New track plan # 2

[steinjr]

Here I go again.
This one I am pleased with, but I fell it can be better. If you all would please look and give me your opinions, It would be appreciated.
Gauge is ho and all turnouts are #6. Solo operation. Curves are 22 or better. Table size is 24 ft on top and 20 ft down the side, 2 ft wide. I plan on running 10 car trains usually. The island is the 12 x 2 layout that I have in the house now. Boss said she likes it, so I need to keep it
Industries will be a mixture, mainly manufacturing. Three sidings can be change to passing tracks in case I find an RDC someday. Or, I might just use a couple little Overton coaches for a daily passenger run.
Any questions or comments are more then welcome.
Oh, and to save room, the staging track will be in the yard, I plan on removing the engine when it is not running.
The interchange will be for that area only, which will have its own switcher. I figure the yard switcher can take cars to the interchange as part of its duties.

Loren

Here is a rough concept sketch showing one (of many) possible way(s) of fitting in a little staging on your layout - behind a low backdrop - shown in red in the drawing.



(Link to picture, if it doesn't show the entire picture: http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/pp124...nomad2.jpg).

As you can see, with three or four hidden tracks, you can mentally label the two tracks that go through the backdrop as going to "other places" - e.g. "to the rest of the country via the class 1 RR" for trains that come from or go to the two hidden staging tracks along the left wall, or "to/from the mine branchline" for trains that go to or come from the hidden staging along the top wall.

Adding an interchange track with the class 1 on the modeled part of the layout allows a train from the class 1 to come onto the layout and drop off or pick up cars from your railroad, before heading back towards their own RR again. Or for you to take cars from your local industries and dropping them off at the staging track (or on one of the tracks in your yard), for the other RR to come pick them up to take them onwards to their (off layout) destination - maybe in Texas, or Maine or in Southern California or wherever.

In addition, you could do as Russ suggested - adding a carfloat somewhere on the edge of the modelled layout - so your railroad can receive cars from the mine branch or from somewhere else via the class 1, and send a couple of those cars on via the car float across the sea or across a lake.

Just a couple of suggestions.

Smile,
Stein