Diamond Springs & Western

Jacksonville

May 22, 2020

This is one of my later designs coming close to the givens for my own layout. As on my wishlist it has a small town, a mill and a dock scene.

While I really like the operating opportunities this plan offers with its switchback to the upper level and the small yard on the lower, I'm not totally satisfied with the design. Especially putting the mine in front of the yard sounds like calling for trouble. It is too easy to knock parts off while manually uncoupling or rerailing trains. In the present shape I think this would yield a nice logging layout with a log loading area on the upper level and a logging camp or even a small mill on the lower level.

Also I remember an article in a British magazine about a switching puzzle based on a similar track arrangement as the upper level here. That puzzle required sidings with a length depending on the length of the cars used.
This puzzle is called 'Inglenook Sidings'. Thanks to Paul J. Banker, who also pointed me to the Railway Modeling Shunting Puzzles Website , where this and other similar trackplans (including the famous Timesaver) are described.

It is not clearly visible on the plan, but one track leaves the layout to the left through a tunnel under the mill.