A runner's layout

I'll be the first to admit that I am "easily amused" when it comes to model railroading. Operation? Too much like work. I call myself a model railfan. I just want to see the trains go.

 
The WR&N IV allowed me to run two trains simultaneously and continuously. A careful study of the plan reveals what appears to be a double-track main that wraps around the perimeter (the Conrail mainline). However, the inner loop actually becomes the branches and abandoned (upper) mainline that the WR&N trains follow. This route has an automated reversing loop at each end. For continuous operation, a metal proximity sensor in each loop detects the passing locomotive and sets the turnout and track polarity accordingly, so the train can proceed entirely on its own. Turnouts were powered with Tortoise switch machines.

A hidden staging yard was planned for the other track to release a series of different Conrail freights; the yard was never built owing to the pressures of having to prepare the layout for the Great Model Railroads photo shoot and a subsequent convention tour. However, a single track did complete the loop so that trains could run. Also, while the turnouts in the Pennwell yard all functioned (via manually-operated actuators), and uncouplers were strategically located, I never actually did any switching.

Click on the plan for an even larger version (1060 x 825, 140 KB). The source file for this illustration was submitted to Kalmbach and adapted by their art department for the Great Model Railroads article.

Image specs: The illustration was rendered in CorelDraw and sized in Corel Photo-Paint.

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