I've always looked at those 4x8 project railroads in the model train magazines with an eye for what could be. Sometimes there is great potential, sometimes they just don't work that well. Granted, there has been much ink spilled over how to create a better plan using the same space required for a 4x8 (much greater than 4x8, considering aisles and access to three sides) so I won't go into that here. But I will posit a contrary view for the utility of such plans as they are - a rectangle in the middle of a room. When you have a room in which you can't use the walls, one of these space-hogging 4x's may be just the answer.
I have space in our house for a nice railroad on a shelf, but barring some sections that must be put up to run and taken down when done, that doesn't make for easy loop running. Sometimes (quite often) I like to just sit back and watch a train roll. In order to do that I need to build something larger, and the only space for that is our garage. Bob Smaus once wrote an article in Model Railroader about the hazards of building in the garage, and I recommend it if you can find it. Summer heat, winter cold, dust, spiders (black widows, and not the Southern Pacific RR kind!) and clutter all make for a challenging environment in which to build a model railroad.
However, I have decided I'm up for the challenge. I recently set up a test loop of EZ track in the garage, ostensibly for testing the 2-6-0. This is actually our Christmas loop but only when there's a tree in the middle. I've been having so much fun running trains on that loop - despite the rough conditions in the garage - that I decided I could be very happy with a layout out there.
After much cogitation (the details of which I will spare you), I returned to a simple plan. Behold the HO scale Morgan Valley RR, first featured in the January 1989 issue of Model Railroader in an article by Rick Henderson (click for larger, or right click and open in a new tab):
This plan has always stuck with me, dating back to the first days of my subscription to Model Railroader. However, I've learned much since then about railroad operations, model and prototype, and right away I knew I'd need to modify this plan. I started by removing the short switchback siding and a few others.
I added a parallel siding to an existing one, and shifted a few tracks to align on 90 degree lines. This was because I was already envisioning a grid of streets.
The dark gray are major roads while the lighter gray are secondary alleys and parking areas. I believe this should be a consideration in the earliest stages of a plan, as this is often how city planners would view development. People inhabit cities, and need a way to get around. On so many model railroads, particularly smaller ones like this, roads seem to be an afterthought and consequently the scene lacks believability. Roads lead to structures, or in the case of the driveways, connect structures to streets.
Here the olive drab colored shapes represent industries or railroad structures, the blue colored blocks represent city buildings and the dusty rose colored shapes are residential homes. Trees and water features have been added and some track features labeled. It is my intention that the streets and buildings will provide a strong grid-like structural element. The tracks interact with this structure as if, in some cases, they were put in place after the grid was laid down, and in others in concert with it or before it. The tracks follow a small creek in one corner and pass through a low cut in another, next to the orange grove; otherwise the topography is essentially flat.
While I will discuss operating this layout in another post, suffice it to say for now that the railroad can handle both freight and passenger trains as it stands. With a connection to staging (most likely a train-length turntable) as a fiddle yard, the variety of equipment increases. For now it can be built using track I already own, and using many key structures which I already own. One final note - the 'Motorcycle Cop' is a nod to a scene from an extinct Epcot Center attraction, the World of Motion. Find a good video of this ride on YouTube and see if you can spot the cop behind the billboard.
That's an excellent plan. I like how you've converted a layout that is classically 'model-railroady' - that is the businesses and industries are rather scattered and didn't seem to cohere into scene - into a plan that has a ring-of-truth regarding how actual towns and cities come to have the organization they do. I've felt that many layouts neglect issues of negative space - that is spaces between buildings, where to park automobiles, how big sidewalks should be, that sort of thing - in their attempt to squeeze in lots of track for operations. I think you've got a good balance. Maybe those residences will need a fence wrapping around their backyards to screen off the train running back there - but they might be railfans, so maybe not :-) I'm looking forward to see how your layout develops!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jim! I have been spending time lately studying layouts that have that feeling of realism. Look for the show layout of the Trains Miniature L'Omois, or the Modellbundesbahn in Bad Driburg for fine European examples. Stateside we have Lance Mindheim's work for modern era, but very few examples that I can name who have done this with the steam era or transition. Dave Methlie's 4x8 showpieces came close, as the trains and track seemed almost secondary.
ReplyDeleteAs for the residential homes, of course at this stage they're just a suggestion and I may only be able to fit two or perhaps even one home in that location. I could remove one home and replace it with a continuation of the orange grove so that the train bisects it. But then I'd want to balance that with perhaps putting the gas station across from the grove and freeing up space near the team track for perhaps a fruit stand. I guess I didn't mention it, but the setting for this pike is central Florida.
I don't know much about central Florida. I've only been there a few times to visit my wife's family who, like most New Yorkers, moved to Florida.
ReplyDeleteI want to model the Los Angeles Junction Railway in Vernon, Ca. A couple of years ago a couple of friends of mine here in So Cal and I went to Vernon and City of Commerce to explore the LAJ. You can't see a lot of the line in City of Commerce, but Vernon is different from any other City in California and perhaps any city in the country.
It was incorporated by three ranchers in 1905 as a city for industries, warehousing, and factories. It is located 5 miles south of downtown Los Angeles and has a total population of 125.
What makes Vernon interesting to model is that the entire city is laid out as follows: there is a street with an industry on it, behind the industry is a railroad track, then another industry, and then another street. This layout of streets and track I covers the entire city! The tracks are like alleys. They may or may not be private property, but they are virtually vacant on weekends when the industries are closed. Since 90% of the city was built before 1939, there really is very little consideration for automobiles. Very few parking lots, most parking is on city streets, which is adequate since the resident population is so small, and city hall has plenty of parking for city workers. It allows for a switching layout with virtually no regard for parking other than along the street.
this is Russ Bellinis, I forgot to sign the previous comment.
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