12-16-2011, 09:11 PM
Justin;
I missed something here. Not sure why you'd want to get rid of the HCD's that you already have in place. I sort of see why you like the idea of having the bench work jut in and out here and there, but since you've already got it place, why tear it all down and then have to build all new bench work? Your 24 in wide HCD's would give you more room for scenery and/or non-rail served industries in some areas, where I'm guessing you want the plan narrower. If you really want to have the bench work narrower here and there, you can cut the HCD's and then fill in the open edges with 3/4 x 3/4 pieces. Still a lot of work when you've already got bench work in place.
You mentioned that you want at least 8 feet. Do you mean you want the layout to be 8 feet long or do you want an 8 foot run before you get to the industrial spurs? Two HCD's butted together are 13ft 4in in length and with the 'L' section you could do a version of Stein's plan (or one of Mike's plans) and include a small yard with the spur branching off it. Of course that would mean getting a couple more turnouts, but it would make it interesting. You could use the other tracks for car storage and a place to line up your cars.
You also mentioned that you want the spurs to be separated from each other. At first I thought you meant that you wanted more distance between the industrial spurs, but when you said "at most three tracks side-by-side" I wasn't sure what you meant. Having three tracks side by side would certainly fit your current bench work and the spurs could be placed several inches away from the switching lead.
Stein's version of Shamrock Ave and both of Mike's plans would make very nice switching layouts - especially since I think you have the room to extend the length of any of those plans - not to mention having the additional bench work where you could stage/store equipment. If worse came to worse, you could always replace the one HCD with a narrower shelf if the 24in width bothers you. Adding a couple more turnouts for the staging area would make any of those plans really great.
Guess I'm just a little confused at this point.
By the way, what did you not like about your previous plan? I thought it was pretty good, even if it was a variation on Jack Hill's track plan - nothing wrong with that. It was quite plausible, representing a piece of an abandoned line that served a large industry and one or two small ones.
I missed something here. Not sure why you'd want to get rid of the HCD's that you already have in place. I sort of see why you like the idea of having the bench work jut in and out here and there, but since you've already got it place, why tear it all down and then have to build all new bench work? Your 24 in wide HCD's would give you more room for scenery and/or non-rail served industries in some areas, where I'm guessing you want the plan narrower. If you really want to have the bench work narrower here and there, you can cut the HCD's and then fill in the open edges with 3/4 x 3/4 pieces. Still a lot of work when you've already got bench work in place.
You mentioned that you want at least 8 feet. Do you mean you want the layout to be 8 feet long or do you want an 8 foot run before you get to the industrial spurs? Two HCD's butted together are 13ft 4in in length and with the 'L' section you could do a version of Stein's plan (or one of Mike's plans) and include a small yard with the spur branching off it. Of course that would mean getting a couple more turnouts, but it would make it interesting. You could use the other tracks for car storage and a place to line up your cars.
You also mentioned that you want the spurs to be separated from each other. At first I thought you meant that you wanted more distance between the industrial spurs, but when you said "at most three tracks side-by-side" I wasn't sure what you meant. Having three tracks side by side would certainly fit your current bench work and the spurs could be placed several inches away from the switching lead.
Stein's version of Shamrock Ave and both of Mike's plans would make very nice switching layouts - especially since I think you have the room to extend the length of any of those plans - not to mention having the additional bench work where you could stage/store equipment. If worse came to worse, you could always replace the one HCD with a narrower shelf if the 24in width bothers you. Adding a couple more turnouts for the staging area would make any of those plans really great.
Guess I'm just a little confused at this point.
By the way, what did you not like about your previous plan? I thought it was pretty good, even if it was a variation on Jack Hill's track plan - nothing wrong with that. It was quite plausible, representing a piece of an abandoned line that served a large industry and one or two small ones.
Ed
"Friends don't let friends build Timesavers"
"Friends don't let friends build Timesavers"