Clarification

By no mainline do you mean that you don't want the ability for continuous running?  To answer your question - yes, you could have an industrial switching layout without a mainline.  The trains could be supposed to be on a spur or siding line when coming in / going out working the industries.

I suggest that you get Lance Mindheim's excellent books on shelf type layouts that will give you great ideas for designing interesting industrial layouts.  I have his books "How to Build a Switching Layout", How to Design A Small Switching Layout", and "8 Realistic Track Plans for a Spare Room" among others.  You can Google the titles to find where to purchase them.

(Note:  I am not affiliated with Lance or paid to suggest his books - I just think that they are great!)

How Tight is Tight?

You don't need to have continuous running, but you do need some place for the cars to "go" and "come from", and a small section of mainline or track leading off layout to an invisible mainline can represent that.

My daughter & I built an N Scale shelf layout based on Byron Henderson's "Alameda Belt Line" that's 1'x6':

The carfloat on the right represents traffic to Oakland (and thus the rest of America), while a curved "interchange" track with the SP on the far side represents traffic to San Francisco (and thus the rest of the World West).

You could replicate something similar in HO in about 18" x 10' or 11'
(Ours folds up into a 1'x3' box, but not sure you want to do that with HO )

What kind of space are you talking about?

Byron has some HO switching layouts for unusual spaces in his design gallery.

The (recently) late Steinjr has a plethora, nay, cornucopia of HO shelf layout designs on his gallery that fit in 18"-2' x 6'-12' spaces.

Need something for a smaller space?
The late, great C arl Arendt's "micro layout design" site should have something!
But if you just want a switching (shunting) puzzle, this site should help.

The more info you give us, the more we can help!
(specific dimensions, era, industries, etc.)

Hope this helps.

space

Well I´d like the ability for continuous running and switching but I only have space for a 9'x7', 18''  wide L shaped layout.

You"ll be surprised...

I'm in agreement with Rick on Lance Mindheim's small switching layouts. You'll be surprised at what you can do with the space you have available. My layout has a couple of lift out sections that form a complete loop of track, but even with the two sections out, I can still do a lot  of switching on it.

Continuous Running....

...is not necessarily all it's cracked up to be. I have an HO layout in a spare bedroom that has continuous run and I'm kind of wishing now I didn't do it that way.  The turnback curves eat up a huge amount of space and I have to have pop up access holes. I'm not one for lift outs or duck unders either. I'm really staring to wish I had gone with a shelf type layout on one or two walls because I need the room for other uses and the layout just totally dominates it right now.

I don't have Lance's books but I've been reading a lot of his stuff on the web and he is really starting to influence me and my thinking, so much so that I'm considering starting back at square one. The only problem I have with shelf layouts though is that I personally like mountain scenery.  Most shelf switchers  have an industrial or urban theme and I find it hard very to visualize a mountain theme on a shelf with a lot of car spots.

Michael

What freight are you hauling?

Any operation-focused railroad is really about what freight you are hauling. After that it doesn't matter whether you are hauling it through the mountains or the desert.

One of the points Lance is trying to make is that you don't need a lot of complex track to have satisfying operations. You just need the be hauling enough varied freight to make it interesting.

I think there is a rethink going on in model railroading as people are realizing that they don't need to fill a basement (or even an entire bedroom) to enjoy themselves. If you combine Lance's ideas of simplification with Tony Koester's ideas about building blocks, I think you start to get an idea that you start to develop a strategy of smaller elements that represent a bigger idea that are then linked together to form a railroad.

Lance points out that even a single spur can keep you busy for a while if you follow some basic railroad rules.

So, maybe, the mountains are the bits between the industries...

David

My space

That's roughly the space my current layout occupies, mine is 8X10  but it sticks out 4 feet into the room at two places (those turn back curves) and it has an extension at one end making it a sort of U shape. If I went to a shelf design, I'd be about in the same ballpark as you are. I might go as wide as 24" or even 30" for some three dimensional mountain scenery but I wouldn't put any track back there. Of course, if you're doing an industrial theme, you wouldn't need that much width.

What freight are you hauling?

Well, I have a big industry layout, a cement plant. It receives cement hoppers, fuel tank cars and some aggregates hoppers. It´s 9x6 feet, 24'' wide.

Interesting Plan Smaller Than Your Available Space.

Here's a plan that appeared in the Q3 MRH.   http://www.layoutvision.com/gallery/id36.html

It actually takes up less space than you have and would certainly be enhanced by additional space.

