The "Slightly" Modified Santa Fe Needles Sub Layout.................

R

Railhead001

New member
Recently I downloaded the Santa Fe Needles Sub Layout off JointedRail's site created by Approach Medium. Another excellent MRR to enjoy. I'm already making minor tweaks and changes...(Slightly Modified ?)......basically I added an intermodal yard, an autocarrier unloading depot with a section reserved for new arrivals.....put in an overhead crane for the junk yard and placed a small chem/oil transfer facility......and also changed the track ballast too......I next removed the roundhouse...me, I'm more for modern facilities then nostalgia,..but not necessarily in that order.....

I decided to swap out the track that initially came with the layout for one that was darker to contrast with the desert..I like the effect.

Above: Original track

Above: Changed track

Above: So this area was either a lot for tractor trailers or a tiny portion of an intermodal yard. I decided to remove it and replace it with an autocarrier depot and a staging lot to park the new vehicles in, just down the road. I was never a big fan of autocarrier trains but ironically I felt this would create a nice scene for this area:

As you can see I have a couple of loading/unloading ramps, a small office and several vehicles...

Fits rather nicely...
Next I swapped the trailer parking lot for new car arrivals....

Added a gate, a guard and his motorcycle...

 
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Next up was a small storage tank facility that I basically just made into a chem/transfer set. Got rid of the Northern Propane garage and sanding tower and replaced it with a small office and some more tanks along with the truck/rail transfer station that is only being used for rail service.....

Above: Before and below after:

With an Amtrak station not to far away this can make for some interesting switching maneuvers.
 
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Evening Sir, Looks like you have busyeeeeeee on the Sub, looks good!

The Cool thing is that we can make changes like this in New Sessions........I really like that aspect about Trainz.........
 
I liked the idea of having a scrap yard especially for gondola loads. I thought it was rather bare looking so I installed in overhead crane from TMR17 and threw in a bunch more junk as well. Guess you really can never have enough stuff...

Above picture is the before while the two below are the after shots....

(This also might be a good site for a small steel fabrication shop......)
 
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Next I decided since an intermodal train has been featured for this layout, an intermodal yard was needed. I believe the below picture was of some kind of train repair facility. I removed it thinking a small intermodal yard may fit here.

Below is the gatehouse that allows access and exit to the intermodal yard, complete with guard and a Doberman guard dog.

I added yellow line markers and a couple of "stop" signs on the ground and next to the gates...

For the yard below I added a small office, some parked cars, an area for parked cabs that haul the containers.

One orange container crane, some skeleton trailers along with containers and containers on skeleton trailers...

The yard has its own small loco facility as well for fuel and sand to keep up with all the work.
 
The next thing I changed was the roundhouse and turntable. Personally I am more for modern looking facilities and thought I could swap out the previously mentioned buildings with some newer ones. I added a loco repair shop and a small shed for either car repairs or for engine storage.....still a work in progress. Below was the original followed by my new additions:



Above: Still kept the servicing area for locos....

Above: Putting in some maintenance equipment, rails, ties...etc....

Above: Adding a small construction scene to the area
And you may have noticed some other details I added such as the semis on the bridges, soda machines around buildings....still have a good amount to detail to add.....stay tuned :cool:

Btw: With this layout I can run 3 independent AI trains without any issues.....plus one operator controlled to add some challenges. Approach Medium did an excellent job on the design and I love the block signals. I did make one change regarding signals though, their are some invisible signals which were causing an issue with one of my AI trains in one area so I made the decision to have them removed which solved the problem. I do not use portals for my sessions only AI trains which keep me busy as it is and sometimes I just like watching long trainz snake their way around the layout by themselves.....next up more detailing and maybe some videos.
 
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Intermodal round 2: After completing the first intermodal yard I decided it would be neat to have a second one added so I could make pickups and deliveries to separate intermodal hubs in different cities....I feel this is more realistic for my operations.

Below is the Needles side of the layout showing where their was an engine service facility and a warehouse building :




After taking out the engine service and warehouse areas, I came up with this intermodal yard complete with 2 rolling container cranes:
I think the design came out well with 2 areas for loading and unloading plus a run around track to hold waiting container cars


Above: Just need to add some more details to complete the area.


Above: One end of the Intermodal yard under minor construction


 
I relocated the warehouse building that was originally where I placed my second intermodal yard.....just across the tracks with a smaller loading/unloading ramp:


Below: I added a forklift and a driver beginning the detailing process:


Next on the side I added a small parking area along with cars and 2 employees getting soda out of a Pepsi machine. Also placed a small dumpster next the building.


And if you look closely I replaced the previous road with a YARNish version off to the rightside.
 
Below are some overhead pix of my modified version of the Santa Fe Needles Sub layout:







These pix can give an overall reference for the changes that I made so far.
 
Railhead001 said:
Btw: With this layout I can run 3 independent AI trains without any issues.....plus one operator controlled to add some challenges. Approach Medium did an excellent job on the design and I love the block signals. I did make one change regarding signals though, their are some invisible signals which were causing an issue with one of my AI trains in one area so I made the decision to have them removed which solved the problem. I do not use portals for my sessions only AI trains which keep me busy as it is and sometimes I just like watching long trainz snake their way around the layout by themselves.....next up more detailing and maybe some videos.
Click to expand...

Any videos yet?
.
 
I decided on adding a small construction scene on the Needles side where I had added the new loco facility.....


Above: I used the animated excavator and bobcat that I had installed on my modified Pioneer & Freedom. I also found some animated spraying water trucks which seem to be a good fit.




Above and below: I like finding vehicles that have clear windows so I can put in "drivers"



Above: Some more details were added.

Below: For the straddle crane I was also able to include a worker...


 
Update: Needles Intermodal yard:


Above: Added a sliding security gate to the entrance of the Needles Intermodal Yard and a security guard on duty.


Above: Detailed the rear of the security building and used 2 different textures for the parking area to give it that "worn in" look.


Above: Added a set of relay boxes with graffiti on them.

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Above: Added a brick wall at the end of the lot with a trailer.

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Above: Rear entrance of the yard with another sliding security gate and a yard tower to complete it.
 
Update: Barstow Intermodal Yard:


Above: Added an outer barbed wire fence, also added some more "stop" signs for the security gate area.


Above: Added several concrete track crossings for the yard.


Above and below: Settled on having 3 tracks serving the yard area, 2 for loading/unloading by the straddle crane and a third for inbound/outbound staging of container cars.

 
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Nice to see that you found a use for my TOFC safety paths. and a few other things.

Thank you for sharing these awesome pictures
 
btvfd said:
Nice to see that you found a use for my TOFC safety paths. and a few other things.

Thank you for sharing these awesome pictures
Click to expand...

btvfd,

To be quite honest if it weren't for those details that you made I probably would not have done an intermodal yard......just to plain without'em !
 
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