Need Layout Idea

I'm looking for ideas for a 24 inch by 20 foot section on a new HO railroad where I'm going to run two roughly parallel tracks on the outer edges of this section. The two tracks are part of a modified dogbone but I want them to appear to be independent lines. I know that I can build a hill between the tracks, or create a river or change the elevation on one of them but I'm looking for other ideas. This section may be up against a wall or may be a peninsula open on both sides... I haven't decided yet.

Can anyone recommend a layout website that shows how other people have handled this parallel track situation?

Thanks/Carter

Reply to
Carter Braxton
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"Carter Braxton" wrote in news:%BjMi.1590$ snipped-for-privacy@nlpi061.nbdc.sbc.com:

You could do things like weather the rails slightly differently, or use different railside stands, or even modify the ballast color. You don't necessarily need to seperate the tracks visually, so long as the train isn't long enough to wrap around on that module.

I haven't actually tried any of this, but my ideas lately have been working out really well. No promises or guarantees.

Puckdropper

Reply to
Puckdropper

That's actually an excellent, prototypical idea. I've heard of at least a couple recent arrangements where competing railroads with roughly parallel trackage have worked out agreements for directional running.

That is, both railroads run their Eastbound trains on Railroad A's track and their Westbounds on Railroad B's track. You can squeeze a lot more trains through by running them this way.

So make your parallel tracks look like two different railroads as Puckdropper has suggested, and don't be afraid to run directionally.

Stevert

Reply to
Stevert

CB:

Most important, I think, is to avoid keeping both tracks perfectly parallel or aligned with the benchwork. Actually, it might be a good idea to bring the two tracks in parallel for a while, perhaps running through a town, and then have them diverge and go their separate ways. Anything is good as long as the result looks natural - gentle curves, oblique straight sections, etc. You can do a lot of this in 20 feet.

I think it is advisable, if you do elevate tracks or build hills, to keep the rear track higher than the front one, and keep the hills behind it, except at scattered points where you bring the track around or through them as scenic dividers. You don't want to hide too much and waste the potential for neat scenes.

Some examples -

Two tracks of one railroad, or two railroads, built at different times. The older track would curve around obstacles, with older bridges and well- worn embankments. The newer track would be straight, with some gentle curves, and would cut through the hills rather than meandering around them, and cross gullies on well-groomed fills rather than wooden trestles.

Build a small town partway along one line, with a large but abandoned or declining industry - a closed mine, a chemical plant with several old foundations. This is an elaboration of the previous example, with the built-in story of a line that was added to bypass the town when it was no longer a huge source of traffic, but still required rail service.

Hide the rearmost track in trees. This camouflages it without concealing the trains. I envision a river with tracks on each side - the near track runs close to the river, beside a two-lane highway. The far track runs through trees on a hillside above the river, only slightly higher than the near one. It would be like something seen along the Allegheny River near Oil City.

You could also go a completely different way, and make the two tracks obviously parallel by design, but spaced more than double track. Then use every possible trick to make them look like two competing railroads. Put color lights on one and semaphores on the other. Ballast them with contrasting stone. Make one roadbed a slightly different profile. Have two stations in each town of completely different designs. You might even go so far as to add dummy catenary or derelict catenary supports to one track. This would represent parallel and fiercely competing sections of two separate railroads, as might be seen near a major city. You could have train-races.

Cordially yours: Gerard P. President, a box of track and a gappy table.

Reply to
pawlowsk002

Carter Braxton skriver:

That would be 0,6x6 meters

What type of railroad du you run? Modern diesels with long freight trains or oldfashioned stem with shorter passenger/freigh or even mixed trains ?

For the "modern diesel" you've got some suggestions, for the "oldfashined" one I would sugest that you dont keep the tracks apart, but instead of running them in parallel, let them twist around each other, crossing with dirrefent type of bridges, perhaps bring both tracks to one station and split them apart agin.

Klaus

Reply to
Klaus D. Mikkelsen

How about dividing the two with a river? One line on each side? You might also have line one cross line two to gain access to an industry on the other side of line one.

I just learned that the Wheeling & Lake Erie crossed the B&O twice in the town of Martins Ferry, Ohio. I'm guessing that was to stay near the steel mills that it served.

Take line one into a tunnel then have line two come around the hill / mountain that line one is going through.

If it's not necessary that they end up on the smae side they start on, you could model a corssover. That would give you an excuse for an interchange track & small yard. Maybe even a joint station.

Model one line as a top-notch class one line, maybe even double track it. Have the other line as a slightly used, run down "twine & bailing wire" operation.

Just some random thoughts.

dlm

Reply to
Dan Merkel

Thank you Dan... Yes, the river idea is what I'm starting with buyt I like your Twine & Bailing idea. I might be able to do something with that

Carter

Reply to
Carter Braxton

"Stevert" wrote

...and you could save some money by painting one side of the train in one railroad's colors and the other side in, uh, the other's.

One train, two railroads!

Reply to
P. Roehling

PR:

The Erie did something like this west of Meadville, one one of their single-tracked sections. The roughly parallel B&LE branch was used as "another main". East of Cambridge Springs, things also got interesting in the non-parallel-double track department, with the two mains taking separate grades and leading to some eminently modelworthy scenes: a parallel set of deck and through trusses, and another pair of bridges that actually cross over each other.

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Rumor has it that the eastbound main, though newer, was the one abandoned when the line was singletracked because salt water leaking from iced eastbound meat reefers caused more corrosion to the bridges than the westbound main.

The Erie certainly was an interesting railroad, which probably deserves more fan-attention than it gets.

Here are some photos of a train layout that shows the use of creatively arranged though roughly parallel mainlines:

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Any time, any spring, eh? I like this guy's philosophy.

Cordially yours: Gerard P. President, a box of track and a gappy table.

Reply to
pawlowsk002

(Addendum to previous)

Okay, so they don't quite cross...memory fault.

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?ammem/hh:@field(DOCID+@lit(PA0362)) Yikes, that is a long address.

Reply to
pawlowsk002

"Carter Braxton" wrote in news:%BjMi.1590$ snipped-for-privacy@nlpi061.nbdc.sbc.com:

I had a situation like this. But i decided not to hide the double track effect. I made it look like a double track Class 1 road. At one end the double track ran right into the dogbone and disapeared into the tall buildings of a city. The blob departed the double track as a pair of spurs. The actual return connection was hidden by the same buildings that hid the ends of the double track "main line". On the other end, the double track section curved around behind a hill and disapeared. Some crossovers and a siding simulated an interchange, with the trains running through the interchange. The concept was that of a branch line of a Class 1 road. With the branch running a local freight along a portion of the main. If I had spent more time planning,I would have included staging at either end of the main so I could have mainline trains roaring down the track too.

Reply to
Gordon

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