tony22 A small operation on a branch for two to three trains a day worth of work, and some related businesses to where the product can be brought after getting dropped off at the yard.
Mmm - you know what level of activity you want.
But do you know when and where the place you model is located, and what the trains are carrying?
Will your trains be Heissler or Shay geared engines lugging cars with logs out of the forest to a paper mill or planing mill or some such thing?
Is your main focus on modeling the source of the traffic (ie the logging camp and part of the ride through the forest) or the destination for the traffic (ie the paper mill), or is modeling cars being transferred between trains or something else?
Why do you want to model both the branch line and the mainline?
One elegant solution is one used by modeler Dave Steensland on his Silverton and Lake City railroad might work for a layout for you (if you like the idea).
He has several branch lines on his layout, one of which is owned by a lumber company which picks up cars from the forest (just modeled as a single track hidden behind some trees). He is not trying to model a logging camp, the engine running around at the logging camp or the entire line from the junction to the logging camp.
The locomotive disappears behind the trees. A little while later it will reappear, pulling loaded log cars. How much later is up to you.
The loaded log cars are pulled down to a tiny three track town. Some loaded log cars are left in the town, and some loaded log cars are pushed down to the local lumber mill.
The train brings back empty log cars and boxcars loaded with forestry products from the local lumber mill.
The empty log cars are brought "back to the logging site" (ie behind the trees), so the loggers can start loading them.
An outbound train is put together from the loaded log cars, loaded box cars from the mill, and maybe one or two cars from the town team track).
The train head down the line towards the interchange with the bigger railroad (which can also be a hidden track, or a visible foreground scene in front of the hidden forest track). At the interchange track there will be inbound cars - empty log cars, empty boxcars for the mill and loaded cars for the town.
The train drops off the outbound cars, picks up the inbound cars, and head back to town.
In town the cars for the town is spotted at the team track. Empty box cars are spotted at the lumber mill. Empty lumber cars are taken "to the logging camp" (ie pushed into the hidden track).
Your single train makes six-seven trips between various destinations during a day. If desired, you could use two trains - one pulling logs from the forest to the town, and between the town and the mill, and one pulling trains between the town and the junction/interchange.
Quite a bit of train work here.
Nothing here that says you have to find staging space for three trains.All the staging you need is one track that can hold say 6 lumber cars and one engine out of sight.
Nothing here that says you have to model both the source and the destination of loads. The source can be abstracted away just as easy as the destination.
Trains on the mainline can be abstracted down to "someone must have left these cars here for us" and "someone will come along and pick up the cars we leave for them" at the junction.
Nothing here that says you have to have continuous run.
Just a few ideas. Not a given that any of these will work for you directly. But they might give you new ideas.
But for a small layout, I would try to not model the run - I would pick one or two scenes to model, and focus on what the trains will do in those scenes. You won't get a long run on a small layout, no matter what you do. But you could get a couple of nice scenes.
Incidentally - have you show a drawing of your entire room yet? It may be possible to find space for a layout in some other configuration than what you have drawn so far.
steinjrMmm - you know what level of activity you want. But do you know when and where the place you model is located, and what the trains are carrying? Will your trains be Heissler or Shay geared engines lugging cars with logs out of the forest to a paper mill or planing mill or some such thing?
Yes. I thought I was pretty clear about that in my first post. Late steam era transition. Independent logging branch (I settled on this after the first post) which interfaces to PRR.
"The layout is meant to show a branch operation that takes either coal or lumber from a private short line and have its material delivered to industries which then produce various products, which are picked up by the PRR. The branch operation uses a leased two truck Shay. The PRR motive power is 2 Decopods, a "borrowed" C&O Mike, and various diesels (NW2, RS1, RS3, H-16-44, SD-9, FA2, and the like). There is occasional passenger service."
I even have a pretty good idea of the part of Pennsylvania where the layout would be set.
steinjrWhy do you want to model both the branch line and the mainline?
A few reasons. So I can model the transition of material to be picked up by a PRR freight, to go off somewhere to the bigger world. To have a small amount of goods from that bigger world to come in and get delivered to the smaller world seen in the layout. To be able to run staged consists through the environment so I can just have a variety of traffic go through even if it doesn't stop. That will also introduce the need to deal with timing of traffic.
steinjrOne elegant solution is one used by modeler Dave Steensland on his Silverton and Lake City railroad might work for a layout for you (if you like the idea).
I will have to look at this.
Hi Tony
It is difficult to understand you.
tony22 Will your trains be Heissler or Shay geared engines lugging cars with logs out of the forest to a paper mill or planing mill or some such thing? Yes. I thought I was pretty clear about that in my first post. Late steam era transition. Independent logging branch
Yes. I thought I was pretty clear about that in my first post. Late steam era transition. Independent logging branch
So you want to have an independent logging branch with a shay doing the job.
tony22"The layout is meant to show a branch operation that takes either coal or lumber from a private short line and have its material delivered to industries which then produce various products, which are picked up by the PRR. The branch operation uses a leased two truck Shay.
So you do not want a logging branch, but a branch that is picking up cars from a logging branch and delivers cars to various industries. The industries also are served by the PRR, so this branch can be PRR owned but your LOG INC RR has trackage rights or visa versa. If a Shay is appropriate on this branch is another question. For this operation you do not need a yard or a turntable or even a branch; the only thing you need is an interchange track (with the private short line) and some bigger industries, e.g. a sawmill or a paper mill.
If you don't have a clear vision, how can I help you? This was one example, there are more.
Adding a passing siding for through trains over this branch would be a great too. You will have to face the consequences. Make this branch rather busy and you will need not only a huge underground staging area, but also dedicated yard leads; in general you will have to keep the switching moves from the main. All these items are space-hogs.
BTW I second the opinion of Stein: you could make a drawing of your space. Maybe there are better footprints for your railroad.
Paul
Found something from a year( or 2) back or so ...almost in the same measerments/proportions...
Also "designed" for N scale...
just reflect the left part..so that will "go" to the right...( like a mirror?? )
plus an "artimpression" of the left part of the plan...