In the last issue of Outdoor Railroader we looked at loop-type layouts and terminal yards. This time we will consider point-to-point switching layouts and branch lines. So pay attention all you armchair engineers; your list of excuses is about to blow away!

SWITCHING LAYOUT ADVANTAGES

Involvement. Point-to-point layouts make you work. It is impossible to sit back with a beer and watch a train run in circles because there is no circle. You are truly the engineer. You have to start and stop the engine and run it forwards and backwards. You have to throw turnouts so the train can travel from point A to point B, and that means you must be close to the action. The result? Your railroad will seem much larger because your attention will rivet on the motion of the engine and the cars as they move back and forth over the trackage.

Prestige. In the smaller scales, many hobbyists consider point-to-point track plans to be the elite of layout design. They claim such layouts more closely duplicate the conditions on a real railroad because they stress switching and because 1:1 scale railroads almost never run in loops.

Performance. Many builders of point-to-point layouts painstakingly modify their locomotives to run at a crawl, to glide smoothly through turnouts, and to drift gradually to a stop. We are lucky. Our more massive models will usually do those things right out of the box. So it is a wonder why so many railroaders in the large scales spend so little time admiring the performance of their engines. Point-to-point layouts encourage attention to performance.

Realism. Point-to-point plans tend to focus on switching, the only aspect of running trains where it is possible exactly to duplicate the operation of a real railroad. What you see when you shuffle model rolling stock around a yard is exactly what you see when you visit a full-size railroad yard.

Size. G-scale point-to-point layouts can fit on shelves as small as two by eight feet. Anybody has enough room for a layout that small.

POINT-TO-POINT SWITCHING LAYOUTS

Let's look at some examples. The plan in Figure 1 is based on "Apple Creek Junction" from Linn Wescott's book, 101 Trackplans (Kalmbach Publishing). In G-scale, using LGB 1100 curves and 1200 turnouts, it will fit a space smaller than two feet by nine feet. The center track on the right-hand side could be for engine storage and service or it could hold a couple of cars. The track on the lower left part of the layout could represent an industry spur or an interchange. Factories and warehouses could parallel most of the track at the top of the layout.

Cars from the top of the layout would go to the spur or the station. And cars currently at the station or on the upper left hand track would interfere with operations on the spur or the upper right hand track. Just one car too many would create a couple of hours of switching problems as the poor engineer and brakeman move rolling stock around the yards.

If you have a little more space, two other plans might be of interest. The first is an LGB track rendition John Allen's famous "Timesaver" (Figure 2). The original first appeared in the November, 1972 issue of Model Railroader; the second layout (Figure 3) is an LGB-ized version of the "Train Game" from the May, 1978 issue of Railroad Modeler (now defunct). If they look similar, it is probably no accident. The "Timesaver" has inspired a number of modifications and some blossomed into beautiful layouts.

In either case the concept of operation is similar to Apple Creek Junction's but a runaround track allows a little more variety and sophistication. Believe me, engineers, boredom will never be a factor with these railroads, particularly if you compete with yourself or somebody else to solve problems as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Another very popular plan is in Figure 4, Chuck Yungkurth's "Gumstump and Snowshoe". It has been the heart of a number of shelf-type layouts since Model Railroader first published it as part of a larger article in September, 1963.

MY FAVORITE

In a blaze of inspiration and creativity I named the track plan in Figure 5 "Dockside Switching Module". But I only take credit for part of it. Linn Wescott developed the basic layout as part of the best shelf-type switching layout I have ever seen: Plan Number Eight, the "Port Ogden & Northern RR" in 101 Trackplans. I added the spurs at the bottom and the mainline/passing siding at the lower left. Then Gary Raymond (yes, the Gary Raymond, as in Gary Raymond Metal Wheels and the author of OR's ONE-ON-ONE department) came over to operate it with me and suggested moving one turnout to add the crossing track. The result is an elegantly pleasing maze of track with very good scenic potential and beaucoup operational challenge.

