A journal following the history, design, construction and operation of Bernard Kempinski's O Scale model railroad depicting the U. S. Military Railroad (USMRR) Aquia-Falmouth line in 1863, and other model railroad projects.
©Bernard Kempinski All text and images, except as noted, on this blog are copyrighted by the author and may not be used without permission.
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February 3, 2009

Track Plan - First Draft

Here is a first draft of the track plan for the overall layout.



The plan includes a wye at the left end of Aquia Landing. Unfortunately, there is no way to fit a wye without having to extend the tracks through the wall into the workshop. So instead, I'll probably install a turntable there instead.

The pier is close to the front edge of the benchwork to allow access for operations. The deep scene behind will be filled with ship models. This gets them out of the way, and perhaps opens up the opportunity to do some forced perspective modeling using 1/64th instead of 1/48th scale ships.

The car floats will have to be scratch built, as will the side wheel steamer. I should be able to find kits for the tugs and sailing vessels.

To achieve the required height for the Potomac Creek Trestle, the tracks will climb at 2 percent grade as they depart Aquia Landing. Unfortunately, this will not gain enough elevation so the bridge will not be high enough. But through application of a reality distortion field, the water level of Potomac Creek will to be dropped about 5 inches below the level of the Potomac River. I hope that this doesn't create an incongruous scene as the trestle is just on the other side of aisle from the harbor.

This plan shows a stick trestle, but I have still not decided what type of bridge to use there.


3 comments:

  1. Bernie,

    this is a great trackplan! Not too much track, but still plenty of operating potential.
    I think the difference in height between the Creek and River shouldn't be an issue, since operators can't see both scene at the same time (I assume operators at Aquia Landing stand near the barge in order to throw turnouts)

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  2. If you moved the work bench to the other side of your workshop.. could the wye tail extend over that?

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  3. Chris,
    The main two reasons I want to stay out of the workshop area with this layout are:
    1. I am thinking about putting an N Scale layout along the shelf behind my workbench. This will utilize a portion of the Tennessee Pass layout that I saved.

    2. I think the two O Scale sized holes in the wall will be too much to disguise.

    The drawing doesn't show all the stuff in my work shop, but it is pretty full.

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