Track Plan Adjustments

I've made a few adjustments to the track arrangement on my model railroad First, I've removed the second engine servicing track to allow the scene to breathe some more. The removal of this track allows me to include an engine shed while leaving plenty of room for additional trackside details that would have been difficult to squeeze in before.

Additionally, I removed a short storage track on the opposite end of Sandpoint yard as it was too short to spot more than a single car and was all but useless on my layout.

These updates are a result of taking what I've created on virtual paper and laying it down on physical plywood.  I've found that no matter how careful I am when designing a track plan, the reality of turnout length and clearances ultimately requires that I trim back my original intentions.

Click to View Larger

The Track Plan

(Note: Some minor changes have been made to the track plan since creating the video. See the image attached to this post for the latest schematic.)

Whelp, I've done it. I've finally landed on a track plan for my new layout. This plan is the result of months of design and deliberation. It incorporates nearly all of the features I love in model railroading and should provide me many years of enjoyment. I go in-depth into the design of the track plan in the following video:

The plan is simple, but allows an operator or two plenty of operational enjoyment. If I'm not in the mood for operations, I can even sit back with a beer and enjoy running a couple of trains around in circles. I've included a yard, a nice industrial area, and a couple nice, unencumbered areas where I can enjoy my favorite kind of modeling: Scenery.

True to proto-freelance modeling, the towns and industries located on the layout exist in real life. (though I've taken plenty of liberties with the locations and track arrangement to best serve my needs) The town of Usk stands-in for several towns found in the Pend Oreille Valley and just like on the prototype, the yard at Sandpoint is the valley's connection with the rest of the world. I've also included a few key scenic features found on the prototype including the old Great Northern Depot at Sandpoint, the bridges over the Pend Oreille River, Blueslide tunnel near the crossing of Highway 20, and the iconic Box Canyon Bridge.

(click to view larger)

Let's take a moment to look at the industries represented on the layout and learn about their mostly freelanced (i.e. pretend) histories:

• Lehigh Cement: With operations beginning in 1911, Lehigh Cement is the oldest rail-served industry in the valley, This historic factory once towered over the town of Metaline Falls however, the factory's advanced age along with rail service concerns required the owners to shutter operations at it's original location and build a new, modern plant south at Usk Washington. The factory ships 5-6 2-bay covered hoppers an operating session. 
• Ponderay Newsprint Company: Ponderay has been the one of the valley's largest rail customers since it began operations in 1989. The plant ships around 2-3 boxcars loaded with newsprint an operating session and receives boxcars loaded with recycled paper materials as well as tank cars loaded with kaolin and other chemicals on an as-needed basis.
• Vaagen Bro's Lumber Company: Part of the Idaho Forrest Group, this mill has been supplying America with high quality wood products for decades. Due to a recent lull in the new construction market, the mill only ships 2-3 loads of lumber on center partition cars each operating session. 
• Tri-Pro Poll Mill: The mill Generally ships around 1-2 custom built bulkhead flat cars loaded with poles an operating session.
• Pacific Steel and Recycling: A small employee-owned recycling facility which receives loads of scrap steel and other recyclable products via boxcar and gondola only on occasion.

This plan is sure to change a bit once flextrack meets plywood, but I'm pretty happy with where it stands right now. It was a lot of fun to put together and I can't wait to get started building benchwork!

Starting over from Scratch

After spending some time with my current layout in it's new space and trying to come up with a design for the expanded railroad that would include those original modules, I've come to the conclusion that they just would not fit the space well and I'd be better served starting over from scratch. 

With that in mind I dove into researching and designing a brand-new layout that would make best use of the space available and would allow me many, many years of enjoyment. I don't ever plan on moving from this home, so this layout will be my fourth and FINAL layout. My dream railroad.

The track plan above (click to view larger) is still a work in progress but it incorporates just about everything I enjoy in model railroading.  The plan is simple, but allows an operator or two plenty of operational enjoyment. If I'm not in the mood for operations, I can even sit back with a beer and enjoy running a couple of trains around in circles. I've included a yard, a nice industrial area, and a couple nice, unencumbered areas where I can enjoy my favorite kind of modeling: Scenery.

