Monthly Archives: December 2015

Benchwork, Trackwork

The Town of Brandon…

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I have finished laying the roadbed for the town of Brandon. As I have mentioned before, Brandon is a agricultural based town smaller than Jackson. As it is just ahead of the helix the mainline cuts across the benchwork at an angle. This actually works out well as the town is then laid out at a right angle to the mainline adding visual interest to the scene.

In my last post I had talked about the over planning that had taken place with this town. Way too much ( and complicated ) track work. I slimmed down the plan to:

The mainline, a team track, a siding for a lumber company and a siding that will serve a grain elevator, an oil dealership and as the lead for the gravel company siding.

And while I had said before that I was using bits and pieces of other layouts as Layout Design Elements ( a term coined by Tony Koester ) the layout for Brandon came from an old photograph of a small Midwestern town. If it worked for the real thing it should work for a model railroad. The cool part is that there is almost no compression to get it to fit.

The thing I liked best about the design of the town is the variety of cars that will be needed to serve the few industries in town. Boxcars for the grain elevator, team track, oil dealership, lumber company, and supplies for the gravel company. Hoppers for the gravel company. Tank cars for the oil dealership. And last but least, flatcars for the team track and lumber company.

Should be a lot of action in a small space.

Anyways, got the plan drawn out and the cork down for the roadbed. I also put in the cork for the road crossing the tracks. There will be a few commercial buildings to suggest a town. They will be in between the road that crosses the tracks and the lumber company.

The town of Brandon, south looking north.
The town of Brandon, south looking north.
North end of town with the sidings for the lumber yard (right side) and the gravel company ( left side ).
North end of town with the sidings for the lumber yard (right side) and the gravel company ( left side ).

In the above photo you can see the two sidings, one for the gravel company and the other for the lumber company. They don’t continue because: for the gravel company I am waiting to get the backdrop in place, which won’t happen until the helix is in place and for the lumber yard I don’t actually have one yet and I won’t lay the cork until a know exactly what I’m dealing with.

Brandon, looking south.
Brandon, looking south.

One last photo;

The elevator with a home road boxcar.
The elevator with a home road boxcar.

You can see in the picture above that I have started to decal the home road boxcars. I am currently working on a logo for the railroad that will go into the empty space on the left end of the car.

Next up is finishing the planning of the New Brighton yard.

Stay tuned.

Until then, Happy Railroading…

 

 

Trackwork

Early December update…

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As I may have mentioned earlier, track planning is not my strong suit. With that in mind I have been working on the yard in New Brighton with some success. However, what I want and what will fit, although close, hasn’t been quite working out.

So I decided to switch gears and work on what I thought would be something a lot easier. That would be the town of Brandon which is in between Jackson and the helix. As I said before, I envisioned it as a smaller town than Jackson, but still big enough to generate enough traffic to make it important to the railroad.

My first attempt at a plan for this town was, although not a disaster, far more complicated than I wanted. I added in a lot more sidings  than was needed, almost a small yard.

First attempt, first view.
First attempt, first view.

As you can see in the picture above or maybe not, as things are only penciled in, the switching was quite extensive and include a two track yard. Also there were two tracks for the grain elevator which was totally unnecessary. Not shown are the siding for the team track next to the depot as well the lead off to the gravel company. Like I said, track planning is not my thing and I tend to overdue it.

So I pulled back and somewhat simplified it.

Second attempt, from the south.
Second attempt, from the south.
Second attempt, north end of town.
Second attempt, north end of town.
Second attempt, north looking south.
Second attempt, north looking south.

First I removed one of the tracks next to the elevator, as well as the one of the “yard” tracks. There is still one siding track that connects between the elevator track and the track that leads off to the gravel company on the north end of town. The team track next to the depot remains and there is a track on the north end that will serve a lumber yard. That track can be seen in the middle picture. I am considering a fuel oil dealer served by the “yard ” track, but not sure, we’ll see.

I should have the final for Brandon done soon. Then I’ll  get the cork roadbed in place. Once I have the New Brighton yard finalized I will start laying track from the staging yard to the helix. Then will come the wiring, and then…GASP!… I will actually be able to run a train.

It’s going to happen, so stay tuned.

Until then, Happy Railroading…