Attached is a track plan for a large (6.5' by 17') single-level N scale layout that attempts to bring the marvelous yard in Helper, Utah to life, as it appeared and was operated by the D&RGW in the 1960s and 1970s. N scalers are well aware that our scale enables modelers to create stunning scenic vistas in which lengthy trains can run realistically. Less emphasis has been placed, however, on employing the scale's modest dimensions to duplicate prototypical yard trackage and to model day-to-day operations, including switching of course and handling the frequent freight and passenger train arrivals and departures. Helper Yard is ideal for illustrating the possibilities; it's modestly sized, but packed with intriguing possibilities for multiple-crew operation. Long beloved by railfans, the yard's primary function is to provision westward freights with helper units. Still, there was plenty of switching. Local freights brought in loaded coal hoppers from the Carbon County Railway, to the east, and from Castle Gate and Colton to the west. In addition, a daily Salt Lake - Grand Junction tramp picked up various odd loads on its journey, leaving some of them at Helper to be added to manifest freights. Due to their length (up to 83 cars), coal trains were assembled in the Upper Yard, while various oddments to be added to manifests freights were parked in the Lower Yard. Switching was done by SD7s, which also provided end-of-train helper service as needed. As immortalized by Emery Goulash's wonderful 1964 footage in Rio Grande Odyssey (Vol. 1), a westward coal train might well consist of as many as 12 F7s and GP7s/GP9s... and as can be imagined, fueling and adding this many locomotives to a waiting freight train was a far from trivial task. Adding to the irresistible mix was the daily arrival and departure of four splendid passenger trains, the eastward and westward versions of the California Zephyr and the Prospector, the Rio Grande's crack overnight Denver-Salt Lake streamliner. Passenger traffic greatly complicated matters since the arriving westward trains had to be routed to the eastward track in order to make the stop at the Helper depot, causing all kinds of problems with freight traffic handling. My motivation for creating this track plan is mainly to show that N scale is highly amenable to creating super-prototypical layouts, emulating much of the trackage that actually existed in Helper during the modeled period. To be sure, I had to omit the wye, since doing so pushed the upper yard beyond the 24" limit I established for convenient five-finger access. In addition, the prototype has many more yard tracks -- a total of 15 in the Lower and Upper Yards combined. But nearly everything else is included, including the wonderfully cool engine servicing area. To create this track plan, I first worked out the track spacing, turnout dimensions, etc., using Railmodeler's data for Atlas Code 55. I then transferred the working trackwork diagram to iDraw, an excellent Mac OS X program that duplicates most of the functionality of Adobe Illustrator. Although the staging trackage reflects Atlas Code 55 dimensions, I would prefer to use Kato Unitrak for this purpose. At least two people would be needed to operate this layout: a train operator and a dispatcher. From the end of WWII to 1965, the D&RGW employed a sort of distributed CTC system in which local operators, including one at Helper, controlled signal indications at the direction of the district dispatcher in Salt Lake City. The Helper controller had a modest-sized interlocking board that enabled him to control the signals at Spring Glen, East Helper, and Kenilworth Junction. Indications on these signals were equivalent to train orders and, when a proceed aspect was displayed, the train was authorized to proceed to the next specified station on the time and with the rights of first-class trains. In addition, trains departing from the Upper Yard to the east had to obtain permission to proceed by using the provided telephone booth. Operationally, Helper became a bottleneck on a daily basis due to the necessity to add numerous helper units to all of the westward freights waiting their chance to ascend Soldier Summit, with its 2.4% ruling grade. This track plan could become the first phase of a much larger and more ambitious effort to model the trackage from Helper to Soldier Summit. Such a layout would require a room of at least 16 x 21 feet. Bryan Pfaffenberger Charlottesville, VA
Your turnout dimensions in the staging area look right, but the rest of the plan uses way too compact and tight radius turnouts for Atlas code 55. Compare the angles on both sides and you'll see what I mean. Looks like you will have to cut back on a few turnouts. Looks like it will be an action packed layout!
Bryan, I have built a similar layout based on IHB and the Blue Island crossing. At times, I wish I would have included more switching, but devoting so much room to a prototypical scene can be rewarding, if you love that scene. Looks like lots of trains will run by! My only track plan comment is whether you need to squeeze the main aisle down with the CTC board, or if that could be put at one end (or above/below track level) to widen the aisle where everyone will want to congregate?
XtrackCAD version of my Helper track plan I appreciate everyone's comments, and especially robwill84's, which got me off my butt and motivated me to explore XtrakCAD more deeply. Turns out I had estimated the turnout dimensions fairly well, as the attached bitmap shows (I omitted the staging tracks since they weren't problematic). Be aware that there are lots of sharp radii in the engine servicing area -- but these tracks are traversed by diesel locomotives and, at most, one or two MOW or bad order cars. In contrast, lengthy coal trains access the upper yard, where I've adhered to a minimum radius of 17.5". To address the other queries, no, I haven't started construction. I did some work on multi-deck layout in our over-the-garage room, but I found it too small to meet my needs. There's a now-unoccupied 16' x 21' carpeted room in our basement, though, and I'm currently negotiating for its use... There would be plenty of aisle room for this layout in that room. Again, thanks to all! Bryan
