The hull is from Dean's Marine Anna Marie kit. The crane is a HO scale die cast model of the Liebherr 500 mobile harbor crane. I also put one of my O scale building mockups on the layout to simulate the transit shed. The foam piece on the right is my Ft Hood diorama, which I will disassemble and recycle to this layout.
A couple things pop out from this test mock up. First, my wife was surprised at how well it worked out. She was worried that I was cramming too much stuff down there. Well, yes, I am, but lets move on.
Second, the Deans Marine kit, at 39 inches long, looks a bit small in that space. I may have to rethink which and where I put the ships. The ships do not need to be fixed in place, it is is conceivable that I can build different kinds of ships that vary between op sessions. For example, a heavy lift ship for wind mill parts, then a Ro-Ro for vehicles, barges for bulk materials etc. Adding a few inches of depth to the wharf area benchwork will not be a problem.
Third, there is space on the far left to add a small peninsula extending along the stairs. If I put the fiddle track there, I can avoid having to cut holes under the stairs into closet. Since this is not intended to be a permanent layout, that might be a better idea. This would also allow a more accurate rendition of the actual track plan as the track can angle out to the fiddle track as in the prototype.
Here are some Google and Bing maps views of Beaumont.
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| Port of Beaumont switchers move M1 Abrams tanks on the dock tracks at Harbor island. Note the complex track work between the sheds. The connection to the interchange yard extends to the bottom left corner. Also note the DODX 41000 cars parked on the wharf tracks. The mobile harbor crane appears to be lifting the tanks off the flat cars. I need to verify that. |
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| Overview of the area to be modeled. This photo shows the area before the new storage yard was constructed. |
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