Hi all. I am planning a layout for my second residence. I am planning a 3' 4" by 6' ?" Layout. It will have a 18 inch radius loop around the edge with a switching area in the middle. I am looking for some cool/unique/interesting track formations from the prototype world or other layouts. Photos or a location as appropriate would be awesome! Thanks!
JJF
Prototypically modeling the Great Northern in Minnesota with just a hint of freelancing.
Yesterday is History.
Tomorrow is a Mystery.
But today is a Gift, that is why it is called the Present.
Oh, one other thing. The layout is ho scale, but you could share a track formation from any scale, I can always resize!
How about from 1:1? There was a discussion a few months back about a riverside grain facility in Portland, OR with a tight loop track as a possible real-life space to adapt to a 4x8. The aerial view seems to have disappeared, but you can search it in Maps/Google Earth, it's just to the northeast of the Steel Bridge crossing the river. Might be able to compress it further into the space you describe.
Phil
pt714 How about from 1:1? There was a discussion a few months back about a riverside grain facility in Portland, OR with a tight loop track as a possible real-life space to adapt to a 4x8. The aerial view seems to have disappeared, but you can search it in Maps/Google Earth, it's just to the northeast of the Steel Bridge crossing the river. Might be able to compress it further into the space you describe. Phil
Thats neat! Great inspiration. Exactly the stuff I'm looking for
I visited the GE Appliance Park in Louisville, Ky. once. I saw some of the railroad operations there but Google Earth gives a better view:
GE_Lvlle by Edmund, on Flickr
This looks like it would be fun to switch. Some has been removed, including the coal tracks to the power plant. A friend that worked there was going to send me a track diagram but that never materialized.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/GE+Appliance+Park/@38.1708904,-85.6504578,16z
Good Luck, Ed
My hometown of Hamilton Ontario was once a very industrial city with a network of train tracks.
If you go to this website:
https://library.mcmaster.ca/maps/aerialphotos/index.html
and tick the box labelled "Hamilton 1911" in the "Fire Insurance Plans" category, you can view a map of the city core in 1911.
Tracks went literally everywhere, often running down the middle of a street. I've noticed three roundhouses, several yards, a couple mainlines, and an uncountable number of sidings, spurs, and industries. Some of the industries shown on the map are large, such as the Otis-Fensom Elevator Co, with five tracks heading into it.
This being a city, space is tight, and there are curves and turnouts in the 18" HO range.
For a sneak preview here's a section of a particularly dense area of trackage:
The Central of New Jersey had some amazing yard trackage at its Hudson River terminal across from NYC at Hoboken. There are many aerial b/w photos you can find on line.
Also, in the Bronx (NYC), look for the CNJ round freight house. Amazingly tight trackage! You can find info on various sites but this one is a place to start:
http://www.bronx-terminal.com/?p=4255
Here is a video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO_8ZCm3Vqw
There's always the Montauk Cutoff in Long Island City too. There is an absurd amount of info and pictures on all of the above here:
http://www.trainsarefun.com
And specifically here: http://www.trainsarefun.com/lirr/licity/licity.htm
Andy
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Milwaukee native modeling the Milwaukee Road in 1950's Milwaukee.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/196857529@N03/
No room for a wye?
Wye_overlap by Edmund, on Flickr
Regards, Ed
What a wya to turn on a wye. Most ethanol plants have outside loops. Philly had a huge loop track and yards for loading iron ore. Look through pictures of ports and city trackage from the 30's and 40's. The track mazes are an entire study in themselves. And great for small switching layouts. garantee you will find something that works. Will take some digging. Philly and Chicago had loads of industrial tack needing draw bridges. Philly had a massive spaghetti bowl of track. Add the wide range of railroads over the years and equipment. B&o. Pennsylvania, reading, p and r seashore lone, cnj, Philadelphia belt line. Then addin the mergers over the years.
lots of loop track operations existed in industrial areas.
shane
A pessimist sees a dark tunnel
An optimist sees the light at the end of the tunnel
A realist sees a frieght train
An engineer sees three idiots standing on the tracks stairing blankly in space
gmpullman No room for a wye? Wye_overlap by Edmund, on Flickr Regards, Ed
Ha ha! I already looked at this one, but when I translate it into ho scale it actually takes up more space than a conventional wye made with snap switches and such. Cool track plan nonetheless.
https://www.google.com/maps/search/technology+center/@38.4410301,-104.3234878,7199m/data=!3m1!1e3
https://www.google.com/maps/place/32%C2%B021'43.2%22N+108%C2%B044'56.4%22W/@32.3620085,-108.7511947,976m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x0:0x0!7e2!8m2!3d32.3620038!4d-108.7490058
greg - Philadelphia & Reading / Reading
gregc https://www.google.com/maps/search/technology+center/@38.4410301,-104.3234878,7199m/data=!3m1!1e3 https://www.google.com/maps/place/32%C2%B021'43.2%22N+108%C2%B044'56.4%22W/@32.3620085,-108.7511947,976m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x0:0x0!7e2!8m2!3d32.3620038!4d-108.7490058
What in the name of... That definitely fits the bill of interesting and unique! Thanks!