Switching to HO

green_elite_cab

Keep It Moving!
its acutaly a small point to point railway shaped like an L, and i also just relized this is the wrong thread for the one i mentioned..... but its still a pretty cool layout if i could get it to work. it is 8 feet long and 2 feet wide, designed to fit a in a corner. it has alot of the elements CSX wants though, and a few extra.
 

green_elite_cab

Keep It Moving!
here is what i have come up with so far. its slightly wider than 3 feet, but only by a maybe 3 inches, barely.

its got an oil refinery ( dark blue tracks) next to a canal, where oil barges are brought in by tugboat. the prototype does this, atleast here in the northeast, because the big tankers can't get into the hudson and other areas around new york, so they unload onto smaller tankers ( to big to model on even medium layouts) or in small barges. you can have it look like a barge is moored nexed the oil refinery. you can use Walthers oil tanks, and a single Tank car laoding platform. maybe even the refinery kit if you can get your hands on one.

across the river you have a residential area to fill in the space. you also get to industrial spurs for whatever building you can fit in there. i suggest the green tracks get a manufacturer (which also has like a dock next to it if you want) that recieves either boxcars, or plastic pellet hoppers, for makeing things. the yellow tracks can be whatever else you want to model. if you make the green tracks recieve box cars, a good industry for they yellow tracks is the Plastic Pellet transfer. i think it was retired, but i still see them around and at train shows, so it might be a good thing to put there.

ther red tracks are supposed to be an interchange/ hidden stageing. they are hidden by residential houses. i suggest getting the book Building city scenery on how to hide tracks with houses and buildings. back at the bottom there is a blue run around track so that you can park your freight cars bound or from for the interchange on the mainline and go around them.

next we have a yard. some of the tracks are coorked, but that is because the track planning software is super exact, and doesn't allow fudgeing. fudgeing is one you tilt or bend a track ever so slightly at the joints between another track, so it lines up. fudgeing usualy isn't harmful, nor will it cause derailments. you have to fudge the track in many cases. in any event, the purple track is where you can park an extra locomotive. you could put a single stall engine house there. there are 3 tracks in the yard for sorting, and an extra lead track so a trai can back into the engine house. the yard is enough to hold 7 50' cars, and a little more 40' cars.

you also get 2 RR bridges, which is nice. all track is made of atlas snap track except for the Custom Line Wye in the yard. you'll need to get a switch machine for it. just about everythign has got its part number next to it.
curves are 18' radius curves.

this layout is best used with a B23-7, GP38-2 or similar, as well as smaller switchers. you might be able to pull off an SD40-2 if you really want to, but I wouldn't get any bigger than that. now the picture turns up as a box with a red x in the box you type in, so i don't know if it will show. if it doesn't i'll email it to someone who can make it show up.

my.php
 

green_elite_cab

Keep It Moving!
also the railroad i based it on is in northeast, on tracks operated by CSAO (Conrail Shared Assets operations) and CSX, so your CSX locomotives would work well. its good to know railroad heritgae, as any tracks run by the New York Central where given to CSX after the Conrail merger with CSX and NS, if you wanted any specific place to model. CSAO is fair game for either railroad to use, so i figured CSAO tracks would be best.

what kind of enviorment are you looking for? I based this railroad on the CSAO opertations in South Amboy, NJ. its crowded with suburban places and even some larger, older factories. i pass through there often on the Outerbridge (seen in the picture) and it reminded me of what you where looking for. you can see to the right in the picture there are docks for barges and small tanker ships. you can also see tank cars lined up next to those tanks, and there is a rectungular building with plastic pellet hoppers nearby. there are loads of residential areas to the southand west. it looks even more crowded in real life. hopefully i've homed in to what you are looking for.
outerbridgenjside8do.jpg
 

green_elite_cab

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CSX said:
ok. Can a Dash 8-40CW run on the layout without problems?

i suppose so. i run an AC-4400W. and the slightly larger SD75M ( no troubles on genisis locos!) on the same curves and stuff. you probably will have problems though, on some cars and locos. its a mystery to me, but some cars get yanked off the rails by bigger locomotives on smaller curves. it may or may not be a problem. if it is, you can by special couplers to help sooth the problem. other than that, you C40-8W (useing conrail terms) should be fine.
 

green_elite_cab

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it would certainly open up new possibilities, but if you can get an extra foot or so ( makeing a 4x9) you could make the same one i built you, except with bigger 22 radius curves ( bigger curves means smoother operation with bigger engines). that would bring your C40-8W no troubles at all. most anything will run on 22s. if you can get an extra foot and make it a 4x9 (and if you can, increase the langth to 9 and half, so the mainline and passing siding can be longer) i think you should stick with the first layout. the first layout allows plenty of room for switchign and scenery. if you made a 4x8, that yard would have to be moved inside the oval. most industries already take up that oval. that would leave you little space for the scenery items you want, such as the dock (assumeing you could fit it in). your residential area would be very small as well.

