A recent trip to Phoenix allowed me to get some additional photos of the area that I'll be modeling.  While I'm not going for "exact", I am trying to get the feel for the area and hopefully the pictures and videos that I captured will give me some inspiration. 

First, a few shots of the mountains to the south of my line.  My hope is to use a combination of these shots (probably 7 or 8 in total) to stitch together, edit, and create a seamless photo backdrop for parts of my line. 

When you first enter the train room, you will be greeted with a scene directly to your left that is fairly narrow and exposed.  This will represent a four lane street crossing of the UP (ex-SP) former mainline running east-west.  The street I'm looking at using as a reference is 99th St. in Tolleson.  The picture below shows the current under-construction view looking "north" down 99th St. as it crosses the UP line (the door is just past the foam). 

Below are a few pictures taken while in Phoenix of this same crossing, also looking north. 

And looking down the line in either direction.  First, to the west (left), which would be the extension that will stick out into my room about 26".

 

The line is still signaled so I'll have to get the one shown above onto the layout.  I'd likely just have it set to one color (I'm guessing green) because it really will only be for looks.  Love the palm trees!

And then looking east. 

On my layout, the photo below is taken looking the same direction at the same crossing.  I will have a couple of extra tracks to the left of the above passing siding that will together represent the UP/SLTR interchange.  Just past the siding switch, the SLTR will diverge to the right and head south into the industrial area that they call home.  Just before the siding switch (and just after the 99th St. crossing) is the switch serving Maricopa Beverage.

Hopefully that gives a little more of a glimpse into what I hope to eventually recreate on this layout.  It will be a little challenging modeling the openness of the area when the layout is up against walls.  I'm hopeful that the backdrop will help convey the scene.

Thanks for reading along!

-Dave

One thing I'm going to need is a number of warehouse structures on my layout.  For the most part they can be shallow relief/backdrop style buildings, so nothing too elaborate.  I have one of the Nu-Line warehouse's that I've never assembled, so I thought about cutting it in half basically in order to make two separate buildings.  However, only one side is really suitable for receiving boxcars of product so while I might still do that, I'm going to wait and see what my exact needs are.

In the interim, I decided to build a temporary structure to see how it would look, fit, etc.  I didn't want to spend money on this so I looked around to see what I could use.  I manage a local quick service restaurant and I sometimes will grab old menu panels and other marketing materials - free stuff, basically.  You never know what you can do with it, right? 

Anyhow, I grabbed a small menu panel that was no longer used that was made of a thick almost Masonite-like material.  I figured that'd be a good starting point.

I used the Nu-Line warehouse wall as a template to size up this structure.  I then used some stiff foam backing that was on another sign to help frame up the backside. 

It was a pretty easy build, really, though due to a couple of break-ins last year I was temporarily down to just a Ginzu II knife that was purchased years ago at the state fair.  Oye.  Nonetheless, not only can it slice open a soda can then slice a tomato, it can also do a lot in the train room (to my wife's chagrin). Anyhow, I scored the sides with the Ginzu knife, giving it the segmented look like the Nu-Line structure. 

I topped it with a simple piece of black foamboard purchased at the dollar store, then painted it a basic tan color.

It's hard to tell from the photo but I purposely made the left end about 1" or so shallower than the right end to put it at an angle.  I was taking inspiration from a structure locally in Tacoma that sits at an angle to the branch passing by and thought it added a little interest. 

For the doors I simply Googled pictures of warehouse doors and then printed them out into a size that seemed to scale out appropriately.  They are just glue-sticked on for now.  I would have cut a hole for each but doing that with the serrated Ginzu knife seemed like an insane proposition.  This works fine.  :-)

Finally, I used a piece of some sort of hard plastic from an exterior marketing panel to create overhangs for the doors.  I don't really like them so will replace them when I get the gumption, but for now they serve the purpose, including helping me position a boxcar centered on the door. 

The black thing above the center door is a peel and stick number that I think came with some Atlas track components at some point - can't remember now.  Anyhow, I was seeing if numbering each door would look good.  I'll do it, but won't use these. 

When the time comes and I'm happy with the location of the warehouse, I might do a little more to it to make it more complete looking until such time as I decide to replace it.  Frankly, unless you stare at it, it doesn't seem like it will stand out as "poor" for my purposes.  If nothing else, it get's me started with an industry that I can serve.

