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Thinking about that quarry spur got me thinking… I’ll never get round to this so someone else might like to use the ideas. Sorry I can’t do pics or diagrams… maybe that will leave people more free to come up with their own version. Okay, first of all the original… At the bottom of the grade the curve started before the road which meant that the corner of the building was shaped to fit with the track’s curve. The track then ended up in the far side of the pavement for a distance before crossing back to the side it had come from. Out of pavement there were then several loops and a long spur wandering off to various blind tracks and a loop through a single road loco shed for two engines… so one lived inside and the other was always outside. Weird. Things like fuel tanks and drums were all over the place often in brambles and/or long thin grass. Back at the curve there were all sorts of road signs (for the bridge width and height) and RR signs (for several generations of who owned what… sometimes on the same post). To use this for a model… You might… 1. Do it as described 2. The far side of the second mainline a huge conveyor brought sand out of the pit to an enormous square hopper which fed cars pushed under it on two roads. This could be moved the other side of the second main in a model. The quarry critters spent all day working cars under the hopper. BR locos only brought the empties in and took the loads out… in several cuts. 3. With either of the above you could switch back under the first main track. 4. There is no reason why the quarry spur has to fall… you could put it level or rising to a higher level. 5. If your track goes off scene round a corner you could fit any of the above into the otherwise lost space of the corner (making sure that you can still reach things). This would work best with the quarry tracks higher… unless you are doing an exhibition layout to be seen from the outside. To save coupling in the far corner I would put a loco shed there on a blind spur (or two). If you want to hide the exit of the main track you could run an out-of-use track, a road way or an conveyor over it… or any combination. IF you cross the main with a working track at a high level you get a problem that the high level is nearest you on the off scene tracks… You could have a far working track and the near track dead. Great thing if you can work open hoppers off scene is that you can load/unload them out of sight. Covered hoppers are so much easier #61514;. 6. In the right time frame you could have steam locos working the quarry… Hope this is useful By the way... If you use steep grades don't forget to allow transition VERTICAL curves so that your cars/locos don't ground going in/out... or restrict the cars that are allowed over the spur. I recalled this thinking about the fun you can add putting various diggers into the scene. A lot of quarries had a part canibalised, part rusted digger rotting away in the weeds. then there's new diggers that may come in as big loads on flats or centre depressed cars... if the spur will let them in... (or you could use a wrecking crane to lower them from the main track...)
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