Hello the Forum. I thought I would try out the new forum by posting my track plan for all to see and comment before I get too far along. I am attempting to model SP's mountain district between Bakersfield and the Tehachapi Loop in a single car garage. Living in Arizona forces one to find space where they can (basements are rarer than rain here). My space is a walled-off, air conditioned 1-car garage measuring 11' x 21'. As I model in HO scale, I had to use multiple levels to come close to squeezing in that much real estate. Some of my givens and druthers: no duckunders, 1 to 3 operators (but mostly just me), fairly long trains (about 20 40-foot cars), Kern Junction (interchange with the ATSF, the Loop itself, some switching, helper operations (steep enough grade to make it count), and continuous running.
Here's my somewhat unconventional and ambitious track plan to accomplish all that. The room really isn't big enough to support walkaround so it is designed as a central aisle to maximize space. It is presented in 3 levels (hopefully this works - thanks to the forum for walking me through it): staging, lower main, and upper main.
First staging. Staging consists of a 10-track double ended yard tucked under Caliente. It has one reverse section to turn trains between sessions.
Lower main: The lower main represents the line from Bakerfield to tunnel #1 outside of Caliente with a lot of selective compression in between. It looks like a long reach over the yard to Kern Junction so there is pop-up access back there. There is a connection at Bakersfield that leads to a hidden track representing Oil City by the door. And there is some industrial switching just outside of Bakersfield yard and another hidden connection for reefers coming in from Edison. The layout is level to this point. Outside of Bakersfield, the grade begins and runs through Caliente then steepens considerably past Caliente to tunnel #1 (3%).
Upper main: The upper level represents the line from Woodford to the Loop. There is a slight grade here until the loop which is laid at a 2.25% grade until tunnel #10. At tunnel #10, the line drops rapidly into a 2.5% helix leading back to staging. The mountain will be removeable to allow pop-up access there, too.
I've also included a 3-D bird's eye view you can check out here.
That's the layout as designed. I have the staging yard in and am beginning on the helix. Hopefully, some of you will enjoy looking at my plan and reading about my approach. I welcome any comments you may have.
Jeff Smith
Well, as this was my first time trying this I noted that I repeated the staging section twice. This has now been fixed and the images should be larger as well.
- Jeff
WOW, lets see some pictures as you progress, That is quite a track plan!
bill
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
Texas Z,
No, Woodford was basically a water stop siding during steam days and a place to park lower priority trains for making a pass or meet. Way back when it had a quarry at one end and I might use a little modeler's license and put in a quarry that still is operating during my era just for another place to spot freight cars. One can only carry this prototypical thing so far, you know. Helpers weren't usually cut off until Summit at (you guessed it) the top of the hill. There is a big cement plant near there and I would love to fit that in but ran out of space. I considered having the track turn right after entering tunnel #10, cross the door at about 65" (nod under?) and looping back over the Caliente turnback curve. But, I hate the thought of blocking my entrance. Maybe I'll move the cement plant down to Woodford! Comments or suggestions are welcomed.
Jeffrey W,
Yes, space is tight. I started doing Tehachapi when I lived in the midwest and had a basement. However, with this plan I managed to maintain 27" minimum radius curves so I can run fairly large steam (cab-forwards, anyone?) without it looking too silly. The helix is the key and I'll be starting on it once I finish wiring the staging yard.
Here are some in-progress construction photos of my layout. Haven't gotten very far, only the staging level is in.
The five tracks on the right represent the Santa Fe while the five tracks to the left of those represent the SP. Both these staging yards loop around the far right and come up onto the main level at Kern Junction. The yards are double ended so trains can come from either direction. The far left track is coming from the helix and forms a continuous loop with the two staging yards.
Here you see (if you look closely) the tracks from the two staging yards rising upward. The grade is about 2.5% for each track. A little steep for trains coming out of the valley but it was the best I could do. Mostly I'll be running ABA F's with at least two powered so I should have little trouble taking a typical 20-car train out of staging. The grade on the helix is 2.5%, too.
Next up is to add the Tortoise switch machines and LED indicators to the staging yard. After that, I'll start on the helix. I'm still considering foregoing the helix in favor of a turnaround loop over Caliente. That way I can model the cement plant at Tehachapi. But that would require a nod under at the door, something I wanted to avoid. I've never known this group to be shy and retiring. So, give me your two cents worth and let me know what you think. It is still not too late to make some changes.
That's a very ambitious plan. I have a couple of concerns ... I wonder if the 3D rendering is a bit optimisitic in that it is from a viewpoint that the operators won't actually be able to typically achieve. They will be so close to the layout and the shelves are so deep that I think the appearance may not be satisfactory in real life.
Access is a concern in a few spots as you noted. If you go with access hatches, you might want to be sure that there is a place for the hatch when it is lifted out ... either on rails straight up or some other solution. Things are pretty tight.
It seems to me that the yard and engine service in Bakersfield is pointed in the suboptimal direction. I recognize that the space constraints more-or-less force it into this configuration, but it seems to me it's laid out to favor trains disappearing itno staging, not the helper moves, etc. up the hill. Following the movement of helper engines seems to involve a lot of back-and-forth, but maybe I am missing something.
