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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by jwr_1986 Still I'm interested in your track plan and who ships what and how much. [/quote] Hi Jesse, Well, the trackplan isn't in a very shareable state right now. Its a monster drawn 1:1 in Illustrator that we print out and tape together to lay on the benchwork. This is then very handy for checking building clearances, scenary elevations, track grades, where to place switch machines underneath (surprisingly tricky in tight spots with the huge Atlas c55 machinery), etc. etc. Once we've laid track, and can actually say "ahh the track plan is done" we'll do up a simpler version for show and tell. But these are our chief considerations: * Every trackside industry has to fit into the 'ecosystem' -- it ships to and/or receives from other trackside industries. The more connections each industry can have, the better. Trackside and dockside frieghthouses are good catch-alls. For instance, the the brewery receives grain from the mill, hops from the farm, coal, occaisional bits of machinery, and kegs (from the nearby freighthouse on the River Running shipped in from somewhere 'upriver' -- since we're not modelling any logging operations to provide a raw material, we're also not showing any wood or paper industries -- can't model the entire economy) and ships out to all the freighthouses and of course the commissary for the passenger train depot in Hobbiton. * Primary raw material source is the coal mine in Mordor, they ship everywhere. A major design factor is based on having at least twice as many coal cars as the track capacity at the mine. Top priority move is getting a load of coal out of the mine, and then herding the empties from the last shipment back home. Once we're actually running trains, we'll see if we should add more gondolas to the ecosystem or not which would allow some of the empties to stay out longer (but if so, waiting empties would tie up siding space that may be needed for other traffic). * Secondary raw materials are the iron mine in the Iron Hills and the mithril mine in Moria. * But the second costant rail traffic is the dairy industry, with a daily milk run to provide the chief ingredient for the Rivendell Dairy in the middle of the OFRy. This provides a fair amount of switching, making up the mixed passenger/dairy train , going to the whistle stops, dropping the first reefer at the dairy in mid-run, then going to the other end of the line and back to the dairy doing more whistle stops on the return to drop off the second reefer, then completing the final return leg of the passenger run. Cattle traffic also connects to the packing plant, which then provides meat and hides. And all cattle traffic passing through Hobbiton has to be cut out for a stop at the farm near the station, which has a lucrative contract running the cattle dock to feed them. The approach is overall one of story-telling. How do all of these places on the railroad relate to each other to build a functioning economy and society? The discussion in the design forum thread talks about having enough empty space in the staging yards to provide fluidity of actual movement. For our planning, every car has a nominal 'home port' that does not include the interchange yards. Each yard is small -- 1 eastbound and one westbound track, at least long enough to hold a full train, plus a little extra room if we can squeeze it in. Theoretically, if there were no operations in progress, every car would have room to sit at its siding (even the excess coal cars have nominal home ports in engine yards or other receiving facilities). Some sidings are longer than needed to hold the 'home' cars, to help provide some of the empty space needed for fluidity, but its the interchange yards that provide the major room for fluidity of movement. Fun complications will of course arise ocassionally with needing to clear space for arriving cars, and dealing with cars delayed at the RIP track (dice roll for every car passing through the Bree yards). Cheers, Mo
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