April 5 - Linear Diagram of Track Plan
Had a friend visit and ask if I had drawn the track plan - which I have, and have posted earlier on this thread - But I hadn’t stretched the plan out to roughly match the geographic representation of St Joseph on the West and Keokuk on the East.
I’ve been operating two friends’ completed layouts, and have refined some of the track plans for my layout based on those experiences. Specifically, when you’re new to a layout, it’s nice to get started with a through freight or passenger train with minimal stops.
The newest portion of the plan that I’m excited about is the staging and wye in the St Joe Industrial Park. There was a single staging track, and I’ve expanded that to a set of 3 hidden staging tracks, plus a wye to turn trains. At the opposite end of the layout are 2 hidden staging tracks past Keokuk. So up to 5 unique trains (5-6’ in length) can cross the state from St Joe to Keokuk and vice versa, as if coming from beyond the layout, and incoming trains can turn and back in to one of the staging spurs.
I also added 2 storage sidings at Marceline, so Disney steam trains can stay local to Marceline and receive service.
Staging return moves shown below.
