With no money to spare since I wrote the last article in this series, due to my severe under-employment, I had the time to look over the design of the layout. There were some things that just nagged at me, even when I could not exactly nail them down and why they left me feeling unhappy about the layout design process. A while back I revisited one of my earlier designs, Industrial Park East.
I always liked this design, I went back to revisit the design to see if it would work in the larger space. I think I’ve come up with something that works for me visually and operationally. I’ve even looked at flipping this design horizontally to join up with the larger layout and I think that it would work very well. In my original post on the 12 foot layout I said that I wanted to have:
- A simple yard,
- An interchange
- A bakery industry
- A team track, and
- A lead for expansion should I so choose in the future
The new layout has only the possibility of a team track. It seems like a tacked on after thought, and that is all it was. So number four may well be a nice to have and not a necessity. It certainly can be added in the future on a future extension board; with the additions I’ve added to this version of the layout I don’t think that I would miss that one multi-disciplinary industry. Now let’s take a look at Industrial Park West.
THere are many similarities between the two layout designs. I like the ‘look’ and the flow of the design and I find that this design visually and operationally appealing in a way that the Mk 72 design just never ‘felt right’ for me. With more space to play with I’ve added two short stub ended yard tracks to the design, as well as a two-track engine house for the locomotives serving the entire industrial park.
I’ve yet to decide what I’ll do with the interior of this building detail wise, what I can say is that it will be lit and detailed. I’m likely to model one through surface road at the front of the shed with the other a pit road at the rear of the shed where it will be easier to see and appreciate the interior detail. THere’ll be a full lighting treatment to highlight the interior of the building.
There are two industries on this design, one large the other small. The large one will be a transload industry taking a range of loads in and out by boxcar, tank car and gondola. These cross docking operations will take place under a covered area and inside the main building between the two long sidings closest to the camera. I’m going to use an example building I found a long time ago as the basis for the cross docking operation. The enclosed area of the warehouse I’ll make from styrene sheet. I’ll scratchbuild dock doors, roller shutters between the dock and the warehouse and any other parts as needed.
This weekend I played with adding a front track, possibly a team track, to the design. I’m not sure whether I’ll keep it or cut it from the design yet; I’ll consider it and make a decision later. For now I’m happy with the layout design, it’s playability factor, and the operating possibilities for long and short sessions.
Andrew's Trains 