Progress of sorts

I haven't been doing much of anything on my layout since I last posted because I waiting to get something useful out of 3rd Planit and still deciding what part of the Northeast corridor to depict on my layout. I do know what I'd like to do but whether it fits on the layout is another matter.

If you've seen the third iteration of my benchwork plan, you'll understand some of my recent thinking. If you haven't I'll give the link for it below.

I want to be able to provide long runs between staging yards. One will go along the right wall and I am thinking of adding a second level about 18" above this one so I can have another above it. Both will be stub ended yards. The lower one will also have some kind of car float service so that I can have an interchange with off-layout area. Basically what will happen is that freight cars will be loaded on a car float and that car float will then be transfers to below the layout storage and another car float from that storage area will arrive and unload new cars to the layout for latter distribution to various industries along the tracks or to the yard at the other end for transfer to another railroad. That may require the use of a cassette system but I haven't thought it out fully yet.

The introduction of another level does present me with a problem and that is getting the trains to and from the upper level. The only solution is to have a helix but I am not so thrilled with the idea as it would require that I build one that would have moderately broad curves and not to steep a grade as well. It will also swallow alot of space to go up 18" inches. Using a 3% grade a train would climb 3" for every 100" in distance. Therefore the train would have to climb 18" in 600" of space and that would mean I would need 50 feet of track in the helix. Of course I could have the train climb part of that distance along the layout itself before it reaches the helix but exactly who that would help still requires some examination. (I'm open to ideas here, folks.)

I haven't just been thinking. I've been reading too. Last night I started reading a book about the THe New York Connecting Railroad. This was joint undertaking of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New Haven that allowed the two railroads to connect from Sunnyside Yard in Queens via the Hellgate Bridge to the Bronx. Sunyside Yard was a terminus of freight traffic from New Jersey by way of a freight tunnel that ran past Penn Station in Manhattan and under the East River. Form there the freight cars would be picked up and moved to the Hellgate Bridge to a connection with the New Haven. THis system was taken over by Conrail in 1976. I don't think this is used used anymore since Sunnyside Yard is primarily used by Long Island Railroad and Amtrak trains nowadays. Freight still goes across the Hellgate Bridge however but it doesn't come from Sunnyside yard anymore.

I don't know exactly what I am going to do but I suspect that what I am reading about is going to give me the kind of information that will prove very useful for me in coming up with a workable trackplan.

Irv

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