Autunite?

Rather than go with the organic method I used to design the mainline, I decided to try "planning" this go 'round. I used the XTracCad software to strip the track plan down to the four track mainline and printed out hard copies. Lots of hard copies. I started making sketches, lots of sketches, of what I thought the branch line might look like. I consulted different plans from magazines and John Armstrong's "Track Planning for Realistic Operation" trying to get ideas. In the end I just went with it and made up my own. The best one so far came out like this...

Track Plan: January 12th 2014

There are actually three railroads in the plan. The first, of course, is the mainline. The second is the Average Eastern, a short line that interchanges with the mainline at "Average" and runs to "Quotidian" At "Quotidian" the short line interchanges with an industrial line. In between the little railroad serves various towns and industries along the way. I added as many industries as I could without overcrowding the layout (I hope). I also tried to make some of the businesses interdependent.

At Average I'm showing a water tank (1), a coal and sand facility (2) and a two stall engine house (3). I'm still wondering whether or not I should include a turntable. There are no turning facilities at the other end of the line so why put one here. There is also a small yard, a siding for a work train and a siding for serving the ashpit and coaling tower. In Average proper there is a passing siding with an L.C.L freight house (4), a depot (5), and a team track (6). The team track can be used for any sort of freight and serves those customers without their own siding.

The tracks cross a creek and pass a siding for a mill (7). It recrosses the same creek and follows it to Somplace. Here there is another passing siding and three more customers. The coal & lumber dealer (8) shares a siding with a small warehouse (9). A rock crusher (10) is served by a second siding.

After leaving Somplace the tracks run for a distance along the river until they reach a siding for a rock quarry (11). The line crosses another creek and still following the river swings around a curve into the hamlet of Common. There are two industries here, a fuel depot (12) and a scrap metal yard (13), both served by the same switchback.

Coming out of Common the line loops around a lake formed when they dammed the river. As it crosses a stream that feeds into the lake it enters the village of Stock. there's another passing siding here as well as an LCL freight house/depot (14) and a grain elevator (15). The right of way keeps following the river until it reaches the Alpha Cement Plant (16). It curves right and crosses and recrosses the river and a loop of another railroads four track mainline.

On the other side of the bridge lies Quotidian, the eastern terminus of the road. Here is a depot (17) and a team track (18). Quotidian is also the interchange with the Quotidian Logging & Mining Company. Quotidian logs hardwoods for lumber (19) and related products while the company mines yield anthracite coal (20) and a uranium ore called autunite (22). Although the latter sounds like I'm going over the top, autunite was actually test mined near Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania. As it turns out deep mining anthracite and autunite requires the same methods. The anthracite is shipped in hoppers to various destinations. The autunite is shipped to a mill in Cannonsburg PA for refining. At the autunite mine there is also an engine house and facilities (21) to maintain the company's sole Class B Shay.

The roles of the various industries are not set in stone. They will probably change as the idea develops after more research. The logging operation and coal mine are suggested rather than actually modeled. I'm not sure what the autunite mine should look like. I'm assuming it looks the same as any other deep mining operation. Information on the production of uranium is rather scarce due to the nature of the stuff. Since World War II it usually involves armed guards and other security arrangments. I thought this would make a pretty interesting alternative to the typical coal mine. It may be that I'd be better off just skipping the idea and modeling a second anthracite mine.

Regardless of what customers I use, I'm pretty comfortable with the track plan. I'm not sure about the curve and bridges just west of Quotidian. Doesn't seem like this would happen in the real world.

Open to suggestions,

Frank Musick

Building a dream layout on a nightmare budget

The Average Eastern Railroad