Tentative track plan!

This plan was done in PowerPoint, which caused me to struggle a bit with the line curvatures. I realize some of those turnout shapes are screwy!

Greetings, 

Posted above is a tentative track plan. I don't have PhotoShop on my new computer and the old computer has all but died, so following the lead of Don Carman of the Conral Hagerstown Division, I did the track plan in PowerPoint, which worked not too badly. 

Some notes about this track plan:

• It isn't to scale. The proportions are approximate but I have done a test fit of the track sections on the layout itself and everything will fit roughly as shown here. 
• I realize the geometry of the curves isn't accurate. Particularly with the turnouts. I struggled with the  curved line function in PowerPoint. For this reason consider this as a rough-in plan, or more like a schematic.  
• It strays from the prototype. This is done for many reasons. For example, I added the fictional Monarch Auto Parts because I wanted an industry that required boxcars. The real area I'm modelling has no such industry. 
• The three-track staging yard is removable. The three tracks will be on a cassette that sits on top of the workbench, which is four inches below the layout height. That way if I need the workbench space for one of my woodworking projects, I can detach the staging yard and move it under the workbench. It will connect to the rest of the layout with a short piece of sectional track, in the same manner that modular layout sections are connected. I may knock the yard down to two tracks if three seems to take over too much of the space. I've heard many modellers say you can never have too much staging, so that's why I went with three long tracks. They will represent locations off the layout.
• I may still add Polytainers. CP's map of industries along the spur is here. You can see I left a few out but I may add Polytainers to the open space on the west wall. I was worried the track plan was getting too crammed. Polytainers takes covered hoppers filled with plastic pellets, as does Korex.
• Final note. I forgot to label it as such but the area near the yard office is a greatly chopped down version of CP's Lambton Yard, which runs (roughly) between Jane Street and Keele Streets. 

Next I'm adding the backdrop and laying track. I'd love to hear your input!

2 Geeps working the spur

Here's a great YouTube Video of the same two GP9s I mentioned in my previous post working the spur.

They head down the spur, take the passing siding, uncouple from the cars, do an end-run around their train and push the cars down the spur.

Thanks to YouTube user gotransitf59PH for posting this.

Two GP9s left idling on the spur

These geeps were left idling at the end of the CP's Area H industrial spur, no sign of the train crew in sight. 

This afternoon while running errands I stopped in to area H industrial spur (the spur I intend to model in west Toronto) and saw something interesting.

Sitting near the end of the spur, just past the spot where it branches off toward Korex Canada, was a pair of Canadian Pacific GP9s. They were coupled together, sitting there idling with no sign of the train crew in sight.

Here's a google map showing the spot where the locos were sitting. Except ... don't refer to the marker! It's in the wrong spot. They were sitting along the curve near Goodrich Road (just south of Titan Road) where the track curves south to east. 

View Larger Map

Now the industry Korex Canada is at the end of this spur. Two tracks of Korex’s four spur tracks appear to be holding tracks. Korex appears to be a manufacturer of some sort (packaging I think) and I believe the hoppers contain plastic pellets.

This link  contains a shot of Korex from above using Bing.com. You can see the four tracks that serve this industry. Now when I visited today, all four of Korex spurs were jammed with covered hoppers. I’m guessing the two locomotives were sitting there for the purpose of swapping empties for loaded cars as Korex goes through production. They must be busy.

Just seems strange to me that CP would keep two locos sitting at the end of a spur to shift cars around for one customer (although judging by their car turnover, they appear to be a major customer). Anyway it’s something I’ve not seen there before and so I snapped a few shots of the two locos, including the one posted above. Unfortunately I didn’t have my real camera and had to use the crappy one on my cellphone. 

If I’m in the area again this week, I’ll go back to see if the locos are still sitting there. I’d like to see them switch Korex. 


If any Canadian Pacific expert (or employee) has some insight into this, I'd love to hear it and share it. 
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Post script: The locomotives were gone by the time I returned the next day. Maybe the train crew was just having lunch. Doesn't look like the cars at Korex have been moved.