The passing track at the lower left doubles as an interchange where cars arrive from the "outside" for distribution to various industries and the two-track car barge pier at the right. The interchange is also the point of debarkation for cars arriving from the barge and from the various industries. Since the interchange is also the only runaround track on the layout, any time an engine has to get to the other side of a string of cars it must first bring them to the interchange. If some cars are already there, problems develop quickly. As you look around you may notice several other trouble spots. This is a terrific layout for a scratchbuilding, kitbashing, operations-oriented maniac.

If the dockside module were part of a larger layout it would be a branchline. The stub at the lower left corner would join the mainline and ultimately wander off toward the sunrise, assuming the body of water surrounding the docks represents the Pacific Ocean.

MOTIVE POWER

Ideal American prototype locomotives for the above layouts would be LGB's new 0-4-0 Porter saddle tank, the new D&RGW Number 50 diesel switcher, or some version of the White Pass road switcher because all run very well and come with front and rear couplers as standard equipment. Other candidates would be MDC's proposed diesel switchers, Chicago Train Works' new GP7 road switchers, Aristocraft's or Bachmann's 0-4-0 steam engines, or other small switchers from various importers.

BRANCHLINES

A branchline is any track leaving the mainline and travelling to a destination some distance away. It may lead almost anywhere. Imagine a sparsely ballasted track leaving your mainline, winding into the mountains, crossing a trestle, disappearing into a tunnel, and emerging onto a rocky shelf to serve a mining town clinging to the face of a cliff. The line snakes further into the wilds, eventually reaching a mine deep in a canyon. No room exists to turn the locomotive, so after it drops off its empty cars it must run around the loaded ones and pull the train downhill cab-forward. The curves are so sharp and the clearances so tight the mainline railroad's regular engines are too big and heavy. The light track and terrain dictate using an 0-4-0 steam or diesel switcher.

Eventually the train works its way back down to your main yard but first it has to pull onto a siding along the way to clear the mainline for a through freight. Then the switcher picks up a few cars full of supplies for the town and the mine--along with some hoppers, gondolas, or boxcars to drop off on its next trip--and heads off to a siding to wait until it's time to leave again.

Your mainline yard now has several new cars full of coal or ore and a few empty boxcars or reefers to send to warehouses and industries along the mainline. And the mainline's yard switcher or road engine will have to work those cars into appropriate departing trains. It also must set aside cars from arriving trains to go up the branch.

EFFECT ON OPERATION

You may operate a branch as a point-to-point, as an out-and-back, or as a continuous loop. The only important element is its independence from the mainline. Figure 6 shows the simplest form of branchline.

You may run a branchline operation even without a mainline. You may imply the existence of a mainline with an interchange track. Figure 7 offers such an example.

The addition of a simple branchline has more than doubled the traffic on your railroad. It may have created the need for additional industries or destinations. And it has created two new jobs on your layout, for an engineer and brakeman in charge of running the branch.

SCENIC CONSIDERATIONS

But back to the layout: Specifically, to the scenic possibilities of a branch and the contrasts it may offer. If the theme of the mainline is class 1, the branch may be rustic. If the mainline theme is narrow gauge with moguls or consolidations, the branch may accept only switchers or logging engines. If the mainline runs mostly through rural country, the branch may serve an urban industrial area with many spurs, sidings, and buildings. A branch allows us to build something in one part of the backyard very different from what we may have built in another area. And if we are thoughtful enough in our use of landscaping, the effect may be completely believable. In other words, a branchline may offer the chance for each element of the layout to set off the opposite element.

CONCLUSION

I hope this article has achieved two goals: First, to encourage you to build some kind of layout, even if it is only a narrow shelf-type on the balcony. Second, to make you think about running trains in a manner other than round and round. For those of us with the space, loop-type layouts still offer the most flexibility and the opportunity to be lazy. But, believe me, the biggest kick you'll likely get out of running trains will be the first time you and a friend hunker down to a semi-serious switching operation. It may only be something you will want to do occasionally, but when you're in the mood, nothing else comes close.