The "Final" Design

Yea, like that could happen. Still, this is the most workable and interesting sketch yet. A lot of the ideas come from the gang at Railwire...

Average Eastern January 31st, 2014

I added possible locations for the industries and roads and a few other buildings. Rivers and streams are shown, including a small waterfront scene at Quotidian. I forgot to shown the engine facilities for the Q Company railroad, but it will be adjacent to the mine complex. The streets in Average that cross the four track will require overpasses but everywhere else I show grade crossings.

As always the track will be fastened down temporarily for testing of operations. While the mainline trains will do nothing more than circumnavigate their loops, the AE trains will need to meet, pass and switch industries along the route. Quotidian is complex enough to require a dedicated switcher so the AE trains will drop off cars rather than work the town industries.

Only the AE trackage will operate under DCC. The mainline is controlled by two MRC DC Twinpacks. Quotidian and the Q Company branch will most likely be controlled by their own DC cabs. The locomotives that serve these two areas are two small for DCC decoders (at least at my skill level). It will be easier to connect a DC throttle than destroy a perfectly good locomotive. Since the Atlas DCC system supports one DC locomotive either one could be operated from one of the DCC controllers. The best candidate is the Quotidian switcher. The Atlas Commander could be installed there for the switcher while the road engines will be controlled by the tethered remotes.

As I may have mentioned before this plan reuses most of the existing spline. Since it's flexible I can realign parts to fit. I can also split the current four track into two and single track sections as needed. The mainlines will run level on the benchwork while the AE will change elevation as needed. Not sure of the grades yet, but the highest elevation shouldn't be more than 4".

Once again I'm basically starting over. The only consolation is the fact that I'm not tearing down a complete layout, just the right of way. Making things easy to change is a curse and a blessing.

Regards,

Frank Musick

Building a dream layout on a nightmare budget

The Average Eastern Railroad