Ann Arbor Railroad

[GrandTrunkFan]

Im planning to model an Ann Arbor themed layout and just wanted to tell a bit about it. I am working on the track plan now but do want to include Dundee, Ann Arbor, Howell, Durand, Vernon, Owosso, Ashley, Ithaca, Alma, Shepherd, Mt. Pleasant, Clare, Cadillac, and Yuma. Id love to model Elberta and the ferry operations but that would take up a lot of space alone. The way Im doing my track plan is to fit the space Ill have when my fiance and I get a house. I want to set it in 1980, the prime Michigan Interstate days. Toledo and Elberta will be a staging yard forming a loop. I can simulate car ferry traffic there and bring it south. With my track plan Im using peninsulas for towns. Owosso alone takes 2. I have the yard on one side, with the shops on the other, and the rest of town, plus PC/CR interchange on one side of the next peninsula. I will post a track plan later.

As for equipment, I have AA GP35 388:


This unit will become AA GP35 #392, but will have the ferry in the fog scheme.

Its an Athearn RTR GP35 but someone hacked the crap out of it! Picked it up cheap at Hobby Recycling. Was going to make a CSX slug out of it, but think Ill use it for this insted:


This is another shell I got at Hobby Recycling, a PRR RS1. Will become RS1 #21:



And as far as planned locomotives, I want to do:
AA RS2s 301 and 303 in Ferry in the fog paint
AA GP35s 385, 387, and 393 in ferry in the fog paint. 385 will be the big AA letters
AA RS1 #20 with the old compass logo
AA S3 #7 in Ferry in the fog
KBEC S3 #6-Kent Barry Eaton Connecting Railway (looks like it spent a lot of time in Owosso.)
AA S3 #5 with the older AA scheme

Working on some rolling stock too. Heres my 1st Wright Trak caboose. Found it at Hobby Recycling. Too bad I ordered a new one as well. But its not like AA only had one though! Will be ferry in the fog paint. Not sure what number it will be.


A pair of Bowser CRDX hoppers:

Ive actually had 3822 sitting on my workbench a while and lost some of the parts. Need to get some pieces from Bowser.

Athearn RTR AA PS2 Covered Hopper. My favorite of the AA rolling stock. Would like to get some more.:

Also Im making one out of an old ATSF hopper I havent used in years. So Ill have 2!

Roundhouse AA 2 bay hopper and boxcar. Only need a dozen more of each!:



Will keep updating as progress goes!

[sd70accsxt700]

Riders in Flint has quite a few of the Atlas Trainman AA hoppers, and they are the correct car for the model.

[AARR]

hey Nick, I model AA from Diann to Ann Arbor with staging of toledo and Franfurt, early 1950's era I prefer the MIRY era best but my 6x10 space is better suited to the 40' cars of the earlier era. Keep us posted!

[GrandTrunkFan]

hey Nick, I model AA from Diann to Ann Arbor with staging of toledo and Franfurt, early 1950's era I prefer the MIRY era best but my 6x10 space is better suited to the 40' cars of the earlier era. Keep us posted!

I remember you posting some pics of your layout a while ago. It was comming along! Didnt know you prefered the MIRY era though! Always had you pegged for a 50's AA fan. Heres a crappy paint version of my plan for Owosso. Looks better on paper.


Blue is the GTW line through Owosso. Black is the PC/CR line. Gives me an excuse to get a PC bankruptcy black GP38-2! The green circles represent trees view blocking a factory spur. Should have put them infront of the CR line where it runs angled into the backdrop.

Riders in Flint has quite a few of the Atlas Trainman AA hoppers, and they are the correct car for the model.

Ill have to check that out!

[odave]

Riders in Flint has quite a few of the Atlas Trainman AA hoppers, and they are the correct car for the model.

Likewise Great Lakes Hobby in Utica.

[pbmaxno15]

I have an issue of Model Railroader Special Layout Issue? (2006 or 2007?) that shows a layout very similar to what you are planning. It included the car ferry and dock. I will check tonight and get back to you. I would be happy to let you borrow it.

[GrandTrunkFan]

I have an issue of Model Railroader Special Layout Issue? (2006 or 2007?) that shows a layout very similar to what you are planning. It included the car ferry and dock. I will check tonight and get back to you. I would be happy to let you borrow it.

I have that issue I believe. It's Model Railroad Planning 2005. That layout is awesome! it is my inspiration for the project I'm working on now. He explained all the planning that went into the ferry yard and building the ferries themselves and it just seemed impossible to do and include what I wanted in this layout. I want to focus on the local switching and mainline running. I may try to design a condensed version of Elberta but it would in no way look as good as the layout featured! Thank you for the offer.

[pbmaxno15]

That is the issue I was thinking of. I wish that I had room to model something similar, but in O scale the car ferries would be 8 feet long.

[dhock]

AARR (Don) I know you indicated that you posted a copy of layout previously but could you do it again please. I am curious to see how you fitted that into a 6 x 10 area. I have started playing around with ANyRail free version and was playing around with a 5 x 9 not necessarily based on the AA. However most of my rolling stock and motive power that I have accquired over time is of an AA bent. Maybe instead of a non descript layout I could get some AA theme into it.

