The PPNL is based out of Plainville, CT and is a shortline whose main revenue generator is automotive.  The Gregoryville Auto Terminal is located at the "westernmost" end of the shortline's track and is broken up into a double siding for sorting loads and empties, an unloading yard where vehicles are driven off into the [off scene] storage parking lot, and a storage yard where empty autoracks are kept in between transfer runs to and from Hannah Yard (main yard to the left) in Plainville.

Heading "east" from Gregoryville, the mainline snakes through the town of Bristol prior to reacing Hannah Yard.  continuing "east", the mainline travels through the towns of New Britain (upper left) and Berlin (area above helix, which spans two rooms) in upper left corner).  Berlin Industrial Associates (BIA) contains two rail-served industries that are also vital customers to the PPNL.

If you move the storage yards on the right down about a foot you could bend the center peninsular to the right thus widening the left choke point.

Also, relocating the curved turnout in the lower right closer to the scenic divider you could add a few inches to the 30 inch wide aisle.

Staring at the trackplan for the past hour, I came up with a few "solutions" which may improve operability.  Doc, I'll be taking your advice in shifting things around.  First and foremost, the "east" benchwork (top of diagram) will be reduced from 30" to 20" allowing the peninsula to be lenghtened some - bending it to the right, as you suggested, will also eliminate those choke points.  Also, I'll be moving the unloading yard up a bit, widening the peninsula it sits on in the process.  In doing so, I can relocate the engine track (noted with an adjacent rectangle) in between the two yards as seen on the prototype East Brookfield & Spencer, making for a more compact scene.  Lastly, I can also reduce the width of the entire auto terminal's benchwork at least 6" which will not only improve accessibility to the lower level, it will enable me to adjust the position of the peninsula.

I'm wondering how the general feel of the layout, thus far, appeals to those with experience.  I think I could increase the aisle widths slightly without sacrificing too much layout space but I'm weary of doing so.  I have a mile-long list of improvements that I will attempt to do tonight.

-Johnny

OK, so here goes Round 2 and I think I might be getting there but there is still much I am not happy with.  For one, I don't like the general flow of the yard, especially at the bottom end where I have to take the main in order to get to another track.  I tried fitting in a lead but I couldn't make it work with the tight radii entering the peninsula.  Fortunately, only one train works the mainline over the peninsula so there will hardly ever be a time where a local will interrupt switching duties.  Any suggestions here?  The pinwheel yard design proved to be efficient but what I made up in track length I lost in operability as it's near impossible to add crossovers in the lower half of the yard.

Taking Doc's advice, I shifted the peninsula to the right a bit and shortened the auto terminal's storage yard which increased the aisle width to something a bit more desirable.  I also decreased the width of the upper benchwork which will now allow me to access the industries on top of the helix.  How does this look to you guys?  Are there any chokepoints that I am missing?

The upper portion of the trackplan represents the "eastern" portion of the upper level prior to entering the helix.  Residing on top of the helix is the Berlin Industrial Associates complex in which ClarkDietrich and Firestone Building Products are tenants.  The tentative plan is to have half to 2/3rds of the helix inside the train room with the remaining portion displayed in the other room  This is chiefly due to the location of the sewer cleanout which is just around the 16' mark from the southern (left) wall.  I sort of haphazardly threw this area together as I couldn't really work out a better way to make the tracks and industry leads fit.  Working with the simulator, I found it was very challenging to switch out these two industries and I will definitely make use out of my plan to run double-ended power!

I'm satisfied with everything from the Gregoryville Auto Terminal (far right) to the "west" (bottom) end of Hannah Yard (far left).  All the industries fit well along the peninsula and I gained a bit of mainline running as well.  For clarification, the Bristol Running Track (mainline from the bottom of the yard to the auto terminal) begins to climb a gradual grade where it will pass over itself on the other side of the scenic divider coming into the Gregoryville Siding.  After running the simulator for a while, I didn't notice any major flaws except for swapping cars at the auto terminal which, as it turns out, is a very delicate ballet between the PPNL and the industrial line that works the facility.

So, what do you think?  As I mentioned, I'm not really sure where to go with the upper area and I'm not really happy with how the local Plainville industries got "thrown in" against the wall - I had a much grander plan for these, especially because they are a stone's throw away from my home.

Thanks in advance for your comments!

Anyone have any comments or suggestions for me? 

I'm going to be sitting down tonight to rework a few details but I'm struggling to find a better layout for my main yard. I think I have an idea for the upper left corner and I'll try to fit that in tonight. 

I started the lower level design but it's slow going as my vision is not as clear as it was for when I was working out the upper deck.

I also want to incorporate a third level, below the lower level, that will strictly be reserved for staging.  This will represent interchange with four foreign roads plus a few trains that serve customers "off scene".  I have yet to really work out how this will be accessed but I'm toying with a "stacked helix" or just a long, steep grade starting off the helix on the lower level with all staging/fiddle yards on the peninsula so that I can reverse trains.

Looks like you have done quite alot of planning! looks good to me so far. I will try to give you some feedback when i get more of a chance to study youre plan. Bye the way it was cool talking to you last night. looking foward to meeting you. Cliff. PS.   p&w just went by 14 gondolas. not sure what they were hauling.

