Having wrapped up its work on the LAJ’s Horn Lead, the local crosses District Blvd. on its way back to “B” Yard on my LAJ layout. The Foster & Kleiser Methyl billboards were a signature feature of LA during the early 1960s. It’s removable in the event I want to update to a modern era.
Actually, there is no “new” layout. Rather, it’s a new perspective and tweak on what I already had right in front of me that makes it feel entirely new. Sort of a “Wizard of Oz” moment spurred on by a new perspective and additional prototype information.
At least in terms of architecture, change has come slowly to LA’s Central Manufacturing District. A high percentage of the old Mid-Century Modern and Streamline Moderne warehouses still remain. As a result, you can convincingly model several eras without changing much. Swap out a few vehicles, maybe a structure here and there, and you can nimbly hop from timeframe to timeframe. It wasn’t my plan going in, but I can change eras pretty quickly. My favorites are the Alco era, going from the 1940s until 1974, the CF7 era, going from 1974 to 2009, and the present day. It’s not like I change things monthy but it’s an unexpectedly nice option to have and one that keeps enthusiasm high on what is a relatively small layout. Tied closely to this flexibility is the fact that I made all the structures completely removable, making it easy to pluck them off the layout, store them away, and swap in a different building.
Recently, a few observations and some unexpected new prototype information led me to realize that a commitment to the early 1960s era (at least for now) would yield a layout that is both visually and operationally satisfying, and would transport me to one of my favorite places. The changes would also make the layout more comfortable to interact with.
I realized that:
- Removing one structure, Modern Pattern & Foundry would totally open up the look of the layout, expand the operational possibilities, and make things much more comfortable to operate.
- Most of the structures in The Central Manufacturing District are essentially plain, cubed-shaped warehouses. The tenants of those buildings constantly change. That means simply by changing a label you can plausibly create an entirely different industry.
- A former LAJ conductor recently wrote a long post on the FB SoCal forum where he explained in great detail operations on The Horn Lead. He mentioned that one of the tenants, Longview Fiber (later Southland Box), was very active. Of particular interest operationally was that it was common for them to come in with a train only to find that some of the cars at Longview had not been unloaded yet. That meant they needed to do a lot of pulling and re-spotting. Simply labeling the large warehouse on the short leg of the layout Longview Fiber would effectively stretch the railroad in terms of how long it takes to work it.
- In looking at the track chart, I noticed a single spur had no less than seven active industries on it. That meant that I could take one of the spurs on the layout that had been dedicated to just one industry and “re-purpose” it. With a simple label change, I now have that location serving several customers.
Revised Sight Lines, A Game Changer
“Concrete Canyons” were a key element of the Horn Lead, so, in an attempt to be prototypical, I modeled one. Over time, it became increasingly apparent that creating this look was impractical. The foreground building, Modern Pattern & Foundry (on the left), blocked the view of the spur and made coupling and upcoupling in the depths of the canyon very difficult. It wasn’t rail served, was removable, and I’d already laid an asphalt base beneath it. All I had to do was take it off the layout, and the entire vibe and experience improved. I labeled the background structure (on the right) Longview Fibers, a three-spot industry. It’s not often that removing something from a layout improves the design so much.
Here are two views of the opened-up scene. The Palm and vegetation on the right are removable in the event I want to put things back the way they were.
It’s Just A Label
On the long leg of the layout, I have an average-length spur serving a typical cluster of “SoCal Cubes”. The menu of possible tenants for those boxy structures was pretty long. Looking at the track chart, I selected two. It was just a labeling exercise, but doing so tightened up the focus and operational objectives of the layout. Babcock Phillips is a furniture maker. Crown Beverage received adult beverages in N de M boxes.
One Spur, Seven Industries
This diagram from Charlie Slater’s article in a 2003 issue of The Warbonnet provides a wealth of modeling information. Of particular interest was the single long spur on the right that serves seven industries. Copying that format gives you a lot of operational potential from a single turnout.
Using my newfound information from Charlie’s article, this structure was re-labeled and assumed to have two rail-served tenants, Babcock Phillips and Crown Beverage. The model is based on an actual structure on The Horn Lead and was built from photo-laminates using images I took on a railfan trip.
Here’s the updated design, which reflects the removal of the Modern Pattern & Foundry structure and more focused industry labeling to reflect things as they existed in the early 1960s. Nothing has changed in terms of track. There are no additional turnouts. Tightening things up gives me six car spots. From an operational play value standpoint, the number of car spots is more important than the number of industries.
Operations
In the real world, not every industry in a switching district is worked every shift. With only four industries, I may not have that luxury. Traffic was heavier in the ’60s making doing so less of a stretch. A key metric of a plan is your attention span for an op. session. Running solo, my number is thirty minutes.
Each individual has their own take on what procedures and props add to the experience and which feel like a chore. For me, the “time stretchers” I use are stopping or slowing at grade crossings and using the TrainCrew app. to simulate setting and releasing brake wheels. Of the four industries, the most involved to work is Longview Fiber. It’s car-spot- dependent and entails re-spotting if the crew comes on the scene and not all of the outbounds have finished unloading. Despite its towering skyline, Federal Cold Storage saw light traffic. Babcock Phillips and Crown Beverage are traditional loads in/empties out or both.
The Layout Room
Going large, the disease of “I need more…and more….and more” is a constant drumbeat in our hobby. It can be a sloppy, easy out in many cases. The best design is usually the one that is cleanest, simplest, most comfortable to interact with, and gimmick-free. When I find myself drifting towards Rube Goldberg devises such as extensions, complex hinges, and liftouts etc. I know I’m sliding off track and away from a good design. It’s so easy to let mission creep set in. It took some self-discipline, but I intentionally set hard, dimensional boundaries. You can see from the photo that I have plenty of room. After a lot of thought and serious consideration, I decided not to go with a staging extension on the left. I removed, at least for now, the team track extension on the right. The center of the room used to be occupied by an N scale Brooklyn-themed layout. That’s now in a landfill. I now realize that a clean, open layout room on the main floor of my house adds significantly to the enjoyment of interacting with the railroad.
The end result of this is a layout where every element has a clearly thought-out purpose, that spins off thirty minute op. sessions, and doesn’t sprawl all over the room.