Thank you and I really appreciate reading all the great posts here. Sure wish I had more time to contemplate and play but the job and family always seem to have other ideas.

Dennis Hock

[AARR]

AARR (Don) I know you indicated that you posted a copy of layout previously but could you do it again please. I am curious to see how you fitted that into a 6 x 10 area. I have started playing around with ANyRail free version and was playing around with a 5 x 9 not necessarily based on the AA. However most of my rolling stock and motive power that I have accquired over time is of an AA bent. Maybe instead of a non descript layout I could get some AA theme into it.

Thank you and I really appreciate reading all the great posts here. Sure wish I had more time to contemplate and play but the job and family always seem to have other ideas.

Dennis Hock

I'll try to do it this weekend. It's a double deck with helix. Diann-Ann Arbor on top deck and staging on bottom. I wish I didn't do the helix as it's taken me a long time to build it and to date I'm only 25% done laying track on it. But I feel I'm too far along to ditch what I've started. Oncde helix is done rest of construction should move at much faster pace.

[dhock]

Thank you AARR. I don't think I want to attempt a helix on paper or in reality any time soon. Still would like to give my doodlings an AA flavor. Ran out of track in the demo and may have to purchase the full deal. I'll watch for your post and thank you again.

Dennis H.

[GrandTrunkFan]

I second that! Please post this weekend!

[M&LS]

@dhock I have anyrail, and there are two things you can do to work with the free version...
One, divide your layout into segments, and work each segment as separate documents.
Two, avoid using 9"(in HO) track segments, instead use flex track. This cuts down on the number of pieces used in total.

Oh and not to nit-pick but its Frankfort, MI... Not Frankfurt, that one's in Germany.

[AARR]

Oh and not to nit-pick but its Frankfort, MI... Not Frankfurt, that one's in Germany.

I forgot the "f" too And technically it's Elberta, not Frankfort. Frankfort was where the old main to the hotel went until the yard in Elberta was built around 1890something. After that Frankfort was a 1-2 mile industrial spur and one of the last shippers on the line, Pet Pies or something like that, was located on the Frankfort industrial track.

[dhock]

ML&S,

Thanks I didn't realize that I could cut the layout into segments and treat it seperately. Is it is as simple as just naming it something else? I figured that if I avoided using 9 inch sections I would do better with the count but how do you cut flex in the program? I have applied a couple of flex sections but they overlapped the next connection. Do yopu just line it up but not connect it in the program? Having trouble figuring out the alignmerent to get the flex to the correct curvature. I am working the tools and options tab and reading the manual slowly as time is permitting.

Thnak you for the advice.

Dennis Hock

[M&LS]

I find laying 180 deg curves with flex track in anyrail to be frustrating, So I don't... But the sizing is easy, grab one end and click n drag it to the length you want, if it acts up slide the crosshairs into the path of the rail until the piece is strait. If I turns brown, you stretched it to long, red means you exceed you minimum radius(to tight of a curve).

To work more than one doc/section pick an area/portion of your layout, work up that section, save it as say "yard"... then open a new file and work on say "Alma", save..... See, think of each doc as a piece of paper, when you run out of room, start a new one!

@ AARR ya some old maps showed the Annie terminating at frankfort, which caused some misconceptions. Do you know if they had a wye at the split for Frankfort - Elberta? I can't remember.
You've heard about the pig iron furnace that was at the round house right?

[AARR]

@ AARR ya some old maps showed the Annie terminating at frankfort, which caused some misconceptions. Do you know if they had a wye at the split for Frankfort - Elberta? I can't remember.
You've heard about the pig iron furnace that was at the round house right?

At the east end of Elberta/Frankfort was a location called Junction Switch where a wye was located.

No, never heard of the pig iron furnace but then again I'm not familiar with many of the old customers.

[etmccaus]

Great stuff! Just picked up one of the Roundhouse 500-series 2-bay hoppers. Having a little difficulty fitting the chassis into the body shell, but curious what color grey you used to paint the hopper hatches and other detail parts to match the body.

Appreciate the help!

-Evan

[M&LS]

AARR, the pig iron furnace was the round house. You know how part of it is square, and how it's built into a hill? Well the square part was the furnace, and they built it into a hill so they could feed wood down into the kilns. The road that goes up be hind the round house was the old ROW.

I thought there was a wye there but I couldnt figure it out from satellite imagery. Thanks!

[GrandTrunkFan]

Great stuff! Just picked up one of the Roundhouse 500-series 2-bay hoppers. Having a little difficulty fitting the chassis into the body shell, but curious what color grey you used to paint the hopper hatches and other detail parts to match the body.

Appreciate the help!

-Evan

I had the same issue. I took the frame and went out to the garage and grinded off the frame where the bays meet the frame. Not too long on the stone grinder though. Made a couple of quick passes and it fit just fine. As for paint, havent matched it yet.