Although designed more for grain hoppers, a cement plant could be substituted. The station could be removed and a industry substituted with the 90 degree crossing eliminated and the "interchange" track used for a team track. The ACB plant in the upper left could be replaced with a facility for the tank cars.

Mike

Good Plan

Postman,

The thing I like about your design is that it looks like an actual railroad, not a model railroad.   The arrangement matches what you'd see in an actual industrial park.  You've also avoided the common mistake of putting in too much track.  It's just an all around good plan.  I wouldn't change it.

I would however change the industries you have in mind to yield more operational potential.  At this point it's a simple label change.  For lack of a better term you have the "main" and your industrial spurs.  The 'main' isn't really the railroad's main line but rather the primary lead in the industrial park.  I'd set things up as follows:

1)  Change the sorting track to an industrial spur.   My guess is cement plants are pretty basic to switch.  The cars are all carrying the same commodity and are moved through the loader with a cable, front end loader, or maybe a track mobile. I doubt there is any sorting needed of cement hoppers.   If instead you picked an industry that takes multiple car types/requires multiple car spots you'll add a lot more interest in the same space.  Candidates would be food service industries, logistic's warehouses, etc.

2) Delete the label (not the track) that says cement loader.  Make this track plus your switching lead your 'working main line'.  You'll need a fair amount of space to work the industry on your trailing point spur.  You can also do any necessary sorting on this track.  You can however, get some mileage out of this track by letting the last foot or so be a team track or perhaps small scrap yard.

I can see four industries, the three spurs plus team track.  If you pick common multi-spot industries for two of the four you'll have set yourself for relaxing, but interesting 90 minute plus op. sessions.

Lance

Let a prototype be your guide

A small layout can boil down to a simple set of tracks serving just one, or a few industries. Lance Mindheim has offered some great ideas through his books, blog and other published works.

I've been working on an HO scale layout in a 10x16 room that is inspired by the B&O freight terminal in Wheeling, West Virginia. The main areas are a staging yard, the team track yard, and several tracks at the freight house. I am using prototype documentation I found through visits to the Library of Congress Archives II facility and the Library of Congress on line files. I am four months into this project and have enjoyed spotting freight cars on the team tracks using only a nine volt battery to move the locomotive. I posted an update just the other day on my blog.

There are many other examples out there of industrial districts where there is no real mainline action, but lots of action to serve a few customers. The current Wheeling & Lake Erie switches a slew of modern industries every day in an industrial complex in Solon, Ohio. I noticed an interesting operation in the Blue Ash area of Cincinnati, Ohio a few years ago that skirted suburban neighborhoods to serve modern industrial and warehouse facilities. Near my El Paso home, BNSF serves several industries on a mile long stretch in the Rio Grande valley. This last example is on a fairly busy line that connects Belen, NM and El Paso, but portions could be built as a model railroad that stresses serving the on line customers.

There are many prototype opportunities at hand for a layout to fit a limited space. Spend a day or two looking around the rails in your area and possibilities will become apparent.

Eric

I have no main line

It's all yard tracks, modeled after "The Hole" at Stacy Yard in Seattle. There are only two industries: Cargill Corn Sweeteners & Maxum Petroleum. Each takes tank cars, but there are different commodities and grades to sort out amongst each industries.

My track plan

Cargill Corn Sweeteners uses 2 tracks:

1. The Steam Track - Where cars are heated to increase the viscosity of the corn syrup.
2. The Sugar Track - Where cars are unloaded.

Cars are routinely spotted on the on the Steam Track one day, then respotted to the Sugar Track the next day. Some cars get unloaded, some don't, it's a constant working the industry.

Maxum Petroleum takes different types of petroleum products and distributes them via tank truck, barrel and rail car. Cars are always being shuffled around.

The Odom Lead serves as a yard/storage track.

The Sig Runaround is the switching lead.

The Colorado Main (which hasn't actually been a main for several decades) is used for switching.

Seattle

That's a beautiful plan you have there Greg.  You should do an article on it.  For those that might be interested, the Seattle area is just packed with great industrial themes.  Working on Bing maps if you start at the airport and work North/Northwest toward downtown Seattle you'll see what I mean.

Lance

Don't forget the Meeker!

