Are you a Long Hauling Mainline Freighter, or a Small Industry Switcher?

[zgardner18]

Guys,

What kind of Modeler are you:

1)Mainline Modeler?
2)Industry Switching Modeler?

I've been working on my layout design and it seems that my plans keep looking like mainline prototypes. That is the kind of modeler that I am: I want to model the fast freights pulling long trains. But I second guess building a layout without switching in fear that over time it would get boring. Would a layout with no switching get old after a while?(Trust me this hobby will never get boring) I need help trying to figure this out. Does anyone have any input on this subject?

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Both really.

KCS. A mainline railroad
MGRY A branch line to service local industry

[Anonymous]

mainline

[Anonymous]

Both
Alexander

[JPowell]

Not sure as I still have to finish building my table before I lay track. But, the more I think about it, since I'm going to start small (a 'L' shaped layout in a corner of my apartmentabout 4' long each way), I'd say more like a 'Local' operation with several industries to switch and a yard for sorting/interchanging.
JP

[BRAKIE]

My C&HV is a short line.The Cedar Creek Ry is a industrial switching service.

[SilverSpike]

I have both designed in my layout. Actually I will have three types of operations planned:
1. Mainline runs from point to point, and can run continuous loop if desired.
2. Through freight operations coming from and going to "offsite" operations.
3. Local industry switching.

Cheers,

Ryan

[jamnest]

Both

I model the KCS (1981) from Kansas City to the Ozarks. The Kansas City area has lots of switching and interchange with the other railroads that also serve KC. Also KCS' Knoche Yard (Joint Agency Terminal) is the southern terminus for the MILW RR with both railroads sharing the yard. The MILW is represented by a staging yard.

The prototype KCS main is just for hauling freright with very few branch lines and on line industry, at least at the north end of the line. This lets me put together long trains and watch them roll through the countryside. Right now the layout is a free standing two track modular (12' x 20') oval "plywood pacific" . My layout (dominoes) will eventuly run around the walls of a 25' x 60' basement. The modular layout has allowed me to run trains when I lived for many years in a rental home which did not have room for a layout. The plywood pacific has allowed me to expirment with benchwork construction, track laying and wiring.

The plywood pacific also has some switching and has allowed me to expirment with switch lists and car cards on a small scale to determing what might be best for the larger layout.

[Anonymous]

I do both. My layout is built for Continous run for the days i just want to watch them go by. I run long trains that are through freights. I mostly run locals.

[larak]

Both.

Double track main line with several industries plus mountain line with several more.
There is a shared medium sized yard, and three (fake) interchanges with other lines.

Running trains in a circle (even a 100 foot one) gets old once in a while.
So does local switching. I like the variety.

[Anonymous]

I normally don't reply to threads like this but..

.. I like long mainline frieghts. But I also like switching, which is why I plan to run a daily local on my layout.

[BigBlueConrail]

Both

[coborn35]

North Shore Terminal
Pure Cream Switching,Local and Interchange.

[CMSTPP]

Milwaukee road
Mainline and switching. Lots of switching to do when it comes to it and a lot of mainline traffic when the switching is done.

James

[Anonymous]

Mainline w/some switching but, a heavy emphasis on business train/class 1 excursion trains
Ch

[icmr]

Really mine is a former Class 1(Illinois Central) that is a Short line with two(soon to be three) yards, but does local jobs.



Victor

Happy Railroading.[swg][swg]

[Anonymous]

I will have a 10 ft. local that will have continues run. Then there is the 24 ft mainline and there is a small switching yard connecting to the main line.


The track to the center is the local.
The track that is still taped in the mainline.
My layout is about 1/3 complete. Thats the reason for a lot of tape. But I can run on the 10 ft. track.
Later
Neal

[Anonymous]

Both. Double track mainline for continuous run along with a good sized yard and plenty of industries to switch.

[tomikawaTT]

Would you believe a long- and short-hauling mainline freighter with both heavy (unit coal train) and light (single car) local/industrial switching - all subordinate to passenger service ranging from commuter MU to limited express? If it ran in Japan in 1964, it probably has a place on my layout and in my operating scheme.

One exception - no bullet trains. The original Shinkansen ran through the coastal plains, and my layout is set in the inland mountains.

Chuck

[Anonymous]

Freighter.

A loop of track with a town and some industries. I recently acquired a very small amount of extra right of way in the one room. Construction on the new area begins early 2007.

[eric719]

I guess my layout will fall under the second category. I am modeling a BN branch in the Palouse. It will be run with a local doing lots of switching at grain elevators. Mainline action really isn't my cup of tea.

Eric

[jeffrey-wimberly]

QUOTE: A loop of track with a town and some industries. I recently acquired a very small amount of extra right of way in the one room. Construction on the new area begins early 2007.

Why wait?

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jeffrey-wimberly

QUOTE: A loop of track with a town and some industries. I recently acquired a very small amount of extra right of way in the one room. Construction on the new area begins early 2007.

Why wait?

Wife and I are in the process of cleaning that one room. It has been little used over the years and requires major cleaning. We only now just secured it for railroad use. Wife did stake out final decisions about certain items such as the closet. So plans will have to be redone to accomodate human space needs.

2007 is planned for acquistion of track, switches, tools, scenic materials, benchwork etc... That is part of the hobby budget. I plan things months in advance. We work slowly. Heck alot of things are done slowly here in the South LOL.

So 2006 is final preparation of the room and 2007 is all about building.

Hope this answers your question.

[nbrodar]

Both...
I have a double track mainline for continuous runnning, a branch that leads to the yard and a few industries, and another branch that lead to some more industries and an interchange track.

Nick

[twhite]

Pretty much I'm a train WATCHER as opposed to getting down to the nitty-gritty of switching operations, but though the Yuba River Sub is mainline-oriented, I do have a yard (Deer Creek) in which locomotives are changed out from 'flatland' to 'mountain', so that offers me some switching moves as I change motive power and add or subtract cars from the consists. I do have a couple of small industries on the layout (cattle, mining, etc), so I can run a daily 'turn' along with the mainline freight and passenger, but generally, except for the changing of motive power in Deer Creek, I'd say I'm more of a 'through-run' kind of fellow.
Of course, I do have one little 4-car local passenger, the Yuba River Express that tends to stop at every good fishing hole along the route. It even gets passed up by drag freights, occasionally.
Tom