallel to each other (and the three access tracks also) creates some visual feeling of "being forced into the space"...
Looking at how this may have developed in a fictional history, I'd assume the warehouse would have been the oldest structure. Later on the carfloat might have been added and finally the container scene.Dark2star
I believe you got this correct, and you made me try to conger up a fictional history of how my peninsula scene came about. Being of the same era I believe the terminal building and the carfloat developed somewhat at the same time. And as DaveB pointed out above,
your scene would likely be the mainline connection end of the float path so float traffic would arrive and be sorted somewhere before the round house then brought down to to the car float ready for loading
Lets assume my container yard had yet to be built. Rather,... there was another yard there that stocked both incoming and outgoing carfloat destined cars,..lots of storage in those early days. But then along came the modern container port and the carfloat operation had to give up some of its land. Now that carfloat operation was going to have to be much more 'thrifty' in the way it handled its traffic. It certainly wasn't going to be able to accomplish both loading and unloading cars on the same day,....and likely it was not going to be able to do operations on those days that mainline traffic was coming into the 'new' container yard.
So now the carfloat operation is left with 2 'stub tracks' servicing its barges. I figure there are several ways the cars can be loaded on the carfloat. If the engine is pulling the cars down to the carfloat it needs an escape route, and way to get back around to the other end of those cars, so it can push them onto either track of the float bridge. That escape route could be the crossover turnouts I've now included on the track plan? Another option is that the mainline train bringing those cars in for loading could back a group of those cars down the one track, uncouple them, and pull back out pass the dbl-slip. Then the switcher engine comes out of its little 'storage track' and pushes those cars selectively to the tracks on the carfloat?
Mainline Tracks into the Peninsula
As far as I see it, there are also three access tracks (sharp turn on the left, around the back of the roundhouse, sharp turn on the right).Dark2star
1) Lets see if I can clarify this. There are 2 primary tracks coming into the peninsula from the mainlines of the railroad. The one just behind the roundhouse is a siding that originates back in the helix area as a branch off of a loop of mainline track back there. The original thinking was that this would be primarily a route for container trains to enter the peninsula,...either in a forward (primary choice), or back-up manner. If it was desired that this train NOT interfere with concurrent mainline running, then the length of this train would be limited to the length available between that turnout in the helix and end of the container yard. That is a very sweeping curve, not a tight curve as you said.
2) The second primary entrance track is the one off the slip switch that runs under that bridge on the viaduct, then down along the whole wall on that side of the layout to join back into the mainline down near the beginning of the viaduct. It is primarily a 26" radius track that should handle most of my large steam engines. Its also long enough to handle idle trains waiting to enter the peninsula trackage.
3) The third route from the mainline to the peninsula is a somewhat 'secondary route',...I term it a 'backdoor entrance'. It runs up inside of the viaduct to a 21" radius track at the end of the aisle that leads it into some switching in front of various industries and the terminal building as well. This track could be a holding pattern for any number of cars waiting to go out on the mainline,...or cars with unusual loads coming in.
There will likely be a few interesting structures along this track between the track itself and the viaduct in their 'backyard'.
Why not leave a stub container yard on the left, and have the intermodal train stop and shove to the container yard? Similiar to the Port of Long Beach.
Not sure that I understand your latest post Outsailing?
My container yard is still there on the left, its just the mock-up track has been removed and replaced with just drawn lines at the moment. You can still see the paper template for 3-way turnout that acts to direct tail track traffic.
I did notice a few other photos missing,..
I have basically two tracks from the mainlines that feed the peninsula. They meet at that double-slip turnout up near the rear of the roundhouse. The trains can basically select to go to one side or the other of the peninsula. (highlited: double-slip turnout, 2 container incoming tracks, 2 outward curving tracks, 2 container cars)
One side (the left side here) is the container loading/unloading yard. The mainline engines might disconnect there and proceed to shutdown/repair/storage by way of escape trackage at the head of the yard, or by tailing track/runaround at the far end of the container yard. These tracks are also available for switcher engines to perform the shuffling of the cars around on that side of the peninsula.
(resting spot/spur for a switcher engine(s), steam or diesel)
One of my dilemmas is, how does the switcher engine that pulls cars from line-up at the dbl-slip down to the carfloat escape?? Is it simply a matter of providing a cross-over between those 2 feed tracks,...like this?Or should that order be reversed??