# San Diego North & Miramar (HO)



## Yannis (Apr 29, 2017)

Hi all,

New member here, so i thought it would be a good idea to post my layout following the introductory post in the "new members" thread.

It is a temporary layout (i rent...) which i am building for training / practice and enjoying/learning about operations, plus it keeps me with a layout and busy up to the time when i ll be able to build a permanent one.

Theme is the area between San Diego and Del Mar, in the mid to late sixties, modeling the ATSF. With respect to some specs, minimum mainline radius is around 27", DCC and 2% maximum inclines. The track-plan is a folded dogbone with stacked end loops (hidden staging) inspired by the books of John Armstrong and Lance Mindheim on track planning. The operational plan is to work it like point to point from/to staging.

Scene wise, there is a main urban area with a small seaside-port, a small industrial area, and a part of Miramar hill. I did the design and construction of the benchwork / trackwork before settling completely on the Surfline theme, therefore some design elements are far from suitable for my needs. Originally i planned for north of LA locale, so i need to "eliminate" some tunnels and hide them with highway overpasses. I already wiped out a small yard and a diesel servicing facility in order to make the layout less cramped.

Anyhow, it is still work in progress but some pictures are better than nothing i suppose. Some elements in the photos need rework in order to comply to the latest version of the track plan that follows:

Track plan









Main Street (urban / commercial area)









Hillside industry (brewery to be replaced with fruit packing house)









Hillside scenery work in progress









Local freight approaching urban area









Leftover tunnels will be "hidden" using highway overpasses









Thank you very much for stopping by and thanks in advance for your time and replies / feedback.

Yannis


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## flyboy2610 (Jan 20, 2010)

Looks very nice! Welcome to the forums!


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## Dreadnought (Apr 19, 2016)

Indeed, an excellent looking layout. Looks like it will be a good time to operate. You might be able to operate with three people in there if one person runs an interchange, one switches the industries, and one runs through freights. I'm not sure if you plan to run operating sessions, but if you do I'd recommend trying to get started (or at least figure them out) relatively soon after getting the trains in operating condition. As many books on the subject say, if you're not able to run the trains pretty soon, then you may lose interest altogether and stop working on it, which would be a shame considering how far you've already come! 

Regards,

Dreadnought


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Looks good. You may want to consider a passing
siding, possibly by adding a second crossing
in the tracks along the top. You'll need the
ability of a loco to get on either side of a car
during switching operations.

Don


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## Yannis (Apr 29, 2017)

Dreadnought, Don and flyboy thank you very much for the replies!

Don, i got three crossovers in order to be able to runaround the train if needed for switching operations. Where exactly do you mean adding the second crossing and the passing siding?

Dreadnought, i plan on solo operations, and i am trying to tidy up the sidings so that i can run my 1st switching operation. So far i have run trains on the mainline only.


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## Magic (Jan 28, 2014)

This looks like it's going to be one fine layout.
Very nice work so far and a nice track plan with some interesting operations.
Keep up the fine work and keep us updated.

Magic


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## Nikola (Jun 11, 2012)

Wow, that is really nice!

I love the old Dodge Power Wagon on the mountain road.

Please tell me there will be a street car down the middle of main street.


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## Yannis (Apr 29, 2017)

Magic and Nikola thank you very much for the kind comments!

I will most definitely try keep you updated with any progress. Unfortunately Nikola, there are no plans for street cars, but they sure look great.

Yannis


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

You usually want your 'run around' or 'passing siding'
near your switching areas. The many curves of your
layout don't leave many places to install a double
crossover. You may have to use the straight 
tracks across the top for that. You want it as
long as possible, but at a minimum, a long as your
longest loco.

Don


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## Yannis (Apr 29, 2017)

Don, as i said in my previous post i do have runarounds using the crossovers in both switching areas which can be used as passing sidings at the same time.


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