Tyler,
I like your latest, but I can offer a few suggestions. Our pal Dan in deepest Maryland has a similar track to yours, with a dual-track main line. You drew a passing track at the bottom near the garage. Dan's layout has the passing track on the outside, and a set of storage/parking sidings come off to the left. The passing loop essentially becomes the yard lead for the sidings where we put our train cars.
Then Dan's passing loop continues to the next corner, wraps around the end curve, and rejoins the mainline. At that point is the other yard lead to the steaming bay - much as you have the steaming bay at the side of the garage. [Good thought to put it near the parking/arrival area. Steam engines are heavy!] When you have steam up, you can run out of the steaming bay onto the yard lead/passing loop, back down to the sidings for your train, and then run forward to join the mainline when it is free.
This pic of the Climax shows the yard lead/passing loop diverging fro the mainline. Sidings on the left, which Dan extended a couple of times. Steaming bay to the right.
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Yet another local steaming track, Jim's I,E&W in Northern VA, has a similar arrangement, with an outer passing loop that has 2 sets of sidings for train cars, and a connection to the steaming bay.
Jim also has several very long passing loops on his layout. You drew one at the top and one at the RH side. We find them very useful when a loco runs out of gas or water - the next train can pass without a problem.
I'll take a look and see if I can find any other photos or diagrams of these two.
I like your latest, but I can offer a few suggestions. Our pal Dan in deepest Maryland has a similar track to yours, with a dual-track main line. You drew a passing track at the bottom near the garage. Dan's layout has the passing track on the outside, and a set of storage/parking sidings come off to the left. The passing loop essentially becomes the yard lead for the sidings where we put our train cars.
Then Dan's passing loop continues to the next corner, wraps around the end curve, and rejoins the mainline. At that point is the other yard lead to the steaming bay - much as you have the steaming bay at the side of the garage. [Good thought to put it near the parking/arrival area. Steam engines are heavy!] When you have steam up, you can run out of the steaming bay onto the yard lead/passing loop, back down to the sidings for your train, and then run forward to join the mainline when it is free.
This pic of the Climax shows the yard lead/passing loop diverging fro the mainline. Sidings on the left, which Dan extended a couple of times. Steaming bay to the right.
Yet another local steaming track, Jim's I,E&W in Northern VA, has a similar arrangement, with an outer passing loop that has 2 sets of sidings for train cars, and a connection to the steaming bay.
Jim also has several very long passing loops on his layout. You drew one at the top and one at the RH side. We find them very useful when a loco runs out of gas or water - the next train can pass without a problem.
I'll take a look and see if I can find any other photos or diagrams of these two.
