08-26-2011, 03:31 AM
Thought it was time to revitalize this thread, since my current ISL is a freelance L&N industrial spur and I have temporarily laid the current version of the proposed track plan and have been operating it quite frequently. Of course being able to operate the layout has a one big drawback - nothing else gets done! Well, actually more would get done, but with my current heart issues and pending surgery, operating and testing out the plan is sure better than doing nothing at all! It has also allowed me to see where some things on my plan needed to be changed/adjusted. Something I highly recommend that anyone do before making things permanent.
This is the track plan as it is currently laid out and being operated:
Currently, I'm just using the existing 20ft long bench work, but I do plan on adding an additional 6ft long staging track on the left side of the plan to provide a bit longer run for the train before it enters the working part of the layout. That will just have to wait for now and as it is, I can operate the plan just fine simply by staging the train on the left end of the plan. Must say that I'm enjoying being able to switch the industries on the layout and a typical operating session takes on average 45 minutes to an hour, depending on what is to be placed/pulled from the industries, and that's without doing any more than operating at prototypical speeds, waiting a second or two between each move and noting the time that cars were placed/pulled on the switch list.
Although purely freelance, there are several locations where I worked on the prototype L&N that this industrial spur could be located. Industries as shown on the plan, with number of car spots indicated thus (n); consist of Lowes Lumber, Midwest Distribution, Durkee Foods, Superior Meats and Bloomer Chocolates. All of which are based on actual industries from around the country and which support my freight car fleet. Although all the industries are based on prototypes, I picked names for most of them that would be more appropriate/familiar for my area, the one exception being Bloomer Chocolates and it will get another name at some point so as not to be pinpointed to a specific location.
Can't say that this will positively be the final track arrangement, but it is working out very well. There is of course no need for a runaround track on the plan and a couple of plans I've drawn up that would include a runaround, just never look or feel right to me. That's not to say that before I start final construction, I might not have a brain storm and come up with a different plan! But at some point you have to stop planning and start constructing!
This is the track plan as it is currently laid out and being operated:
Although purely freelance, there are several locations where I worked on the prototype L&N that this industrial spur could be located. Industries as shown on the plan, with number of car spots indicated thus (n); consist of Lowes Lumber, Midwest Distribution, Durkee Foods, Superior Meats and Bloomer Chocolates. All of which are based on actual industries from around the country and which support my freight car fleet. Although all the industries are based on prototypes, I picked names for most of them that would be more appropriate/familiar for my area, the one exception being Bloomer Chocolates and it will get another name at some point so as not to be pinpointed to a specific location.
Can't say that this will positively be the final track arrangement, but it is working out very well. There is of course no need for a runaround track on the plan and a couple of plans I've drawn up that would include a runaround, just never look or feel right to me. That's not to say that before I start final construction, I might not have a brain storm and come up with a different plan! But at some point you have to stop planning and start constructing!
Ed
"Friends don't let friends build Timesavers"
"Friends don't let friends build Timesavers"