And my Current Favorite ...
I’ll call it Chicago Fork (for now) as that is the name its designer, Professor Klyzir, gave it. I was preempted by the Prof, so you can look two posts above this one and get the links.
Edit: Since the update to Carl's site, the internal links have been broken. Here are the two pages Professor Klyzir linked to in his earlier post:
http://www.carendt.com/small-layout-scrapbook/page-97a-may-2010/#chicago
http://www.carendt.com/small-layout-scrapbook/page-98a-june-2010/#ho-chicago
This space saving design incorporates a 3-2-2 Inglenook to pack a lot of operations into a small space. In this case, the long leg is an industry with 3 spots and rather than build a train, we are spotting cars. While Professor Klyzir was working against the limitations of a challenge to keep things under 4 square feet, I do not have that constraint; so can give a little more space to the scenery and eliminate the space saving sector plate, replacing it with another turnout.
Overall Size: 8’ x 18” (broken down into two 4’ x 18” sections).
Trains. A locomotive and 5 freight cars (3 box, 1 flat and 1 tank). (The Prof’s Chicago Fork used 4 freight cars; however, I opted for the conventional Inglenook loading of long + short (3 + 2) cars; just because ....
Operations. In the links provided by Professor Klyzir (a couple of posts before this one) he laid out how he operates Chicago Fork with a locomotive and 4 cars. I won’t repeat that method here; however, I recommend that you look at it if you are interested in the various ways these Inglenooks can be operated.
For this one, I’ve assumed the industry is a small manufacturing plant. It receives box, flat and tank cars. The flat car is typically spotted at the far left dock where an overhead crane extends out across the track for loading/unloading large loads. The tank car is spotted at the far right dock as that is where the hose connections are. The box cars can be spotted at any available spot.
1. Determine (randomly) which cars spotted at the industry are empty (MTY); say 2 out of 3?
2. Using the locomotive, shunt the MTY’s and replace them with loads (if available). Remember the rules on which cars can be spotted where.
2.a. Any car spotted at the industry that is not MTY, must be respotted at the industry (remember the rules). These cars have priority over all others.
2.b. If a load cannot be spotted at the industry, it should be placed on the off-spot/storage track (closest to the front) until it can be spotted at the industry.
2.c. If there is only room for one or the other, the flat car (normally) has priority over the tank car.
2.d. Off-spot box cars have priority over inbound ones (first in, first out).
3. MTY’s are pulled to the right ... and become the next session’s loads.
4. Rinse and Repeat.
Scenery.
The exit to the far right is hidden by an overpass. The industry includes a loading dock with large doors at each of the three spots. The far left spot has an overhead crane extending from inside the building out across the track for handing flat cars. There is a storage tank to the right of the building; the connection hoses are located near the rightmost spot. There is a chain link fence surrounding the property, with a gate to allow access of the railcars.
I envision this as the “end of the line” that used to be along a branch line. The main track and passing siding are now removed/no longer in use just beyond the left edge (which explains why the loco has to sometimes jockey the cars around to complete the switching maneuvers).
Future expansion.
Being small and self contained, this layout could be built to be quite portable and perhaps taken to public showings? One could easily add an extension/cassette to the right, which would greatly facilitate switching the industry as well as allow the train to leave the scene once its work is finished in a prototypical manner. This extension could also include a train length transfer table to allow swapping out freight cars between sessions for even more operational variety. And of course one could continue the line off to the right as space permits.
On the other end, one could build a short section showing the end of the tracks; perhaps a washed out bridge? This would likely include space for another car on the off-spot track and perhaps even a lay-down area to the left of the industry bringing the number of spots to 4, which would certainly add to the variety of operations. Or, one could simply extend the tracks in that direction as well.
What I like about this plan.
It is very small (certainly a plus in my situation). It only requires 5 cars to operate. It could be portable, allowing use at public showings.
