A lot of thought went into the design of this layout

Changes I would make

Joe,

I really like your idea and concept. You can tell a lot of thought went into the design and plan. And you have definitely chosen an interesting railroad to model.

Here are a couple of things I would do differently if I were designing this layout. 

1. I would expand on your junction point idea with a line going off to the upper corner. An overhead highway bridge would be a great way to hide the end of the track.

2. At the junction point where the two lines converge I would build an older passenger station that could now serve as an office for the railroad.

3. Instead of a roundhouse I would have went with a two stall Pikestuff engine house and included a fuel/sand service pad.

4. I would also incorporate a small two or three track yard with a team track to unload supplies for the MOW forces.

5. On the other module I would have included a couple of industries that can typically be found in this area. One that received tank cars and one that received covered hoppers would probably do the trick.

The most important factor would be to make sure the track arrangement flowed prototypically. Correct placement of turnouts and curves that make things flow naturally and smoothly is very important when it comes to layout design.

And that is my two cents.

Tim Garland

Most videos

Most videos send me straight to sleep in the first five minutes. Watched this one (Part 1 and Part 2) all the way through with a break in the middle for lunch and a walk. Lots of good ideas and planning suggestions, and not a lot of "do this, do that." Kind of refreshing.

Fascinating!

It was fascinating listening (and watching!) the thought process in designing the layout. I'm probably similar to Tim with the suggestion of not having the turntable, but rather a two road shed and facilities too. Somehow it looks a little cramped on that board compared to the other two boards. 

Roundhouse/Turntable

I suspect the inclusion of a roundhouse and turntable is in part due to the fact that the Vermont Railway System still has several examples of such on the property - including at Burlington VT...

http://www.railfanguides.us/vt/burlington/yard2.jpg

... and at North Walpole NH:

http://www.trainweb.org/trains/GMRC/GMRC-RH.jpg

It does speak to the New England line's character of re-using older structures rather than replacing them with new ones.

Cheers!

- Trevor

Cramped!

Thanks for the links Trevor. The locations certainly seemed very cramped! No doubt if someone was to have modeled that, then there would have been comments of how unrealistic it looks! But there is the evidence!

Shortline oddities

Here's a comment from Tim on the TrainMasters TV site that makes a lot of sense:

It's a good point.  However, I found that a few of the "don't" rules in model railroad design were broken by the Vermont Railway, and by the Rutland before them.  Here's a Google image of the wye at Rutland.  There's a rail-to-road transfer for aggregates like sand and gravel located in the middle.  At some point someone decided that the siding just wasn't long enough, so it was extended through the north leg of the wye.  How many of us would say that no railroad would have done that?  That's part of what makes the Vermont Railway such an interesting prototype to model.

Now what about that switchstand located on the bridge at Ludlow...

I like the comment in the VR segment

Cramped doesn't begin to describe it

Hi Brian:

"The locations certainly seemed very cramped!"

That's an understatement - especially with regards to the small yard in North Walpole, NH. Here's an aerial view, which shows how the yard was wedged between the river and the mountain...

http://www.fototime.com/photos/st/D98C1DD1FDBC400D81077E5F26E9E398/GMRC-001.JPG

Cheers!

- Trevor

What are you using...

Joe, what are you using as the base of the sections? A kit from a company, or cut your own

North Walpole, NH

I always say look to the prototype for inspiration, especially when coming up with a convincing track plan. I actually did this with my current Seaboard Central layout when modeling my main yard at Griffin, GA. Even though it is compressed and not exactly like the real thing I believe I got the flavor of the prototype represented good enough for me. 

After reading some of the others commenting on the uniqueness of the VTR I looked at North Walpole, NH in Google Earth. To say this place begs to be modeled is an understatement. And it wouldn't have been that hard to make the TOMA layout look like North Walpole.

By changing the engine terminal module to the other side of the layout and adjusting the track arrangement on both modules somewhat I believe one could definitely capture the look and feel of North Walpole with these three modules complete with the mainline running right by the roundhouse and then within a few yards traversing out over a bridge crossing a river!

Joe you are right when you said this railroad looks like it was laid out by a model railroader. It is unique, I will give you that.

Tim Garland

TOMA benchwork

 "if you're looking for

I think one could save a lot of money and time by just figuring out the lengths of wood needed and having Home Depot or their local lumber yard cut them. The cost is minimal compared to commercial benchwork and shipping charges....DaveB 

Cost is more than money

Cost also involves resources which includes time and woodworking savvy. If you factor in the time and effort involved in making your own benchwork kit through a DIY store, having the benchwork kit just delivered to your door ready to assemble is a great option too.

Its like structure kits. Let someone else figure out the niggily details and assemble the materials. Yes, that costs more than just finding a design and buying all the pieces parts yourself. But cost is more than just money - it's time and expertise too.

Kits for structures or benchwork sell too because some of us are happy to pay for the time savings we get by just having the kit delivered to our door, complete with assembly instructions.