Model Railroading > At It Again - Layout Plans

I've been designing what will be the Ocean Shore with some shortline running, the SP with industrial, branch, interchange ops, the ATSF industrial switching, WP switching and the SF Belt. All this to fit in a 12x12' space, so I'm taking the best of what I like and starting to fit things into place. As far as the Ocean Shore, it goes by a what if since they ceased in 1921. The first level I've drawn, which isn't to scale, will be when I transfer the plans to graph paper at 3/4" to a foot values. Here we see the SP in blue (came out black) and the Ocean Shore in green, the OS and SP can interchange via a curved downhill switch to the SP mainline. The SP yard is just a series of parallel tracks that deadend with crossovers bi-secting right down the middle, much like the real yard at South San Francisco, now UP, though at this locatoin each yard set up as such does have double ended capabilities. On the model version, since I this part is made up and supposed to represent Santa Cruz the run around is near the mainline. The mainline for the OS takes a short visual when leaving the yard, soon going thru a tunnel, running around under the layout and reappring at another tunnel to simulate the running along the cliffs of the Pacific Ocean. Then via more hidden track it will traverse to the second level, which is under works and the same is the case for the first level. I wanted to see what I could come up working backwards from the top down, not our traditional manner, but it seems to be working out so far.

Frank

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Frank: May I assume this is an N scale plan? If it's HO, I think you'll find that you've left far too little space for the switches and crossovers. If the switches are number 6s in HO, each takes up about a linear foot in length.

Art House

Hi Art, I'm undecided to use #4's or #6's, I've used #4's with good sucess in the past, I really get to the nuts and bolts of them and tune the heck out of them. At any rate this plan is HO, but it's not to scale yet, generalizing my head about what would fit and wouldn't.

aehouse Wrote:
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> Frank: May I assume this is an N scale plan? If
> it's HO, I think you'll find that you've left far
> too little space for the switches and crossovers.
> If the switches are number 6s in HO, each takes up
> about a linear foot in length.
>
> Art House

I can see that working in HO on a 12'x 12', I am mainly using snap switches, a few #4 and a few small atlas wye, and have not had any trouble, I am doing modern diesels, so I guess it is a non issue, I recommend no smaller than 18" on curves.

Frank, that ladder in the middle of the SP yard might work with double slips and save you some length. If you need Peco Templates email me chacmool at lineone dot net
Watching with interest
Jack

I was thinking about those, as it isn't far from prototypical for a freight yard.

shortliner Wrote:
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> Frank, that ladder in the middle of the SP yard
> might work with double slips and save you some
> length. If you need Peco Templates email me
> chacmool at lineone dot net
> Watching with interest
> Jack

Great minds, Frank, great minds!