I never had much of a track plan in mind when I set out to build my "Whitton branchline" of my new layout. Just a list of things I wanted.
- Lots of operation potential
- Plenty of different business for different types of cars
- The "industrial congested feel "
- A nice yard for storage/staging/ and switching operations
After playing with a lot track, pushing buildings around and tweaking... (Oh, cant forget all the coffee) I came up with my layout. After posting the pics of the build, I have had a a few folks ask about a "track plan". I used to Microsoft's paint program to do a track plan so you could see what goes where and show what I cam up with.
Whitton is a small fictional town here in Arizona that the Kiva Valley serves. Doesnt have much industry but enough to keep the line busy. Due to its location, rail service, since the steam days, has proved better as the roads in and out of town have to travel over some big hills and it is off the interstate system. Trucking, has never taken much of a hold. While there is some farming and cattle to support there some industrial business as well. This layout tries to represent all of that. Trains come in on the main and are stored in the yard or in some of the storage tracks. There are 2, one by the feed and grain supply and one just above the fuel and oil dealer. As seasonal demand will add to extra cars being held close to the business. The local will come on, cut and sort, and switch according to who needs what.
Another word's, easy, easy operating scheme for who a 35 year old single guy who still works a lot. Might to want to operate for 15 minutes or 2 hours.
Red buildings are rail supported, (i.e. places to switch too) Blue buildings are regular structures of Whitton.
You can see the layout build thread here. Whitton Branchline Shelf Layout
Thanks and Happy Rails!
Best Regards, Big John
Kiva Valley Railway- Freelanced road in central Arizona. Visit the link to see my MR forum thread on The Building of the Whitton Branch on the Kiva Valley Railway
Thanks for posting the track plan, John. Your plan calls for switching cars from both ends of the locomotive, so am I correctly assuming that all run around moves are done at the bottom center of the track plan? (The plan has a second potential run around but it looks like one part of it is reserved for use as a spur for railroad fuel.) An operator has to do some thinking and planning before taking the train, with the right cars at both ends of the locomotive up to the warehouse, mill and silo area at the top of the plan. Or do you do run around moves from both potential places for that and move the tank car around and replace it? Either way, a full operating session on this layout could actually take up some real time.
Dave Nelson
Dave, you are spot on. There is a fair amount of run-around moves, but by defalut, it adds to the operation work load. Makes it last a litle longer and adds to the challenge as you can get only a certain number of cars across to the top at one time. Running the older era is easier as the cars are shorter. Gets a bit tricky working the longer modern cars..
It also adds the fun and use of a second locomotive. Could use a "north side" (top) switcher that waits in the tail track under the whare house track. Then you could shove back acorss the top from there. So, with that in place, I could have 2 people working this layout as one works the the "south" power for sorting the yard and preparing empties/fulls for the return.
The oil/fuel track is actually a multi-purpose track I put in for the yard. Caboose storage, power track,RIP, fuel tank, etc. Just something to add to the fun. In the middle their will be the rail office and some small MOW shacks.
Thanks for the comments.