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Reading Lines GP35 #3647

Middletown, Pa

Thursday 6 July 2017

Turning Track Work into Fascia Panels...

This afternoon & evening has been spent trying to get the physical track work design from the layout onto a fascia panel that flows, makes sense and incorporates all the turnouts so that it will function properly...

Below are the segments of track work that needed to be added to the fascia panel for Lancaster Junction.


The portion above only required the back right-handed crossover to be show...


The middle two left handed turnouts joined together were next...


And finally the series left & right handed curved turnouts to form a crossover connecting two mainlines and two passing sidings...

And this is what all of the above looks like when condensed into a fascia panel.  The bigger circles on the lines are the position for the push buttons for the Tortoise machines...


The lighter coloured track (labelled as Track 1) are the mainlines and the darker ones are either passing sidings or storage tracks.

Next step is to laminate and punch out the push button holes then mount...

Jas.

4 comments:

  1. Why is there more than one each of Track 1 and Track 2? Might it be difficult to determine which track is being referenced by the dispatcher or crew?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Alan, Track 1 is just the reference I have given to the mainline. Track 2 is any passing siding/storage track above Track 1/Mainline.
      This is the reason why there is mulitples on this panel, it's just signifying the mainlines, my thought process was to keep things standard and easy for operators to remember.
      So when looking at each panel and referencing a track, the operator would for example say to the dispatcher "SH17 eastbound Track 1 from Hershey to Track 1 Manheim" that's my logic, will have to see how it's received.

      Delete
  2. Ah, I see. Track 1 is another name for Main and Track 2 is another name for Siding. Then Track 3 must be a lead or spur?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep spot on Alan, it's just a naming convention. Track 2 is either a passing siding and/or a storage track above the main, and Track 3 would be below the main. Or another method is all even numbers above and all odd numbers below.

      My idea is that once operators get used to the numbering they shouldn't need to look at the fascia, they just know even above, odd below the main. Of course the mainline will have different colour ballast to sidings/storage track.

      It's just designed to try and be simple, I had an idea you would get it as soon as I explained it...

      Delete