The X

I guess I forgot to put that part.

 Eric, the X is to represent T 55 and where the lines cross. It is one of the heaviest traffic areas in railroading. There are actually like 4 lines that cross there headed both N/S and E/W on the prototype. So I'd kind of like to keep it as it's a main part of the prototype.

Check those turnouts

Double check every turnout position and alignment with actual turnouts. Some of them around the turntable look odd, may just the be the drawing, but check them all. Its VERY easy to skew the actual size a turnout takes and bend them too much on paper. 

Mock up each throat to make sure they work BEFORE you get too far into building.

The only other issue that jumps at me is the track at the upper left between 6' and 9'. It seems stiff and jammed too close to the wall. Maybe let the siding come on around and make a longer siding ?

Otherwise, enjoy the planning, then get to building!

Turnouts

I used XtrakCAD to design the layout and loaded in Peco switches since that is what I plan on using on the layout. I'm also using flex track everywhere else. I know in a few places of doing the drawing, it was a bit hard to draw it correctly. But I'll make sure it works on the layout.  So far, I have printed a few sheets to check a few things and everything seems to lay out correctly with the turnouts and track. But since I'm using "pink" foam on my bench work, I'm planning on pining down the track and running some trains to make sure everything works before I glue it down. 

The tack is 1" off the back drop which should be fine, but I can move it out some if need be.

"I" would.......

........ move the roundhouse to where the lower right loop is, move the yard to the left, eliminate the yard switches on the left end of the yard to make the tracks end against the wall, put a mirror on the wall to make them look longer and put a couple industries where the sandhouse and other yard structures are now.

I really like the X.  I can't

I really like the X.  I can't believe people would suggest removing it, as if that would make the layout plan more exciting...I see the X as a Huge gain.

I'd keep the X

I'd keep the crossing. I think it adds to the character of the layout.

roundhouse

Pipopak,

I'd move the roundhouse except that is where it is located on the prototype, between the passenger station and yard. Also I don't want to put anything where the reversing loops are so that in the future, I can replace it with a helix to go to the upper deck. I tried moving it out to the edge but with the limited space on the end, I couldn't make a decent curve to get into and out of the roundhouse. Now if I go with a smaller radius than 15", it might work but I'm not sure if my bigger steam loco's will make the turn. My biggest steam loco is a 4-8-2.

But I like the idea of a mirror and may use that on that corner where the roundhouse is.

New plan

Very clever putting T55 at the end of the peninsula. OBTW it would also work the same at the end of an aisle. The only down side is that there is no way now to run through traffic on the TP.  Everything terminates at Ft Worth.  The purpose of the TP was to haul stuff from New Orleans to El Paso and from Texarkana to El Paso.  You can only simulate half of that..

The yard may need a bit of tweaking on the leads to give you tail room to switch.

The stockyards were served by the Ft Worth Belt Line which was a joint facility.  So you could have a junction with the MKT and a connection to the FWB.  The FWB would work the industries.  If you were planning on having an assigned switcher there to switch the stock yard, just change the name on the engine and donlt make a direct connection from the MKT main.  Remember the stockyards also had slaughter houses and rendering plants, so you will need reefers and tank cars too.

T&P

The T&P also headed north on a shared track with the MKT. So that's what I will be modeling. Just not enough room to do it all.

My original plan had T 55 in one corner that fed into the helix. T&P was on the lower deck and MKT was on the upper deck. I may still go back to that plan. Right now to do that, I need to figure out 1) how to make the double deck., 2) how to store the double deck. 3) How to possibly raise the whole layout up into the overhead in long sections. 

When I get some time at home to play, I'm still on the road for work for a few more months, then I can work on some of those and have a better idea of my way ahead.

During this time period, the stock yards were serviced by the Ft Worth and Denver City RR. I think the Frisco line also ran thru there. I'll have to go back and check all my old maps. But yes, reefer cars, tankers and cattle cars will be in the mix. I already have a bunch of the old 40' wood side reefer cars with the swift billboards on the sides. 

I think mirrors in the roundhouse corner a good idea.

It is probably the best way to simulate a 360 degree roundhouse when you don't have room for the 360 degree roundhouse.  I have 2 suggestions concerning the roundhouse.  From experience on an ho modular layout where our roundhouse is permanently fastened to its floor, the tracks inside the roundhouse are impossible to clean without risking damage to at least the doors of the roundhouse.  The result is that we have never had decent electrical contact on the tracks inside the roundhouse.  #1 Make your roundhouse removable from the floor so that you can get access to clean and maintain tracks inside it.  #2 Make sure that you leave some aisle space behind the round house corner even if it is a "crawl under" to allow you to get back there if needed.  Our club has a large Walthers electronic turntable, and it is the most finicky electrical device on the entire modular layout.  That doesn't mean the turntable is bad, just that everything else is dead reliable, but we usually need to "fiddle" with the turntable to get it to work correctly and index properly.  I don't know what is available in N-scale or how reliable the N-scale turntables are.  Also remember that a turntable may be dead reliable on a permanent layout, but what you are building is more akin to a modular layout in that it will be taken apart and put back together regularly.  It will have some of the same issues that modular clubs face at every set up.

Thanks

I've been thinking of making all of my structures removable. Just mount the foundation to the layout and then set the structures on them. Mostly because the warehouse, grain elevator, union station are all tall buildings. If I make them removable, then i can find a way to stack the modules closer together which will give me some more room.

I'm using a Walther's 120' turntable with a electric motor drive. No DCC or indexing at this time. I've been playing with it and adjusting things to make it run as best as I can.

Mirrors

The undisputed (so far) user of mirrors was John Allen. He wrote several articles about in MR, RMC and the NMRA Bulletin. Also in a book about the GD layout printed by Kalmbach. Worth getting.

Main things about mirrors to keep in mind:

* Placement: make sure you do not see your own reflection on them.

* Accessibility: they have to be cleaned from time to time.

* Mirror specs: look for mirrors with the plating on the front, or the thinnest one you can get. Thick glass will cause image aberrations.

* Make sure everything that ends against the mirror is EXACTLY PERPENDICULAR (90 degrees) at it, or the image will be angled and give the trick away.

* Keep in mind that the top edge of the mirror has to be convincingly disguised.

I've been thinking of making

I've been thinking of making all of my structures removable. Just mount the foundation to the layout and then set the structures on them. Mostly because the warehouse, grain elevator, union station are all tall buildings. If I make them removable, then i can find a way to stack the modules closer together which will give me some more room.

An added benefit will be that, as time goes and your modeling abilities improve, you will be able to replace existing structures with minimal disruption, as long as they have the same footprint.

Mirrors

I've seen one layout that used a mirror on an end wall to make the industry on that end look bigger. It fooled me for a bit as it was well done. I'll take a look into it when I get to that end of the layout. 

Ok I just thought about this, if I put a mirror in the corner where the roundhouse/turntable is, then I'd have two turntables in that corner. So it looks like I'll have to just paint or install a flat surface roundhouse on the back drop to make it look right.