New Layout Ideas

[OaklandCountyCustoms]

So, after drawing my layout idea for what must be 5 years now my wife and i are now on a 5-year plan to move from our current home. Does this mean rush to build only to tear down in 5 years or wait another 5 years to start building? I think i've found a happy medium. While spending time this week in Cape Cod, MA i had time to walk around the Cape Cod Central yard...i think i may just have to make a small shelf layout with origin and destination station as the prototype is with "pull-pull" operation. This is the cheapest thing i can think of. to make it not totally lame, i think i'll put a couple industries and sidings along the way... thinking about freelancing it up a little bit...why not? Off to the drawing board! Any ideas anyone?

prototype area:
-1 mainline track, multiple track yard/staging for scenic train and car/engine repair house, siding for deadline parts units, 2 passenger depots (one at each end of the line).
-sister railroad handles trash removal only in bathtub style coal cars for transport to incinerator...only freight on the line.

Freelance ideas:
-Thinking i may want to do the Huron County variant of this...perhaps in my world the old tracks from Grindstone City to Kindy still exist.
-to go with the new decals, perhaps this will be 1980's era in C&O scheme.
-I have a PM Berkshire...perhaps a steam special every now and again?
-freight interchange could include quarry stone (was prototypical pre-1920's) as well as grain trains.
-could mock the route from Bad Axe to Grindstone.

Not a bad start for thinking about it for all of 3 minutes. now to search for C&O passenger cars!

Chris

[AARR]

Do you have a source for decals

[odave]

...Does this mean rush to build only to tear down in 5 years or wait another 5 years to start building?

Build now. You never know what will happen in that 5 years - your plan might work out, or something might happen in the mean time to change that plan, and you'd be kicking yourself for not starting. You can't get time back. Your small scale shelf approach sounds good, just plan for them to be able to be detached and moved. And who knows, in 5 years, you may want to model something totally different in your new space.

prototype area [...Cape Cod, MA]:

Interestingly enough, I participated in a thread over on the Model Railroader Magazine forums on this very subject. I'm guessing your space isn't the same as his space, but ideas were kicked around and might be useful. Here's a link to the thread. You don't have to be a MR subscriber to read their forums.

Good luck!

[OaklandCountyCustoms]

i read through that post. its nice to see people already working out the same problem...easier to learn from their mistakes! and their progress as well. Ironically, i have practically the same space, about 15x27. i'd really like to keep it a shelf...MAYBE one table peninsula...MAYBE.

Thinking about it more, i'm liking the idea of the thumb. Bad Axe to Grindstone looks like the "final" area. Sticking to the rules of that post, time to pick "scenes" vs. the whole run.

Scenes in mind:
1. Bad Axe:
-Station, origin of scenic train
-Small frieght yard/staging (as it really is)
-Engine shops (as it really is)
-Grain industry with stub track.

2. Kinde:
-Couple stub end sidings at the grain silos
-POSSIBLE passenger station depending on distance between the 2 stations.

3. Port Austin:
-Historically there was a station and grain elevator as well as a pier into the water for ships...i think i'm going to make a freelance decision to make Port Austin my "home" for my Pere Marquette steam Berkshire.
-Station, water tower, and small grain elevator, only using 2 small dead end tracks.

4. Grindstone:
-Dead end station in Grindstone with run around track (just incase). Maybe a Wye for steam? opinions? I don't know historically what method of turn arounds they did there...i know they had pullman heavyweight cars in the steam era in grindstone, just don't know how they turned the loco.
-and ofcourse, there needs to be a pier with tracks/industry on the shore hauling grindstone...or maybe weed covered abandoned tracks? i think i like the abadoned better, easier to model, cheaper, and dont need the buildings...broken partially buried decayed tracks...sounds like a great place for a history tour on the scenic train.

so....4 "scenes" in a total shelf length of 62 feet i'm willing to use along a total of 4 walls... 10 on one, 27 on long wall, 15 on third, and 12 on the last.

now what season should i model? hmmmm.

Chris