OK, I skipped a version in between, making this Version 1.4.0.  The major reworked areas, as you can see, are Hannah Yard which now includes an engine terminal that will be a close replica of Providence & Worcester's Plainfield, CT shops (not to be confused with Plainville, CT).  The two tracks to the right allow power to be stored under a shed-like structure with no doors and the other two tracks will be the maintenance area (this is the spray booth on the prototype). I have yet to test run the yard but this is the least complex design I've rendered thus far and can only imagine it will be easier to work than previous versions.

I also decided that the Plainville industries (AmeriGas and Forestville Lumber) weren't ever going to line up like the prototype so I plopped them on either side of the electrical panel out of convenience.  Also moved is JJ Concrete & Masonry (F&F Concrete is the prototype) which now resides in the upper left corner.  This fits much better here and allowed me to keep the engine facility in "Plainville" as opposed to "New Britain" which is where it would've wound up in the last version.  The two tracks within the facility are used for storage and unloading, respectively, while the rightmost track which goes off the layout represents the actual defunct Canal Line (Forestville Lumber and AmeriGas, along with a scrap metal dealer, are the last three customers on the prototype line in Plainville).

I reworked the Forestville Siding which accesses several industries along the left side of the center peninsula.  In testing the old version, I found that it was nearly impossible to switch out each customer with the given space.  The revision separates each customer onto three distinct tracks with a single siding that *hopefully* will prove to be a superior design over my last.

Last, but definitely not least, I measured both utilities in the basement again as I realized something didn't look right and the first three versions were based off of rough dimensions.  The electrical panel, although now wider, was not as much as an issue; the gas meter is a killer: as you can see, I had to shift the trackwork up a good 8" to compensate for the meter which sticks out 13.5" from the wall.  I found that there is adequate space behind the meter to run a train but I'd like to keep as much electricity as I can away from the combustible gas 

Please let me know what you think as I'm ready to call it a day on the upper level and start working on the, less complicated, lower level.  What do you think about the yard?  How do you think the general flow of the layout is thus far?  Is it too cluttered?!?!?  Any comments will be greatly appreciated.

Also, can you read the industry labels?  I just realized I have a massive monitor with high resolution and some of you may not have that capability.  If you can't read it, I'll try to post sections of the layout, focusing on key points of interest.

Thanks!

#1) Very nice Plan you should have a great many years of fun just building it and operating it by yourself.

#2) I see some posts wanting you to widen your isles. In my opinion, isles 24 inches wide is more than plenty of room for a one man operation which many model railroads are.

I have been building model Railroads for more than 50 years and many of my railroads have had one or two isles as narrow as 18 inches as just access not for standing in or operating from. Myself I find there are two types of isles the operating Isle which I find 36 inches minimum to be perfect. The second type isle can be as narrow as 18 inches when used for just access to fix a derailment or even while building track work & scenery but I wouldn't try doing any jumping jacks in those super narrow isles.

I know a few people that never have any visitors or op-sessions ever. They keep their RR totally private and normally don't let anybody into to their private model railroad world except to show a very trusted friend like myself what they have built. In these private railroads I have had the pleasure to see some of the finest models I have ever had the privilege to view.

As for the track plan you have shown this will be great fun to build, detail and operate, As far as operations, if you plan to be the only operator or maybe have just a single friend or family member join you once in a while to run trains then your isle space is adequate. I wouldn't want to have more than a single friend trying to operate trains with your narrow isles and your plan does look like you have the room to widen them and could have isles as wide as 42 inches which will make moving through safer and make it much less likely to knock a train on the floor with a misplaced elbow of loose clothing. 

If this plan is for you own personal enjoyment and you have no plans of bringing in people to help you operate it then I wouldn't change anything as it looks to be a sound plan with lots of operating options.

Dan

Dan, thanks for the comments and I'm glad to see you like the plan so far! It barely compares to others I have seen but I attempted to utilize the best design features I've found such as keeping tracks at an angle to the fascia and having plenty of yard space.

I forgot to bring up the layer in XtrackCAD with the aisle dimensions when printing but they have not changed from the previously posted plan.  I do see what you mean about being able to widen the aisles somewhat; I can definitely take a few inches away from the Plainville and Forestville benchwork as well as chip away at the Gregoryville's width. But, as you guessed, I will be the sole operator 90% of the time and the other 10% will either be my fiance or a close friend so ~30" isn't going to be an issue most of the time.

I am still toying with the idea of making this a double-decked layout with the joining helix under Berlin (track along upper wall connects to helix, not shown on current layer).  I feel, though, that this single level may be more than enough for me to build and keep my occupied for the next few years.  If I nix the lower level from the plan, I would, at the very least, like to include a large staging yard to represent traffic from the southeastern section of the PPNL as well as interchange with three other railroads. 

As there isn't much room beyond the Berlin section, I'll probably have to utilize a helix, regardless, to access a staging area located under the main deck. So, from personal experience, would it be wise to "keep it on the level" and leave the plan as-is or "go big or go home" and build the lower level as well as staging?

Thanks!