CNS&M: Burnham Yard Revisions

I posted the original plan on the Model Railroader forums and got a nice bit of feedback from Paulus Jas and a plan that he drew up (that's what I call keen), which I'll show you now so that i can discuss it..

I think Paul made some really astute comments, and I was kicking myself for not spotting them. He is certainly right that the left hand track that sneaks off stage to the rear will be inaccessible when the elevated track is put in. The suggestion for having the rear siding as partially abandoned is certainly useful too.

Most telling for me was the re-alignment to remove the excessive switchbacks I had. A result of thinking about one problem and not thinking about the implications of the answer. In this case maintaining an adequate lead length.

 

Grey represents roads. Light brown buildings. Blue is for the backdrop, and the orange rectangle is an intrusion into the room.

 So here is my version of Paul's plan, which I'm pretty pleased with, as it looks right to me. It has a lead that can hold six 40 foot freight cars, the arrival/departure line can hold eleven 40 foot freight cars, so this means six mixed 40 and 50 foot freight cars, a caboose and two electric locomotives will fit quite comfortably between the clearance points.

The two team tracks to the right are now kept clear of any switching moves, and I've added a RIP track too. I estimate the layouts maximum capacity is 40 freight cars, so its working capacity will be about 20 freight cars, which allowing for three turns a day with six car trains means it should all work out about right.

Below is the upper elevated track layout.

I modified the junction for right hand running and added a double-crossover at the right hand end after measuring the storage cupboard that I intend to run the tracks into. Not large enough for a return loop, so I needed to add the double-crossover so that trains can run into either of the two staging tracks and come out running down the right line when coming back out.

The operations of the trolley part of the layout is basically a simple shuttle back and forth with the opportunity to change the order of the trains return to add a bit of variety.

 Finally, the above shows all the track for my layout, which is set at 56 inches, for eye level operation.
  
(Revised with additional plans on the 16.12.11)