Track Plans

[crisco1]

  Is there anyone out there that has developed a track plan from St. louis Mo to Kansas City

  mo. ?

                                                                                                                Chris

[Texas Zepher]

crisco1

Is there anyone out there that has developed a track plan from St. louis Mo to Kansas City  mo. ?

Wow, that is a long way.   What time period and what railroad are you interested in?

Kansas Texas & Eastern was along the north bank of the Missouri River.
Missouri Pacific along the south bank.
Wabash a bit further north.
The Chicago & Alton
The MKT
The Frisco
The Burlington (I forget it's Missouri name) later the Burlington Northern.
 

And then all the connecting lines along the way like the Sante Fe, Minneapolis & St. Louis, St. Louis and Hannibal, etc.

That would be a very involved track plan.



 

[EM-1]

Closest thing to this line I remember is MR having an article with a trackplan for a Wabash branch line servicing Columbia, Mo.  Article showed three segments with interconnect suggestions, covering the interchange with the mainline, an intermediate stop, and the terminus in Columbia.  This would have been sometime around 1962 - 1964.

IIR, the Columbia segment was on a 4' x 6' plan.  I used the proto photos of a mixed train (GP-9,  a couple 40' and 50' cars, and the presumed 60' combine) to try to build the module to scale size.  Ended up about 6.5' x 13'.

What really made this interesting for me is that while returning to Forbes AFB from leave about 1967, I actually drove past part of the branch, and stopped in Columbia for gas and a meal.

[crisco1]

 I am interested in the old Missouri Pacific line : St. Louis- Kansas City

                                                                                       Chris

[odave]

Well, you could always come up with your own track plan. Yes, it's more work, but a plan you come up with has a much better chance of giving you satisfaction than one somebody else did. "Somebody else" probably does not have the same goals and desires that you do.

There are a whole range of things to get your head around when planning a layout.  Byron Henderson has a great set of questions on his website that you should read through and think about.

In the mean time,  assuming you want to be prototype-ish in relation to the Missouri Pacific line from St. Louis to Kansas City, you can start doing some research now.

If you don't already know where that line is, you can turn to your friend Google. Just searching for "Missouri Pacific System Map" turns up this gem.  It's from 1886, which may be too early for you (you didn't mention what era you were after), but it's a good place to start.  The line from StL to KC probably hasn't moved much since then.

You should try to identify scenes along the line you want to model. What scenes you pick will be up to you of course, but you may want to consider:

• Places where other railroads or branches interchange with the line.  Interchanges are important for adding operations potential.
• Signature physical characteristics of the area (the Missouri River comes to mind).
• Signature parts of the railroad's infrastructure (bridges, tunnels, yards, etc.)
• Signature or prevalent industries in the area.

Someone with more knowledge of MoPac could help you narrow the scenes down too.

At some point you'll need to come down to Earth and think about how many of these scenes will realistically fit into your space, how they will be connected, and how you want to operate trains in or through them. 

I'd give making your own plan a shot - it might be well worth the time.  And at this point, all you need to spend is some patience and time