Welcome to Model Railroading Month

November is National Model Railroading Month! Welcome aboard. I'd actually hoped to post one more time before October was finished, but I did not quite make it. I have noticed that I have been able to post fairly regularly since my blog reboot in June. I managed 11 posts in July, August, September and October, and my 3 posts in June - if projected out to the full month would be 11. So, I'm going to set an ambitious goal for November in honor of National Model Railroading Month.

30 Days -- 30 Posts!

Yep, 1 post per day for the month. So, let's get started by returning to the Moffat! It has been more than a month since I indicated that I was going to rework the plan. If you have forgotten, you can check in on that last post here. In the post, I pointed to several flaws that were bothering me about my initial track plan. So, I started trying to address those issues.

Original Configuration

The challenges I previously identified included the following:

1. Plain, Cliff and Rollins are all mashed into the same aisle space. And if we include the first deck, we would find Chem Spur and C&S Junction are also stuck there. Already a narrow aisle, this seems destined to get plugged up with operators. 
2. The helix intended to connect to the Rocky Flats branch is also a potential problem. Where it loops around by Leyden, the branch line is actually well above the height of Leyden, yet there is not a lot of space there between the tracks. The result appears to be a near vertical backdrop between the tracks. Further, the radius of the helix is less than I would like it to be which also drives up the grade.
3. Furthermore, looking at deck 2, Tunnel 2 is going to fall at the curve leading along the wall. Exiting Tunnel 2 is Bull Gulch, a sweeping curve viewed from the inside, between Tunnels 2 and 3. This feature is going to be difficult to model.
4. In addition, the flatirons would be on the opposite side of a narrow aisle from the scenery of the middle tunnel district (Tunnels 10-18), which when I picture it, is mentally jarring.
5. Finally, I am a little concerned as to whether there is sufficient distance for the middle tunnel district to conclude before I need to reach Crescent opposite the door. And that position is needed to allow for Tunnels 19-23 to occur to place Tunnel 23 in front of the electrical boxes. 

So, my goal became to try to unfold the peninsulas, and in so doing, I tried to achieve the configuration down below. This straightens out several of the peninsulas, eliminating some of the tighter turnback curves and creating a void for the space where Arvada, Plain, Cliff and Rollins would all end up. This looked promising, but it also placed Plain over Leyden (since Coal Creek Canyon would need to be in the 180 turnback at the end of Barbara Gulch, and this in turn places Tunnels 2-8 over Arvada. This just doesn't give me enough room to get from Tunnel 10 to Tunnel 19 before I get back to the doorway.

Possible new configuration.

 So, I tried again. This time I flipped the Leyden peninsula around to connect to the top wall of the room next to Rocky. This led to this configuration.

Third Configuration

 This configuration seems to work in some ways better, by placing the blob in the second peninsula in the open area created by angling the first peninsula. However, Plain siding is still further along the second deck than I would like, and the location of the Coal Creek Canyon turnback loop would be awkwardly located in the upper right hand corner. Further, Rocky gets cramped significantly by the second peninsula. Again, I wasn't satisfied. So, I tried again by stubbing off the second peninsula coming off the right hand wall. That led to this plan.

Fourth Configuration (First Deck in Black - Second Deck in Red)

The fourth configuration appears to be the most promising. This configuration also led to another set of changes. Since the door to the garage is being used for the layout, I explored the idea of locating a second door (without a layout going through the opening) to a location a few feet below the existing doorway. This change should be feasible. It also allowed me to change the construction of the wall dividing the garage and layout room into a straight wall, allowing me to find a space to locate a possible Coors Brewery Branch. I'll discuss that addition in a future blog.

The new configuration leads to a lot less congestion from deck to deck. I wasn't able to do as much with the Rocky Flats Helix, but I think I can manage it as is. Worst case, I do not have the branch. Tunnel 2 now falls in a turnback location, which is much better for Bull Creek Gulch. The first and second parts of the Tunnel district are now more separated. And finally, the new wiggles in the first helix seem to add a little more length to the run to Crescent. If I also shift Rocky towards Leyden a little bit, and Clay towards Coal Creek Canyon, I think I can get a better spacing through the Big 10 curves as well.

So, we have a configuration. Now, to update the plan.

29 Days, 29 Posts to go.

Cameron Turner