Right now I'm planning to use it for a food manufacturer similar to one outlined by Lance Mindheim in a recent MR issue.  I have a set of silos (also from Elvin Howland) that I'll position at the right end.  The will receive plastic pellets on an adjacent track, along with a vegetable oil tank car (which was recently crushed by the mirror in an earlier post, which somehow managed to fall over on my yard even though the tacks holding it remained in place??).  It should make a nice industry to model.

Thanks for reading along!

-Dave

I just wanted to post a quick ... um, trackplan.  Not really much more than pretty colored lines in a notepad, but I don't have any other tools at this time to do much more.  The track that runs left to right out onto the extension is the UP (ex-SP) main. 

You can get a basic idea, though, of what I'm planning for phase one.  A few notes:

• Not to scale!  lol
• The disconnected track at the lower left - if installed - would represent a UP spur that was displaced by the interchange yard construction.  It would, in reality, be a way for me to have a warehouse along that left wall that might provide a view block for the mirror at the end of the yard as well as give me a place to park my BLMA reefer's that I'm not sure I'll need on this layout.
• The crossing at the lower center would be what would greet people first entering the room.  I plan to utilize NJ International crossing signals and make it a scale width for a four lane road with a center island, similar to crossings in that area.
• At the top right, the track that curves would lead to phase two on the adjacent wall. 
• The UP (ex-M&P) spur will cross the SLTR just to the right of the road at the top center of the map.  It will be basically an Atlas code 55 90 deg crossing with the track running off the layout immediately to either direction. 

Not much else to say other than that.  Comments welcome. 

-Dave

My plan all along (after ripping out most of my original around-the-room benchwork) was to build individual modules so that the room could easily be repurposed as needed.  We've hosted several exchange students for 2-3 weeks at a time and this room is where someone would stay.  In preparation for just such an event, I decided to dismantle my under-construction freelanced Olympia & Southern Railroad, based on the actual TacomaRail Olympia branch.  We didn't end up hosting so I didn't complete the demolition, leaving one U-shaped 3'x5' section in the former closet. 

The new plan meant constructing the modules and then connecting them temporarily with bolts, which sounded like a good plan.  Below is a pic of the first two modules, each 16"x48".

They were just basic construction with a 1" layer of foam on top.  I bolted them together and then painted them in a sage color similar to one recommended by Lance Mindheim. 

I had the shelf at the bottom so that I could put all of my storage items underneath. 

Then added some black cloth skirting that was from my original layout some years back (but never completed - that's my usual m.o.).

My plan was to also construct the closet area modules but ended up not having enough wood.  I hadn't yet ripped out the old layout section here so I decided to retain it and just attach these modules to it.  It was a few inches wider and not completely perpendicular to the wall at the connection point, so butting the modules up to it left them at a slight angle to the wall they were against.  Not enough to be a problem but not perfect. 

This view looks towards the closet area and the existing benchwork, which I completed with a taller fascia to account for the difference in height and the thickness of the old roadbed, which included 2" foam. 

The industry in the foreground was originally going to be Hancor Plasctics (aka Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc) in Belmore, WA on my last layout.  I had Elvin at Layout Concepts custom make the silo combo to match it, but never got to finish the layout.  I've decided to use the same industry but place it in Phoenix on my new line.  This is just getting a feel for things.  The hoppers are on the spur feeding the facility while the freight cars to the right are on the SLTR's "main", with us looking north. 

The blue foam is the start of the old benchwork.  To the far left will be the interchange yard with the Union Pacific.  Beginning at the blue foam I'll need to drop in elevation by about 1 1/4", which I'm bummed about because the area is so flat, but will live with anyhow.  I could have chosen to build up the old benchwork with additional foam but I didn't want almost 4" of foam and the requisite deep fascia to go with it. 

Aside from the elevation difference between benchwork, I made two other compromises with the layout plan that I **hope** will not be too operationally limiting or frustrating.  One was that I decided to orientate the interchange yard parallel to the rest of the layout, which meant that there was less than 4' of space to have a train swing onto the UP main, clear the switch to the yard, then back in.  This would require that the yard be fairly short (and stub ended), and would require a lead sticking out into the room either permanently or as a swing-up/down type of affair.

