Wolfgang Dudler

a new module for FREMO meetings

Diamond Valley

 

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In November 07 the old Silicon Valley will be sold. Then I've to build a new one. In TrainBoard Forum I'Ve asked for ideas. And there came great ideas:

Wolfgang:
You asked for a small western town and a small industry, but I've drawn up a plan that might be more appropriate for a medium sized scrap yard that would have enough rail traffic coming and going daily to warrant having an engine of its own.

The mainline and the town's siding would run along the outside of the 4 major modules and the scrap yard would be modeled along the inside of the entire 90 degree curve plus on the appendix module.

I have shown a short industrial siding at one end of the town's siding that would serve a business that is not necessarily related to the scrap yard. All rail traffic to this business would be switched by a road switcher or local train...not by the scrap yard engine. The road switcher or local would pick up or spot cars on the scrap yard siding and the scrap yard engine would handle all switching movements within the scrap yard.

There are 5 types of activities modeled in this scrap yard:
1. weighing cars on the scale--every car, empty or loaded, must be weighed when it comes into and when it leaves the scrap yard.
2. shredding junk automobiles--stacks of flattened autos are brought in on flat cars and run through a shredder which reduces them to pieces of metal just a few inches across; then the shredded metal is loaded into gondolas and shipped to steel mills.
3. shearing pipes and long pieces of metal for transportation by gondolas--long pipes, rails, rods, etc are brought in by truck and sheared into 4 to 6 foot lengths; then the sheared metal is loaded into gons and shipped to steel mills.
4. compressing or bundling piles of loose scrap wire, borings, turnings, and cans brought in by trucks into denser cubes or bundles for transportation by gondolas to steel mills.
5. loading and unloading gondolas containing scrap metal of various grades (e.g., #2 scrap metal, cast iron, heavy plates, high carbon steel scrap).

The engineer running the Scrap Yard Job would have several responsibilities:
At the start of his shift and before the road switcher arrives:
1. pull all empty flats and loaded gons from the Automobile Shredder and spot them on the scrap yard siding.
2. pull loaded gons by the Shearer Building and in the Bundling Building and spot them on the scrap yard siding.
3. pull all gons--loaded or empty--from the various scrap pile sidings and spot them on the scrap yard siding. (There should always be at least one empty gon spotted next to the Shearer Building, one empty gon in the Bundler Building, and one by the Automobile Shredder before spotting any empty gons on the scrap yard siding for pick up by the road switcher.)

When the road switcher drops off cars on the scrap yard siding:
1. spot the flattened autos on flat cars by the Auto Shredder, loaded gons near piles of the same of scrap metal, and at least one empty gon by the Shearer Building, one by the Auto Shredder, one in the Bundler Building, and any remaining empty gons by the various scrap piles.

The track plan shows a 4 module long main and passing siding town with 1 industry and a scrap yard that is spread across 5 modules; but a much smaller scrap yard plan is possible. The long passing siding could be shortened to one or two modules long, and the town's one industry served by the railroad could be eliminated. Any or all of the shredder, shearer, and bundler areas of the scrap yard could be eliminated. This would to reduce the scrap yard from a medium-sized industry accommodating 8 cars to a small scrap yard with a single (1 or 2 car) siding contained on the appendix module and 1 or 2 or the mainline modules.

Dave H.
Modeling the 1970s era Peoria and Pekin Union Railway in N-Scale

 

Following this idea I made the trackplan. Benjamin came up with the idea for the 5th segment, it's divided and makes bolted in another way the 5th part in the box.

From LDSig I came across the idea of derails. There should be two derails, I've marked them in red. Diamond Valley will be located in the western part of USA. Which derail would be prototypical? A 'Split Rail' type or a wedge-shaped type???

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