Well, I think I have the plan about as finalized as I can get on paper.  I did another full scale print and will be laying out on the benchwork soon.

Shaun Track plan

Just been playing with the plan a little bit more to get things more finalized for one more full scale print. Here’s a look:

Notable changes are:

• Moved both crossovers to the Elmwood side, and pushed them down the main little.  Felt the turnouts were a little too cluttered up under Dixie paper.
• With crossover moved, I pushed the North Elmwood siding right turnout more to the right side to extend the siding a few more inches.
• Added a curved turnout (it’s right above the intermodal yard) to the southern passing track on the left end.  I wanted to add this to a) extend this siding a little bit and b) added a nice visual element to the track with the curved turnout. I might move it closer to the tunnel some more to extend the siding a little more so the two mains aren’t so mirror-like.
• The yellow squares are markers for backdrop supports.
• Added an Amtrak butterfly platform near/under the Highway 603 overpass.
• Added a Walther’s yard office to the intermodal yard. The shed from the kit will go up by the Car shop.
• Added Walthers container crane to yard.
• Plan to have Highway 90 come down from the overpass on the right side.  A side street with intersect here for access to Dixie paper and the Amtrak platform. The road will then go up a hill for a 3-way intersection with the 603 overpass. It’ll then drop back down to grade to run off the layout. I’ll add a road to the carshop in there someplace soon.
• Extended the Marigny River left tunnel portal a little more outward into the layout to accommodate backdrop supports.
• Might remove the hill on the left side of Elmwood and keep highway 90 with an overpass again as the scene breaker.  Kinda thinking the tunnel might look out place.

Shaun Track plan

I found having a fullsize printout of the track plan on the benchwork a very handy tool. You’re able to see how things will fit, how big or small they are, and how your space is used.

While looking over the plan, I wasn’t happy with how the Marigny river and the added junction track looked.  I still had some open space that I wasn’t quite sure how to utilize.  Then I thought about how the Daneville/Donner plan is, where the waterway comes under the track and then follows it along the layout for a few feet.

So I changed up the plan to follow this same pattern. The junction track now runs on the “south” side of the river while the mainline continues on the “north” side.

And Happy New Year Everyone!

Shaun Track plan

Here’s a rough look at how the track plan looks in real life.  I printed out the plan at 1:1 scale from RailModeller, trimmed the sheets and placed it all on the benchwork.  I’ll go back and trim up a few sheets I missed, and then tape it all together for a better fit. But it really does give you a nice, real look at how the layout will look on the bench.

When the cleaned up plan is in place I’ll use that to mark the location of the backdrop and track. I’ll also use it to place structures on to see if they can fit and how’d they look.  It’s almost like bringing the track planning from software to real world at this point.

Shaun Track plan