Build Thread: San Antonio de Bexar Railroad Company

[Steam is King]

I've been working on a new engine facility plan and expanded the size of the table to 36x120. I know that is a little large. I planned it after the Armory, MS facility. I'm concerned that the 120" length is a little large as I am only working in an average size second bedroom.

I'm trying to work in a wrap around set up of modules, this way it can be easily taken down for transportation if needed. I didn't think that a roundhouse would take up so much room. I dropped down to a 90' turntable which should handle my largest locomotive which is a Bachmann Lt. Mountain. However, the 2-8-8-2 which I want to run will more than likely be a problem.

I wish I had a huge room that I could work in like Don on the board has. That would be awesome. But I will not despise small beginnings.

I will try to post up the new plan as soon as I can.

As for research, I've done quite a bit on the old SA & AP Railroad, which connected San Antonio with Houston, Chorpus Christi, Fredericksburg and Waco. I can expand up to Ft. Worth were the Frisco's domain in Texas ended. It also turns out that there is one surviving steam locomotive from the SA&AP which is a 4-4-0, No. 60, located in Atlanta, GA.

I'm really going to try and make my locomotives as close to Frisco styles as possible. I hope to start construction at the end of this month.

Thanks again for everyone's help. I do appreciate it.

Ship it on the Lone Star Route!

Manny
SABRR CEO

[Steam is King]

Here is the second attempt at an engine facility. Again, I am limited by 50 track pieces so I couldn't go any further. Anyrail full version is slated for the 20th this month.

[J3a-614]

I don't know if this will help, but. . .

You are not the only one to have problems with long engines on short turntables; in fact the prototype had the same problem at times.  A notable example that comes to mind was the Baltimore & Ohio's cramped roundhouse in Riverside Yard in Baltimore.  The turntable there couldn't handle anything bigger than a 2-8-2, but every once in a while, a much larger engine would show up, typically a "Big Six" 2-10-2, or even a long, long EM-1 2-8-8-4.  There was a wye track in the area, so they could turn the engine, but it also involved tying up part of a busy main line when they did this, so sending one of these engines east of Brunswick, Md., was not too common, and not too well liked when it did occur.

Perhaps your track plan, as it evolves, can include a loop or wye somewhere in the vicinity, with the tail doing double duty as a place to spot cars as well as a place to turn the big engine.  If what you have is the Life Like engine, it will turn on some rather sharp curves, which may help save a little space there.

[RAM]

Some of the prototype had a device that they added to the turntable so they could turn a locomotive that was longer then the turntable.  I know the U.P. did this for the 4-6-6-4s at the east end of their line in Iowa. 

[J3a-614]

That device the Union Pacific used was a set or ramps that would cause the trailing wheels in the pedestal tenders they used to rise up; as they rose, workers on each side of the tender pushed in hardwood blocks to keep the axles from dropping.  This allowed the tender to be riding on only four of its seven axles.  The process was reversed as the engine moved forward again off the table, or at least moved enough to pull the blocks.  Low water was recommended when doing this to avoid undue stress in the tender.  Ingenious, but may not scale down too well due to the problems of obtaining working HO employees!

Another road actually extended the rails off the turntable by a foot or so on each end, maybe more.  This was with much smaller power, and again low water in the tender was mandatory!

A thought on this--which version of the 2-8-8-2 do you have?  The "legacy" version of the engine, representing these locomotives as built in the late teens, has a much smaller 8-wheel tank; I don't know how long one is (my own is packed away at the moment), but it might just fit on a 90-foot table.  Alternately, if you have one of the models that represents a Norfolk & Western engine with a bunch of changes over the years, including a longer tender, maybe you could consider a tender swap.  Be forewarned, I suspect spare tenders are probably hard to come by, and Life-Like's unusual clip-type drawbar doesn't help matters.

Also, keep in mind that a turntable really has to be just a little bit longer than the wheelbase of the engine and tender on it.  The Chesapeake & Ohio turned 125-foot long Alleghenies on turntables that were 115 feet long; the wheelbase of a 2-6-6-6 and its 14-wheel tank was 113 feet.  A similarly long EM-1 2-8-8-4 on the B&O would also fit on a 115-foot table.

http://www.cohs.org/repository/Archives/cohs/web/cohs-21071.jpg

Darn, what we really need (including me!) is a turntable in the 115 to 120 foot range!

P.S.  A little detail to remember in planning your engine terminal--be sure to include a track to deliver coal to the coaling tower, and another (possibly connected to the first) to haul away the ashes from the ash pit.  I mention these because I didn't see anything that looked like them in your original sketch.  Of course, you also hit you track piece limit. . .

Oh, out of curiosity, what is the time period of your road?  It's in the 20th century of course, but you have mostly what would be consdered older power (i.e., pre-Super Power), which could put your time period from the 1920s to the 1950s.  I'm working on the 1940s myself, but I have to say I would be fascinated to see the Roaring 20s, too.   

[Doneldon]

RAM-

Sometimes my references get so cute only I understand them.  That's not a good thing, of course.

I was making a pun about your "fright engines."

                                              -- D

[RAM]

Oh . Well the it passed the spell checker. 

[Steam is King]

Working on a third engine facility plan. This time it will be a dog leg, with the roundhouse taking up the dog leg, and the yard on the straight section. I'll just keep plugging away until I get the right plan. I'm a little frustrated with how large a roundhouse is and how much room it takes up. But it is one of the best sights on a model railroad!

[Doneldon]

King-O-Steam

Yes, turntables and roundhouses do take up a lot of real estate.  One trick is to put the facility inside a turnback loop at one end of your railroad, assuming you're building a loop on a table.  Another is to omit the roundhouse and have no tracks from the turntable which lengthen the engine terminal.  That is, storage tracks are all on the same side of the turntable as the feeder track(s) for the turntable.  With careful planning, it is possible to have a roundhouse sited on the same side as the feeder, too.  The only thing you'll lose is the ability to have one extra-long storage or roundhouse track for locos which are too long for the turntable.  Of course, you won't be able to turn the overly-long loco, either.
                                                                                                                                   -- D