A little track work

I took a bit of a break from the wood chip un-loader project today. 

 

I have had three problems in the yard that has been bothering me for months now.  I have had very limited locomotive storage and no space for sand and fuel, I had no off layout staging, and a broken turnout on the north leg of the wye.  After lots of time on rail planning software and hours of staring at the north end of the yard lost in thought, I finally decided how to solve all 3 problems at once.   

I removed a piece of track that represented the north leg of the wye and tore out the Micro Engineering turnout that had a broken switch point and replaced it with a Peco turnout that faces the other side of the mainline.  This will lead to off layout staging.  Behind that turnout, I cut in a curved Peco turnout that now leads to two tracks that will house a sanding and refueling yard.

The staging yard will be 5 tracks along the wall in a 15 foot hallway behind the backdrop on the north end of the layout.  It will come and go through this hole in the backdrop near the concrete plant.  I have trees in reserve to fill the area and block the passage off the layout.

 

Thanks for stopping by today and come back soon!