Basement N-Scale layout Kato

[Everheart]

This is a future basement layout. Built with Kato Unitrack, it is mostly Industrial.
Plans are to have it DCC Controls. Would like input on the layout. the upper yard has a duel purpose function,as a working Yard and Staging Yard. The Era theme is 1940's to 1950's. Steam & Early Diesel Locomotives.

[Jeff]

This is quite an ambitious layout, especially done in Kato Unitrack. About the only thing I don't see a lot of is engine service facilities, both steam and diesel. And no turntables at all! That's ok for diesels, but you do have those staging tracks... That infers that you'll have incoming and outgoing longer distance trains. That means bigger road engines and all their add-ons.

I also have one suggestion for you- there is a wood pulp factory, but that's not the only kind of thing you can model that uses pulp wood. There's also a pallet factory. A pallet factory turns out pallets made from combining wood  shavings and sawdust with a glue. Then the mix is forced into molds. The resulting pallets can be shipped out by rail and tank cars of glue can come in. It looks like there's plenty of room for it down in the Pulp Factory area.

[RhB_HJ]

.....

I also have one suggestion for you- there is a wood pulp factory, but that's not the only kind of thing you can model that uses pulp wood. There's also a pallet factory. A pallet factory turns out pallets made from combining wood  shavings and sawdust with a glue. Then the mix is forced into molds. The resulting pallets can be shipped out by rail and tank cars of glue can come in. It looks like there's plenty of room for it down in the Pulp Factory area.

Jeff,

Did they have those in the steam/diesel transition era?

[Jeff]

Okay, let me see. I'm not certain that they had those factories back in that day. I'm sure that they could have had them, but it would likely have been easier, considering the plentiful materials and labor, to hand-build pallets. That doesn't mean that you CAN'T, just that it may not be prototypical Or, you can have a more timely pallet factory that gets in loads of wood and ships out pallets (both by boxcar and flat).

As for the engine services, they are normally set at every 100 miles, for steam. They include coal, water, sand, and a means of getting rid of ashes. Diesel is every several hundred miles, at most. So, you can actually place them at any or every town (or 100 miles, whichever comes first). Being modelers, we have to compress distances, but you could do with 2-3 service areas on a layout your size and you should definitely have turntables at each 'end' of your railroad.

[RhB_HJ]

On the engine services: weren't they more or less coinciding with the division points back in the steam days? Divisions used to be quite a bit smaller than they are today, weren't they? Of course it also depends on the topography, that goes more or less hand in hand with what types of industries are along the line. So far I'd say this layout is fairly flat.

On an other note: I'm curious about (it's a terrible affliction) what's happening with all the red space that I highlighted? Is that reserved for other "activities"? 

[Jeff]

Placement of engine service facilities would depend a great deal on the size of the division. However, the mechanical grease-points of a steam engine don't give a hoot about divisions, as long as someone tends to them every 100 miles, more or less. But could you call those places where you put the services 'Division points'? Of course. You're not modeling some specific prototype and even if you were, you don't have the room to do it to 1:1 scale.

"On an other note: I'm curious about (it's a terrible affliction) what's happening with all the red space that I highlighted? Is that reserved for other "activities"?"

And I would know this? If it were me, I'd model a (hidden staging, mostly) mainline and an extensive logging branchline. It would tie in well with the rest of the layout. Every industry needs raw materials.

[RhB_HJ]

Since this is - strictly my assumption - to be an operating layout with lots of action I'll take this one operational segment at a time. Starting with "Industrail (sic) Complex1", for convenient purposes I call the Red track the North Track (Westbound) and the Black track is the South track (Eastbound) - this will apply for the rest of the double track segments, too. Traffic is righthand on double track!

There are 10 sidings with one being South of the main, the rest being to the North. When a train starts switching the complex it will invariably block either main, the distance between the crossovers on the East and West side is too short. In addition the crossovers are restrictive, they should allow for crossing over in either direction and crossing back.