Ultimately I decided to make it the extension for the yard lead/UP main permanent, extending about 26" out into the middle of the room, parallel to the main benchwork as well as the door entry.  While not ideal, at one time I had filled this roughly 10'x10' bedroom with an around the walls layout including a center peninsula, with just 18" aisles.  I share this room with my wife's crafts/gift items as well as some of my daughters stuff (and turtle) so it was an inconvenience to say the least.  This extension won't be perfect but it shouldn't interfere much with their use of the space. 

In the picture above, a train has pulled onto the UP main heading west off of the SLTR "main", and is preparing to back into the interchange yard, which will be to rear left of the train.  As you can see, the wall isn't very far away so the yard tracks will be quite short. 

Because I don't want it to look like a stub end yard, I plan to put a mirror of some sort at the end against the wall, giving the impression that the line continues on into the distance.  As I lay track and start mocking things up a bit, I'm getting a feel as to how this will work.

The picture above shows a head-on view from the end of the extension.  You can see where I've positioned an old mirror against the wall to make it look like the trains go off into the distance.  When finished, I think it will be effective enough for me in at least eliminating the dead-end look.  I'll probably choose a smaller mirror and try to block the right half with a building or something in order to make it less conspicuous. 

In the photo above, you can see mostly just mocked-up items.  The train is swinging onto the UP (ex-SP) main in Tolleson.  It will pull clear of the west yard switch, then back into the unfinished yard to set out its train.  It will then pick up the UP interchange and reverse back onto it's own line and head south.  To the right is the planned Maricopa Beverage siding, based on the Columbia Beverage siding in Tumwater, WA.  It basically consists of a single track with room for a tanker to pull alongside and pump out what it needs.  The building will actually be for a trucking company that shares the space. 

Well, that gives more of an overview.  I'll probably try to post some more ideas soon.

-Dave

Welcome to my blog chronicling the construction and operation of my N Scale WestRail Group - Salt River Railroad Division. 

My shelf-style bedroom layout will depict a present-day industrial spur of a fictitious shortline holding company, WestRail Group.  This will be the Salt River Division, representing a short ex-ATSF branch in southwest Phoenix, operating from an interchange with the Union Pacific Railroad's ex-SP Phoenix main near Tolleson, running south a few miles to the north "shore" of the Salt River Railroad. 

HISTORY

Originally built back around the turn of the century as the Glendale and Salt River Railroad, the idea was a connection from the Santa Fe in Glendale, AZ running south across the Salt River towards an eventual terminus at the Mexican border via Tucson.  The line never made it further than the Salt River southwest of Phoenix before being absorbed by the Santa Fe Railway, operating as the Salt River Subdivision. 

Early on, the Maricopa and Phoenix Railroad built a spur through the same area in hopes of deterring the new road from continuing its trek into the area.  Ultimately, the two roads agreed to a reciprocal handling agreement between their respective spurs.  After the Glendale and Salt River Railroad was acquired by the ATSF, and the Maricopa and Phoenix Railroad was acquired by the SP, the two Class 1's continued to provide haulage service for the other on their respective lines.  This traffic was interchanged daily in Phoenix, a practice which continued through the decades including the BN/ATSF and UP/SP mergers. 

In the early 2000's, the now-BNSF Railway was feeling the pressure to abandon much of the line between Glendale and the I-10 freeway due to development and freeway expansion.  This segment was largely devoid of any customers outside of Glendale proper.  However, this would leave the south end of the line orphaned.  Ultimately they applied for abandonment, which was granted formally in the summer of 2003.

Following the abandonment, they briefly operated a local several times per week from their Mobest yard, shoving south to the UP interchange, then running west to Tolleson on the ex-SP line, before shoving in reverse via a new interchange track onto the remaining Salt River Subdivision line.  They would then switch the various customers before returning via the same route to their yard and tying up.  For this trip they used a wide vision caboose as a shoving platform. 

After a short stint at operating this way, the line (along with several other short spurs and branches in the southwest) was sold to Riverside, CA-based WestRail Group, a holding company for a handful of industrial and short lines in the region.  The new operation became the Salt River Division of the WestRail Group on June 1, 2004.  Originally operations continued exactly the same, with the Salt River Railroad (SLTR) interchanging with the BNSF at Mobest.  After doing this for about 6 months, a small interchange yard was completed adjacent to the UP in Tolleson, and from that point on the Union Pacific's own local did all the pick-up and set-out work for the interchange with the SLTR, delivering BNSF-destined cars to the BNSF as part of their normal Phoenix interchange.  Operations have remained largely unchanged to the present day.

