The new removable extension bridge on the LAJ. Still to be added are guardrails, alignment pins, and a simple electrical feed. Over the past year, I’ve become more aware of what I call “long handle” car spotting. By that, I mean when the switch job is spotting a car, but there is a long “handle” […]
Category: Model Railroad Design
Shelf Bench Work Dimensional Guidelines
Shown above are the “best practice” guidelines I use for dimensions and spacing on the shelf layouts I build. Guidelines are just that: a starting point. I generally shoot for a shelf width between 18″ and 22″. Although I do commonly go to two feet if a yard is involved, in most other cases that […]
Railroad Man, Pg. 61
There is a direct link between understanding prototype operations, layout design, and how enjoyable operating our layout is. Richard Paseman’s “Railroad Man” is an absolute clinic on switching operations. Page 61. “One night on the Harbor District, we ran cab hop from Watson Yard to Alcoa and kicked the waycar down the spur. The other […]
A Pro Explains Shoving Moves
A duo of Nashville and Western units uses a series of push/pull moves to switch the 3M plant in Old Hickory (Nashville suburb), TN. After posting yesterday’s blog and track plan, I reached out to my resident expert on prototype operations, retired NS railroader, Tom Holley. My question was, at what point does a shoving […]
LAJ 1/21/26 Update
Overall view of the 54-inch-long extension with mockups in place. Sometimes you need to thrash around for a while to find a path forward that motivates you. For me, answers come from “doing” and testing in 3D. Spending months (or years) drawing sketches isn’t particularly productive. Two-dimensional drawings tell you very little. Testing in 3D […]