The most efficient way is placing an industrial siding beside the Westbound main with additional crossovers East and West to allow Eastbound trains to arrive and depart in that siding. Place drill tracks East and West and now the Westbound main will only be used when running around the train when switching facing and/or trailing tracks.

Wayfreights will foul the main only for short periods; if the complex has an assigned switcher through trains can drop off cars in the Industrial siding and the local switcher does the rest, with the mainlines remaining clear most of the time.
As always just suggestions how it could be done.   Even back in the transition era they tried to keep traffic flowing as smoothly as possible.

Cheers

HJ

[RhB_HJ]

A slightly different approach for the Gas&Oil complex. All the Yellow trackage is part of the complex, hardly any changes other than the connection at the Eastend (including the crossover to allow Westbound train direct access) and the siding which provides for round-a-round moves . The biggest change: since they apparently own the real estate anyway I moved the holding (loading) tracks, they are now through tracks which can be accessed from either side and the trains can be made up in the run-around siding toe depart in either direction.

The rest of the industries at that location are either served by the Westbound or by the Eastbound wayfreights. New passing siding adjacent to the Westbound main to allow for run arounds to serve the facing and the trailing tracks on the North side

Main objective: again ... free up the mainlines for the through traffic.

[RhB_HJ]

Industrial2 has been promoted to a division point - I guess at the same time it could be the end of the wayfreights that start out from Staging.

What would be interesting to know: what types of industries are at this and the other location?

One more thing to consider ... since there are local switchers in action, where do they store the loads and empties that come and go prior to being picked up by the next train? Usually the switcher would prep any outgoing cars before the trains arrive.

Cheers

HJ

PS what would/could add even more interest, as far as traffic is concerned, is an interchange with another railroad some place farther down the line.  

PPS One more note: considering the amount of room available it would be advantageous to lengthen the mainline runs between the towns/locations i.e. have enough mainline to actually have the complete trains out on the line.
The situation where the front of the train arrives in the next town before the end of the train leaves the preceeding one is often seen on smaller layouts, but the room available should preclude that scenario in this case. 

[Jeff]

As HJ says, "One more thing to consider ... since there are local switchers in action, where do they store the loads and empties that come and go prior to being picked up by the next train?".

If you have a division point, you will normally have a division-point yard for sorting and classifying of trains headed east or west. Now, this would call for something of a redesign, but at least AR makes that painless. If you go that route, then design one single staging yard/return loop that might even be on a lower level. It doesn't necessarily need a helix, just enough run length to get the track from upper to lower level. The extra space cleared by moving the staging yard down and perhaps using some of the 'red space' would certainly give you enough room for a good division-point yard and engine facility.

[RhB_HJ]

  Jeff 

You mean 53x29 feet in N scale isn't quite enough space?

BTW those familiar with Model Railroad Planning - along with Trains and Classic Trains one of the few in the Kalmbach stable to provide better than usual info - will have come across the concept of "layout elements".
Basically sub-assemblies which can/could stand on their own or are incorporated into a larger layout connected by portions of mainline. For the portions of mainline: the longer the better to avoid the "tail in A, but head already in B" problem.

[Jeff]

HJ-

As a wise man once said, "There ain't no such thing as too much space!!!"


and as an afterthought, I'm well acquainted with LDE's, as they've been called for the past 15 years. Having been a model railroader since 1956, I have heard of most things in the hobby My comment was simply meant to, umm, inspire all concerned to consider alternative space usage and the addition of LDE's, below-main-table storage yards, and the real importance of engine service facilities (no matter what the era being modeled).

[Jeff]

Let's see, I would place service areas right inside the loop to the right of the glass factory, in the area of Industrial Complex 2, and as close to the staging yards as possible. This can be done by rearranging some of the spaces used by the layout, without using up so much space that people can't walk around. It has to be nice having all that room, so it would do you well to use it as efficiently as possible (and yes, without crowding). If you want me to, I could work up a 'Phase II' layout.

[Jeff]

Very nice! The only tweak I might apply is in the Buffalo logging (presumably) area. That could be turned into a real branchline with little extra work. What I have in mind is simply adding a loop for extra running time between the mainline and the end of the branch.