The final point is more a matter of personal preference, but I would have trouble willingly suspending my disbelief with Bakersfield so close to Caliente. It just feels artifical to me, but that's my personal view. As you know, in real life the distance is great and the surroundings at Caliente are pretty sparsely populated. Driving out of the big yard and directly into Caliente would just feel funny -- again, just to me.
Another completely personal factor is the amount of time trains will be in the helix vs. the visible run. Managing trains traversing a helix is low on my personal list fo "fun items". Helices are a necessary evil sometimes, but this one feels a little out-of-proportion to me relative to the rest of the layout.
Another personal factor is that for me, the loop just feels too small -- a bit artificial. The real thing is such a dominant element of the landscape.
If I were designing the layout, I believe that I would limit the scope a bit more -- perhaps forgo the loop itself for a narrower focus on other areas ... like Tehachapi and the summit itself. But you've done a lot of shoehorning to fit all of these elements in that space. My concern is that the results may not be very satsifactory in the end.
Mostly just my personal feelings, so if you're happy with what you've got, good luck and have fun!
Regards,
Byron
Layout Design GalleryLayout Design Special Interest Group
How is your garage air conditioned? The only reason I ask is because I also live in AZ and still havent really figured out how to air condition my garage. My dad and I were thinking about using a mobile cooler, but then the humidity problem arised (arosed ??). Thanks for your help.
btw the plans and pice look great. Have fun with the helix!!
Jeff,
Boy I thought that I had a lot in a tight space. I feel better now looking at your layout. I too am going to be building a layout in my garage that will only be the amount of one garage. I'm looking to start building a new house here anytime that will have a 3 car garage. There won't be any room in the house so I'm taking the 3rd stall walling it off and using it for my layout space. After moving back to Southern California from Montana where I attend College, I fell in love with the Bozeman Pass. Actually I fell in love with the Mullan Pass too but I only made it up there twice. So I'm planning on modeling the Livingston side of the Bozeman Pass in a 11x24 space. I will use the wrap-around style with duck under/pull outs. My layout will be a dog bone with a helix in the middle to supply trains to two decks. Both ends of the dogbone will be over and under the helix and all will be hidden with tunnels as ports of entry. I then will have staging as a third level under the layout.
So Jeff, If your crazy then I'm crazy too, and that is what make model railroading so much fun. We have to have what we want not matter what. settling for less is just unsatifactory. I think that you are going to have a great layout and we hope to see more pictures as the construction goes on. Then we need to see some pictures in the magazines.
--Zak Gardner
My Layout Blog: http://mrl369dude.blogspot.com
http://zgardner18.rrpicturearchives.net
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Byron,
Thanks for the feedback. I agree that it is an ambitious plan and I may find that I'll have to go another direction in the end, but I hope not. As far as the two decks, you'll note that it is only double decked on part of the layout. I've tried to keep the upper level narrower than the lower so that the view to the lower deck is not so shielded. And, I also mocked up the deck levels in 12 inch to the foot scale to see how it would work and I think it will. Time will tell.
Yes, I am troubled by how close Caliente is to Bakersfield yard but I'm counting on the fact that one must turn 180 degrees so both scenes won't be seen at once. Caliente is such a signature feature of the region that I thought the comprimise worth it. Bakersfield yard is oriented the way it is because that is how it was done on the prototype. Of course, the real yard was double-ended. My arrival/departure tracks are double-ended so think I should be OK. The Tehachapi loop is also a signature item and I made it as big as I could - I'd like it bigger but not at the expense of the other items (at least for now).
I agree with you about the amount of track eaten up by the helix. A lot of this layout will be made up of hidden track - pretty boring. That is one of the reasons I posted the plan - to get some feedback such as yours and see what folks think about alternatives such as placing a return loop over Caliente. Is the resulting duck-under worth it? Are there other alternatives I haven't thought of?
jlsmith7017 wrote:And, I also mocked up the deck levels in 12 inch to the foot scale to see how it would work and I think it will. Time will tell.
Were you able to do the mock up with the constraint of the narrow aisle? In other words, a mock up that looks fine when standing a "normal" distance away might seem tight when viewed from the narrow aisles you are proposing.
With very narrow aisles, it's sometimes hard for operators/vistors to bend over enough to see to the back of the lower deck.
jlsmith7017 wrote:Yes, I am troubled by how close Caliente is to Bakersfield yard but I'm counting on the fact that one must turn 180 degrees so both scenes won't be seen at once..
Right, for casual viewing that works, but when one is driving a train, the transition willl be abrupt.
jlsmith7017 wrote:Bakersfield yard is oriented the way it is because that is how it was done on the prototype. Of course, the real yard was double-ended.
That was my point. The way the single-ended portion of the yard is oriented now, it favors trains headed into staging.
Sorry to drag up such an old thread, but i'm really interested in your project. Any updates?
I've been thinking of something similar and i'd love to know how it turned out.
-Matt