Their are several large and several small customers on the line.  These will be highlighted in a separate post but the most common car types handled on the line are boxcars, plastic pellet covered hoppers, 2 bay covered hoppers, mill gondolas of scrap, corn syrup tank cars, vegetable oil tank cars, and occasional other loads handled at a small transload yard. 

Motive power on the line in the Santa Fe/BNSF days was whatever four axle power was available, while WestRail Group provides power from it's pool of mostly four axle units, most of which wear it's simple maroon and white scheme.  Currently a pair of GP38's are assigned to the line but as they occasionally rotate out for maintenance and so forth, other power can be seen.  This might include other similarly painted WestRail Group units, WestRail Group units still wearing former-owner schemes, or lease units.  All WestRail power is RC-equipped, so if a lease unit is assigned it is usually accompanied with an RC-equipped WestRail Group unit as well. 

For the shoving platform a standard cupola caboose is currently assigned to the line, resplendent in the line's maroon and white scheme also.  Other equipment on the line is whatever is interchanged, with plenty of BNSF and UP home road cars mixed in with whatever else comes through. 

OPERATIONS

Each morning the SLTR crew goes to work in the Sunland Industrial Park, where they usually tie up at the end of the work day after switching out the various customers.  After getting all of their paperwork together and making sure the train is ready, they climb onboard the power and proceed north a short distance to the UP main in Tolleson.  Here, with permission of the UP dispatcher, they will line the switch for the main and pull west onto the line.  The interchange yard is on the north side of the UP main, so they pull clear of the west switch to the yard before setting out their train in the yard.  They then assemble the inbound cars, reverse back onto their line, couple up to the shoving platform, and report clear before shoving south. 

In Tolleson there is one SLTR customer, Maricopa Beverage, which was located on the old alignment prior to the new interchange track being constructed and the old line being abandoned.  The customer was moved to a spur off of the UP in Tolleson that was unused, and SLTR switches this customer out as needed before heading south.

The first group on customers on the SLTR are in the Sunland Industrial Park, less than a mile south of the UP interchange.  Here, several warehouse and manufacturing customers are switched out frequently, with perhaps 60%-70% of their overall carloadings going to these customers.  Once done here, they proceed south further, encountering a few more warehouse and manufacturing customers, as well as the growing transload yard.  These customers account for the majority of the remaining business.

South of there, the line becomes just a spindle heading about another mile or so south to just short of the normally-dry Salt River.  Here a large scrap operation is served as needed, usually receiving 1 or 2 gondolas for scrap loading at a time, though perhaps only once or twice a week. 

Sometimes a customer will be switched again on the return trip, usually at the transload yard, before the train runs north and ties up at the Sunland Industrial Park for the day.  If a "hot" car needs to be grabbed from the UP local at Tolleson, or delivered to the interchange quickly the same day, the crew will make a quick run back up to the interchange, but this is fairly uncommon.

The line is a fairly simple operation, with no real runarounds and all turnouts trailing point.  Basically it's a pull-north and shove-south setup.  Other than the interchange yard in Tolleson, there isn't really a "yard" for the crew to use.  Instead, a few stub-end setout tracks along the line are used to hold overflow traffic or cars otherwise not yet deliverable. 

One interesting point along the route is in the Sunland Industrial Park, where the north-south Salt River Railroad crosses the east-west ex-M&P spur built way back at the turn of the century.  It remains in place today as a UP spur, operated as needed west to a cement distributor and a small scrapyard.  It crosses the SLTR on a 90 degree crossing right in the middle of the industrial park, with the UP local crew having to stop and move a couple of gates protecting the SLTR before proceeding through.  There's been talk over the years of WestRail Group taking over the UP spur operations with a connection built adjacent to the industrial park crossing.  However, this has yet to come to pass and for now operations by the UP on the spur continue.

Well, that's the premise of my WestRail Group - Salt River Subdivision in N Scale.  Benchwork for the first phase, running from the interchange to the Sunland Industrial Park, is in place and track laying has begun.  Hopefully sometime this spring I'll be able to finish the trackwork and get operations on this segment started.  A second phase, encompassing the transload yard and a few more industries, will come later, with the final phase running out to the scrapyard at the end of the line coming last. 

Thanks for riding along!