LaVale Layout

A 12x30' room is available for a model railroad. The diagram below suggests how it could be used. There's a wood stove in upper right, a water pump in lower right, an obstruction on the lower wall about 4' above the floor and space at lower left reserved for a workbench and shelves.

16" benchwork is being considered on the shelf sections of the layout against the walls and a 3' wide peninsula with view blocks resulting in 42" wide aisles.

Need a operations theme -- Philadelphia & Reading, 1930, Mahanoy City and west -- sufficient for ~4 operators.

One option is pt-to-pt from upper left to lower shelf connected through the peninsula. Another is two branches from the upper left, one to the peninsula and a second to the lower shelf. Both the upper and lower shelves would use turntables to turn steam engines around, the peninsula would use a reversing loop or possibly a wye. The diagram shows a possible reversing loop on the peninsula as well as a bypass past the peninsula.

Staging is being considered down the middle of the peninsula hidden by view blocks and connected to a reverse loop. Another consideration is staging under the lower shelf with the track rising up a ~1.2% grade through the peninsula.

Several station sidings are suggested, one on the upper shelf, one on each side of the peninsula and one on the lower shelf. An industrial area in the interior of the turnaround at the end of the peninsula is suggested but could be replaced by a larger industry such as a colliery or breaker. It would be switched from the station on the peninsula.

MT/loaded coal cars require restaging between sessions and requires no switching of unit trains and may not be very challenging to operate. There may be several industries requiring coal such as power companies or iron works (see Mahanoy City Sanborn maps).

There is the potential for more expansive industries on the upper shelf, including engine terminal facilities.