Several years ago I included a switchback arrangement on the Kings Port side of my layout to make it possible to serve more than one industry. Back then, I thought this would be an efficient use of space and track. As my interest in operations grew, I realized how inconvenient this configuration was (cars that were supposedly being loaded at a business had to be temporarily pulled from one end of the switchback to allow switching access for cars going to the other side...cars for the left end of the switchback had to be located in the front of the train or else they wouldn't fit on the right side of the switch back to be backed into the left, etc.) and I've been meaning to change it for some time. I finally got around to doing that! I'll admit to some trepidation as I was cutting into mainline track that has been in place for over 20 years!
I needed to cut out a straight section of track from the Ulster Ave grade crossing because it connected to the switchback turnout immediately to the right of the street and didn't provide enough length to connect to the diamond crossing I planned to install. I replaced that section of track with a longer piece of flex track that I was able to curve to meet the diamond crossing.
The remains of the locations of the previous track arrangement can be seen as I test fit the crossing and the new left handed turnout that will be cut into the 20+ year old mainline. My Dremel motor tool made this job easy and precise.
The new track in place. I accidentally derailed the first tanker to the right before taking the photo.
The new piece of flex track in place in the Ulster Ave. grade crossing. It still needs some road surface.
The new arrangement with scenic treatments (new grade crossing, tie and rail weathering, and ballast).
Now when the West Mill Turn works this location it can drop off a string of tankers at the GULF facility...
.....and on the return trip, pick up cars from Reynold's Beverage Distributors and Booms Ready Mix without needing to pull the tankers to access a switchback track.
Two businesses that formerly could only be reached by switchback.
Pulling the cars while passing by the GULF spur and then backing them into the rest of the train.
This operations takes three moves (the locos back into the spur for Reynolds and Booms, they pull the cars onto the main, and finally back the cars to couple with the train). The former switchback arrangement actually required TWELVE moves to pick up those cars if there were tankers on the GULF spur that needed to be moved first to access the spur serving Reynolds and Booms. I enjoy switching cars but those car movements were tedious and not particularity realistic.
I was immediately happy with the change as I ran the first test run to see how the crossing would work out. Future operations will definitely be more fun! The head office, worried about the bottom line, will be pleased by how efficiently car movements can now be made in Kings Port. Just another innovation to help keep the Penn Central financially healthy!
As my interest in operations increased so did my belief that the Kings
Port Division could use more businesses and industries for local trains
to serve. When I first designed the layout I included industries
more as scenic elements and places to store freight cars than as
opportunities to actually set them out or pick them up. The Ops bug
has bitten, however, and I'm afraid the infection is permanent. Since then, I've been
continuously looking at my layout to see if there are any ways to
improve or expand model railroad operations opportunities. I should
add that I do this with no intention of enlarging the
layout. The Kings Port Division has negotiated a reasonable amount of
real estate in the family home and is nicely contained in its own room
in the basement. This contributes to family harmony. I really
don't want it to get any larger from a maintenance standpoint either. The layout is big enough.
SO, how to get more ops fun from a layout that wasn't originally designed for that purpose?
One
way has been to make some fairly easy modifications to the track plan
and structures.
Example #1 is making Canton Box Company a rail served
customer after merely being a "scenic" trackside structure for many
years.
There isn't enough room to run a spur in front of the Canton Box Company,
but locating a left-hand turnout oriented so the curve follows the mainline while the straight section continues beyond the end of the building made it possible. Now I can include this formally ignored
business to my switch lists.
All that was needed beyond the new
turnout and a foot of track was to install a loading dock to the existing structure. I'm especially pleased by this development
because the layout needed more destinations served by boxcars.
Example
#2 is Reynolds Beverage Distributors. I had two industries along this spur, the Team Track and Booms Ready Mix. Wanting to find yet another site where boxcars might be plausible, I conceived Reynolds Beverage Distributors, a short term storage location for pallets of cans and bottles in a refrigerated building. I condensed the Booms Ready Mix foot print to accommodate the new business and extended the track behind Booms to allow for set-outs there. The Team Track platform is still in place as a destination, although not pictured, to the right of Reynolds.
Example #3. Rearranging Empire Grain to make both the covered hopper loading bay and the boxcar loading doors functional and also to make the branch to Mayfield look more like a branch line and less like a siding.
For years, Empire Grain had a switchback track arrangement that allowed cars to be set out in front of this part of the complex that used to have a loading bay overhang for covered hoppers .
But, when I developed more of an interest in operations, I craved staging space and extended the spur into the tunnel seen below where a turnout and two lengths of track can stage two nine-car trains. Problem was, I had a branch line with loading bays unrealistically hanging over it, as if cars might be spotted there and block the branch line.
I removed the loading bay overhang and focused all car movements for Empire Grain on the right side of the complex. I built Empire Grain in removable sections so I can access hidden track behind the company. It was easy to shuffle the components around and come up with this arrangement, making ops for both covered hoppers and boxcars more likely.
That's it for now.
Next UP: Industries that aren't really there!
