Model Railroading > Southern Transcon - The Plan

I've been promising it and here it is. The layout has three levels in some places and a separate staging yard. The main level has over 600' of track while the whole layout has over 1,200' The steepest grade is Curtis Hill, Oklahoma and it's just under 2% while the climb out of the staging yard is 1.5%. There's a 20" separation between levels and the rail heights from the floor is 23", 43", 63" and 83" staring with the staging yard. And yes, there will be a platform you can stand on while running on the 3rd level.

Pic 1. - Staging yard below Emporia, KS that accesses the rest of the layout with the wye at NR Jct.
Pic 2 - I've mentioned before that some places are more appropriate for ATSF while others are more BNSF with Willow Springs, IL being the latter. This is the only part of the layout that's freestanding. It's the only level in this area and is 4' wide.
Pic 3 - Curtis Hill is on this level and is the steepest grade on the layout.
Pic 4 - The Shattuck branch line takes up most of the third level. This is purely ATSF as the line was sold in 1990. However, I'll look the other way if someone runs a BNSF earthworm on it.

Question, comments, or complaints are always welcome.

Enjoy,
-Dave

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-Dave

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Looks to be very ambitious. What will be the minimum radius for the mainline?

Tom

UP3806 Wrote:
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> Looks to be very ambitious. What will be the
> minimum radius for the mainline?
>
> Tom

40" with most of it 42" or more.

-Dave

Thanks for Sharing! Perhaps I missed it, but how do you enter the layout?

ChrisCampi Wrote:
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> Thanks for Sharing! Perhaps I missed it, but how
> do you enter the layout?
Duck under at the upper right. There's another 2 duck under at both ends of Emporia, KS. But, they're 5' up, so there's not much of a duck under.

-Dave

All that space and a brand new setup  and you have duckunders?  wow.  good luck. Any idea what the projected main line run in feet is?  I bet is will be 2000 feet or more. Thanks Bruce

djh4d Wrote:
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> ChrisCampi Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Thanks for Sharing! Perhaps I missed it, but
> how
> > do you enter the layout?
> Duck under at the upper right. There's another 2
> duck under at both ends of Emporia, KS. But,
> they're 5' up, so there's not much of a duck
> under.
>
> -Dave

I'm Confused .How do you duck under with 4 levels 20" apart?

With that much space, I would definitely try to design a track plan without duckunders.  The older you get, the more you would not like them.

SPDRGWfan Wrote:
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> With that much space, I would definitely try to
> design a track plan without duckunders.  The
> older you get, the more you would not like them.

This ^^^^^^^^This.  I love the plan otherwise.  Looks to be a dream layout.
 

I just turned 81 and do fine with my duck under. Figured I could always roll under sitting on my desk chair. 
RB

Sadly I see no roundhouse so it must be a contemporary layout.  I'm still in the dinosaur age.
That's gonna take a while to build.  And maintain.

One potential issue I see is you have Willow Springs and Emporia all on the same aisle. Your operators are all going to congregate there and you'll want to be sure you have enough space to accommodate them all.

Posted from Android

OHRY Wrote:
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> One potential issue I see is you have Willow
> Springs and Emporia all on the same aisle. Your
> operators are all going to congregate there and
> you'll want to be sure you have enough space to
> accommodate them all.
>
> Posted from Android

Good point, and it looks like the staging yard is below Emporia encroaching the isle even further and you have to reach over it to operate the Emporia yard.

Just like everything else in life, the duck unders were a compromise. We would have lost considerable layout space without them. I think Anyrail said that the main level is over 650' with the total layout is over 1,200' of mainline. There is an aisle on both sides of Willow Springs, IL with one being 5' and the other being 4'.

-Dave



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/17/21 09:40 by djh4d.

up833 Wrote:
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> I just turned 81 and do fine with my duck under.
> Figured I could always roll under sitting on my
> desk chair. 
> RB

You are definitely the exception to the rule.  I see an overwhelming number of hobbyists recommend against duckunders.

I am having trouble seeing the smaller station names, but I think that I see the general flow.

I assume that you intend to have operating sessions. What are your thoughts on how one of your sessions would unfold?

Any reason why you picked the branch line at Shattuck?

Perhaps consider a swing door. A duck under will grow old quickly.

Posted from Android