First track plan for Peoria

After fiddling in Xtrack Cad for a while, I've come up with my first draft trackplan for the new layout.  This one features the two key visual elements I wanted to capture from the article - the Mackinaw Bridge and the outskirts of Bloomington.

Anti-clockwise from the top.  The bridge is represented by the long rectangle along the top line, then comes the grain elevator at Goodfield, then the purple box represents the Midwest Fibre recycling plant on the outskirts of Bloomington, and the lower straight is Bloomington itself with the former freight depot.

I've arranged the layout in two sides, with the idea that I could reconfigure it as an end-to-end for exhibition use.

This first version is already working fairly well, but I am trying to get a little more track into the grain elevator, and especially a small runaround loop on that corner.

The curves are tight, but as I only have a 4ft width there won't be much I can do about that.  One of the key types of freight for the trains is 89ft flatcars loaded with containers and dry van trailers, as well as the occasional Autorack from the Diamond Star motors plant.

So, still a lot of work to do, but the concept of a continuous run does feel like it will fit with the space I have available.  There is a lot more design and planning yet to do - especially in terms of fiddle yard/storage for the layout.  I have an idea that it might be possible to shoehorn an under-the-layout fiddle yard by installing a gradient at the right hand end, but until I do some mock-ups and testing, I don't know how practical that will be.

Over the next week or two I hope to be able to hone this trackplan into one that is truly ready to build.