Dear Lance, Greg, MRH et al,

Don't forget the Meeker Southern down south of Seattle, at Puyallup. Less than 7(IIRC) turnouts, but interchange with the BNSF, and active cars spotted on the main! for a tiny RR it's a big (proto) switching challenge...
(and can be modelled with a "focus on op spots" compression in 1' wide shelf-layout format in a 8x4 room...)

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=141180&nseq=28

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=81631&nseq=61

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr

President's Island Memphis, TN

Hi All

Just to add to the conversation, there is an industrial area just west out of Memphis called President's Island.  The company i used to work for bought asphalt from a distributor located there.  I will try to post the link here, but I see that the coordinates don't show up any more.  There is just a single rail line with spurs going off to both sides.  In case the link doesn't work, look up "Harbor Ave" and/or "Channel Ave"  Memphis, TN.

http://www.bing.com/maps/

Edit - Well tried the link and it doesn't work, so if anyone is interested they will have to do a lookup on Google Maps or Bing Maps.

Inspiration

Thank you Lance. Your blog and books have inspired me. In the beginning my  idea was to model a cement plant and bought the Medusa cement company kit and some cement hoppers but I have learnt this industry is not spot dependent and has reduced operational potential. The thing is that I have a lot of cement hoppers and have built the kit. Maybe I can model a small cement dealer.

Thank you

Thank you everyone for all your help!

Time For a Trial Ops. Session

You have a good design and you've done a good job building it, no small thing in either case.  What you might want to do is start having some trial operating sessions to see what you do and don't like in terms of industries.  You can represent the industries at this point with a 3x5 card placed next to the spurs.  Running for a month or so will probably give you some practical insights.

Take what I said about the cement plant with a grain of salt (as with all forum input).  You have it built, did a good job doing so, have the hoppers, and it is realistic. Switch it for awhile and see what you think.  You're off to a good start.

Lance

Speaking of salt...and short covered hoppers

Salt also travels in the little 2-bay covered hoppers, with appropriate weathering. 

The cement plant I switched had a bit of sorting to do.  Railroad owned cars were to be spotted first, then X cars, as the RR owned cars cost more in car hire and demurrage and such. 

Various types of sand also travel in 2-bay covered hoppers, for a variety of uses.  Silica sand for glass making and foundry sand are older uses, and fractioning (frac) sand has come on real strong in the last few years. 

Plenty of options for utilizing the shorter cars. 

Kits and Industries

The great thing about kits, is that with some simple signage changes, they can be anything you can dream up. I bought the Cornerstone Ethanol plant with the intent of using parts of it for my main industry, a commercial sized meadery (basically a winery). I can use the ethanol tanks as a secondary function of the meadery. Distil the wine, and you get ethanol. They could also be used to store the honey (mead is fermented honey) after unloading from the tank cars. Or I could use them on a completely different industry. It's the signs that tell people what they do. It's just another form of kit bashing.

I agree completely with Lance. Run some trains, and see what you like, and what you don't like. Don't be afraid to play around with track arrangements until you get what you want. Do a little research on different industries. Google is your friend, and you'll be amazed at what you can find online. Use Google maps to look at track arrangements for industries you're interested in.

I'm constantly amazed at how simple most track plans are. They seem incredibly sparse, when it's just the track. Once you add scenery, and industries, all of a sudden that simple track plan looks much more complicated. Running trains will tell you if you have too much track, or not enough, and it'll give you a real good idea of where the track needs to be.

As for the cars you already have, nothing says the cars with spots on the layout have to be the only cars in the train. You can use other types of cars, that either belong at other modeled industries, or that don't have a spot on the layout, to add interest to operations. The null cars simply become a part of the switching puzzle of how to get the right cars to the right spots, while maneuvering around the cars that don't belong. Remember, no railroad functions in a vacuum. Those cars that don't have places on your layout, are simply destined for industries farther down the line, that you haven't modeled.

President Island

Here is the link for President Island, Memphis, Tennessee.

http://binged.it/135otpg

At one time the Frisco, MOP, and IC took turns switching the port. I am not sure how it is switched now.

Jerome

You need a runaround

Runaround

I know it.   I switch the left spur with loco going eastbound and pulling cars  and right spurs with loco going eastbound and pushing cars. That way all turnouts become trailing turnouts.

The runaround is in the no modeled world and on my mind.

Thanks Jerome

Thanks for clearing up the link to President's Island.  When I used Google and Bing Maps at work that day, neither would copy anything besides their basic http://www. address.