NP Trackage

Here's a diagram of the new NP Laurel MT / CB&Q Scottsbluff NE interchange and staging (which generally refer to as the NP trackage):

The grayish lines are a 12" grid. I've included some dimensions for this area of the layout to give a sense of size.

Minimum radius on the NP trackage is the same as it was on the NJ layout - 36 inches. The rest of the layout will be 30 inches on mainlines, with some industry trackage possibly a bit tighter.

At the top of the diagram, where the 3'-0" dimension is, is the doorway that leads into the layout. The dotted lines are the edges of the benchwork. I've adopted a 3'-0" minimum aisleway width for the entire layout.

The Laurel interchange yard is actually somewhat larger than the original I built in the NJ version of the layout - there are now three yard tracks rather than two, and the tracks are longer than they were. The engine servicing area will also sport a larger roundhouse than I had room for before.

As you can see in the diagram, there is room for some industry tracks near the engine terminal area inside the turnback curve, and possibly in the area behind the tracks at the opposite end of the yard. Time will tell whether or not I utilize these areas. I may increase the size of the engine servicing facilities (adding a second track to the turntable, for example, and a rip track).

Towards the bottom of the diagram you can see where the tracks penetrate the wall into another room at the bottom. This room will hold the Seattle and Minneapolis stanging yards, which have been combined into one six-track yard with a through track in the center. One side will be used for Minneapolis (or eastbound) and the other for Seattle (westbound).

Sometime in the next couple of weeks I'll post the basic arrangement for the Wyoming mianline and the Cody branch.