True to proto-freelance modeling, the towns and industries located on the layout exist in real life. (though I've taken plenty of liberties with the locations and track arrangement to best serve my needs) The town of Usk stands-in for several towns found in the Pend Oreille Valley and just like on the prototype, the yard at Sandpoint is the Valley's connection with the rest of the world. I've also included a few key scenes found on the prototype including Blueslide tunnel near the crossing of Highway 20, a trestle, and the iconic Box Canyon Bridge.

Designing this track plan has been a challenging and rewarding experience and I have to thank the many talented people on the Model Railroad Hobbyist forums for their expertise in helping me come up with this plan. I'm excited to get started and I cant wait to share my progress with all of you!

Critique my Track Plan

There is an interesting discussion going on over in the Model Railroad Hobbyist forums where I've posted a couple of track plan ideas for an expanded version of the MFR. There are a lot of really knowledgeable guys there offering some great advice and I am learning a lot. Head on over to my post to check it out and maybe jump in the conversations!

Track Plan #3

The track is laid down now, so this is the final track plan.  My goal was to create an operationally interesting design without filling up the space with a mess of unrealistic trackwork. I am pretty happy with the results.

A typical operation session would unfold as follows:




The BNSF arrives from Newport (staging) with cars destined for industries on the layout.  

The MFTR local switcher collects the cars, sorts them at the yard and readies them for distribution.

Loaded Cement hoppers are replaced with empties at the Cement Factory.

Empty pulpwood cars are spotted at the sawmill.

The switcher then performs a run around maneuver to set up the boxcars and tank cars for delivery on the facing-point siding at the Paper Recycling Facility.

Cars are spotted at the appropriate doors at the Recycling Facility.  Some cars may need to be moved temporarily to allow others to be pulled or spotted.

Cars destined for Newport (staging) are then collected and readied for their destination at Newport.

BNSF collects the outbound cars and returns to Newport (staging).




Industries typically receive the following cars per operating session:

Cement Factory: 4-6 2-Bay Covered Hoppers

Paper Recycling Facility: 1-3 50' Boxcars, 0-1 Tank car

Sawmill: 1-2 Pulpwood cars

Track Plan #2

Alrighty, this is pretty close to the final track plan for the MFTR. (EDIT: Turns out it wasn't even close.)

A larger version can be viewed here

A typical operation session would unfold as follows:

The local switcher starts its day by heading towards Newport (staging) to collect cars destined for industries on the layout.  

The cars are then sorted on the storage tracks and readied for distribution.

Loaded Cement hoppers are replaced with empties at the Cement Production Facility.

The switcher then performs a run around maneuver to set up the paper and pulpwood cars for delivery on facing-point sidings.

Loaded boxcars and empty pulpwood cars are delivered to the appropriate industries.

Cars destined for Newport (staging) are then collected and shoved down the mainline towards its destination.

Industries typically receive the following cars per operating session:

Cement Factory: 4-6 2-Bay Covered Hoppers

Papery Recycling Facility: 0-1 50' Boxcar

Pulpwood Facility: 2 Pulpwood cars

So there it is, I'd like to hear what you think. If you see a potential problem with this plan, please let me know before I start laying track. Your thoughts are welcome!  

Track Plan #1

Well gang, I've been doing a lot of playing around with track designs recently. I've been looking for a design that really fulfills all my needs. I came up with the following design as a way to take everything I wanted in a layout and pack it into as small a space as possible. Ultimately I think the sidings are a bit too short for my liking and so I will need another pass at this design, but I thought this (admittedly unfinished) illustration was worth sharing.

One interesting note is that this plan includes a nice, scenic area devoid of structures or complicated track work. It fits the locale I am modeling nicely and is something I will be looking to include in future track plans. More changes and second guesses are sure to come!