also tested my AC4400W on my layout again, and with a longer coupler it works without trouble on the 18r' curves, which are the same as the ones in my suggested layout. the AC4400W is 3 scale feet longer than you C40-8W. so i'm positive you will have no difficulties. the SD75M is a whole scale foot longer than that (its surpriseing out much that matters...) if you are still considering the original plan.

my layout is a 4x8. i'm about to unload new updated pictures of it onto my site, which is linked to in my signature. i'm updateing it now, so in a little bit it should be all set. if you look at it, you will see what i'm saying about cramped space. true, i am useing larger model buildings, but even if they weren't, it would still be hard pressed to fit much in the area i had left.

If you want i can try and see if i can come up with a new plan in 4x8, but i think the 3x9 is very promiseing.
 

CSX

Member
Railroader, I hate to bother you, but is there any way to have a layout with more action than the 2nd one you made?
 

green_elite_cab

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I took a shot at makeing a layout based on his plans. this actualy turned out to be better than my origninal 3x9. Its got a grain elevator (white/light blue), a common dockside industry. if you want you can try and scratchbuild the special shoots that poor grain into barges. there is a pier with a traveling crane (dark Gray) ( that you can put a bucket on) that would load things like coal or various rocks and bulk freight into Barges. there is also the Front Street Warehouse. that building is actualy retired, but you can get Walthers Modulars and build a similiar building. there is also the united trucking terminal building. there are 2 stations to, if you ever want to do commuter operations. you can omit these and make the extra track interchange/stageing track. theres a residential area, with a resturaunt. the white rectangle is actualy the foot print of a tug boat, so one will fit. there is extra space for a railroad yard offices and such behind the resturaunt.

the bridges are the only thing that might be tricky. you'd need 2 open deck girder bridges for clearance, and either more open deck bridges or better yet a Bascule bridge if you can get one for the straight section. if you could put a Bascule bridge, it would look cool. you also wouldn't have to lower the water part of the layout down so the tugboat could actualy get out.

its 4x8, with 22'r curves. your new locomotive will work fine on it. do you like this plan?

4x8bitmap2xw.png
 

CSX

Member
I LOVE that. I may use it,I really am considering it. What track would I need and approx. how much of each? Thanks!!!!!
 

green_elite_cab

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to make this layout you'd need:

24 9" straight sections
4 18" radius curve full sections
16 22" Radius curve sections
1 Customline Wye switch
1 customline #4 switch left
2 Customline #4 switch right
1 6" inch straight
1 3" inch straight
2 1/3 18" radius curve sections
1 Snap-Switch left (manual or remote)
4 Snap-Switch right (one can be manual, but the otehrs are mainline switches and should be remot control for ease of operation)



thats the track. i'll post another picture showing where each track section goes.
I designed the track plan around the buildings shown. i'd reccomend trying to get them to, because not all other buildings will fit. the only ones not available is the front street warehouse. other than those industries on the industrial track, you can use whatever buildings you want.

all the residential structures and stations belong to atlas. the other buildings are walthers cornerstone, and the light green one (Bekins storage Warehouse) is from Apline Division Scale Models.
 

green_elite_cab

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All track is Atlas, and just about every hobby shop stocks these parts.

Also don't forget to buy Cork Road bed . its (obviously) made of cork, and is the stuff you mount the track on and pour the rocks on. you need to lay this down before the track. you also need to be very accurate in laying it down. i found out the hard way. if you look at my layout pictures on my site (linked to in my signature), you'll notice the track is towards the edge of the road bed. thats because its miassligned, but already mounted. as long as you lay the cork right, it will work. you'll probably need 3-4 boxes.

track nails are also important, because they hold the track together. you'll only ever need one bag for a long time, so only buy one. track nails also help hold the cork down.

All switches on the mainline should be remote controil. if a switch doesn't come with a remote control ( like Custom Line) buy a switch motor. its definitely worth it. however, its ok for the industrial switches to be manual, as thats part of the fun

the yard tracks are fudged. in otherwords you might need to adjust the tracks ever so slightly, but it won't be a big deal. just make sure everything is straight.

DON'T FORGET TO BUY INSULATED RAILJOINERS AND 2 ATLAS CONTROLLERS (they have 4 green switches that look like light switches)

you will need these to blockwire the layout for 2 train control. its good to have Blockwireing while you save for DCC, and once you get DCC, it will help you trouble shoot the layout. if you go to my sight, linked to in my signeature, go to the beginners section and there will be somethign on blockwireing, and if its not there go to Cab's Projects page.
 

CSX

Member
Thanks alot for your help! I will look into this plan alot more, it is what I had in mind, I just could not get it on paper. THANKS again!!!!
 
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