Model Railroading > A new siding on the Sonjora Branch

This is my story about an addition to my layout. I started early January 2011 and finished it up around Feb 20th.

My On3 layout is point to point starting at Rio Yard and ending up at Sonjora which is located above my modelling bench. In Sonjora, a siding designated for stock cars and the oil dock has always been of concern due to capacity limitations of 6 cars. This is the area that a good friend, Lex Parker, and I had been looking at for a while. A little brainstorming and we came up with a plan to enlarge both industries and make for better operation on the layout. It also provides for a little more freight car storage overall.

1. This is the area that came under consideration. Where could I put either an oil dock or stock pens.

2. It was decided to extend the table top area in Rio Yard. The extension would be over top of the shelf thus not taking space out of the existing room. Slots for 1x3's were cut in the vertical facing above the shelf. Here you see the 1x3's sitting in place waiting to be fastened from beneath.

3. The rails, ties, cork and scenery have been removed from the new turnout location and the extension piece of plywood is in place ready for the new track.
The siding was purposely angled away from the two parallel yard tracks to make space between the siding and the yard.

Dave Burroughs
Hamilton, ON

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4. A view from the other end of the yard showing the location of the new turnout. The Kadee magnet for Rio Yard north storage track has been removed and will have to be relocated.

5. Cork, ties and ballast are in place now. The turnout is under construction and the rail is starting into the new siding.

6. Rail is down and preliminary ballasting has been done. This gives a great view of the space created between the new
siding and the original two yard tracks.

Dave Burroughs
Hamilton, ON

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7. So, just in case you were still guessing as to whether the new siding was going to be for the oil dock or stock pens, the waiting is over. The reason the stock pens were relocated to Rio Yard is that there is not enough real estate in Sonjora for a full set of stock pens with chute. If left in Sonjora, the stock pens would have been a compromise and only contain the chute and front fence due to space limitations. The oil dock is very narrow and will fit nicely in front of the siding to the right end of Sonjora.

8. A little wider angle shows an overall view of the new addition. It seems to fit nicely into the existing yard without cramping it for space. The cows are being very well behaved and are waiting for new surroundings.
The completed stock pens will be in my next post.

Dave Burroughs
Hamilton, ON

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It looks fantastic! Love the scenery and overall feel of the layout.

sphauler

Great On 3 layout…are your track switches hand laid or commercial ?
Chris

Chris,

Thanks. All track and turnouts are hand laid from scratch with Code 83 rail. No Fast Tracks templates or much in commercial switches when I started the layout. Most of the buildings are scratch built as well. The layout was started in the early 80's and was DC. Later, I got a PFM SSII and installed PFM sound modules in the locos. The next upgrade was to DCC with Tsunami TSU-1000 decoders replacing the PFM sound.

Dave Burroughs
Hamilton, ON

Really nice work. I have a lot of respect for your commitment and ability. I have yet to reach the hand laid track level. That's an impressive skill to master...well done!

Joel Brazy
Coatesville, PA

Outstanding work! I would enjoy seeing more of your railroad. The more I see of On3 and On30, the more I like it.

Chris

Thanks Chris,

I will post some more info on the layout as time goes on. The next posting will be pictures of the stock pens. They are getting close to completion now.
I have taken a few pictures as the project progressed and I will share them with everyone most likely within the next few weeks.

Regards….

Dave Burroughs
Hamilton, ON

I can almost smell the cowpoop! Excellent modelling!

timecruncher

Great work, Dave! Do you host op sessions on your layout? It looks like a lot of fun to operate.

-Jason

Jason,

I do not have a regular group that operates. The layout got a good workout on Sunday when I hosted our narrow gauge Maple Leaf Mafia group meeting.

I do have op sessions on an as requested basis. You can always send me a PM.

Posted from iPhone

Dave Burroughs
Hamilton, ON