John Garvey's Nickel Island RR
Jun 22
1 min read
I apologize for some of the names I give these railroads, but my clients know they can change them at will. John wanted to run Nickel Plate and Rock Island but also his Big Boys so we went with a 30" minimum radius and an up-and-over to give him a decent double track main on his prebuilt 8'x14' table. The wooded hill down the middle can serve as a view block and I made sure most of the turnouts were close to the table edges, because a 4' reach into the interior would not be good for anybody.
The decision to keep most turnouts near the table edges is a smart practical move, especially on an 8x14 table where reaching the center is a real problem. I'm curious how the up-and-over grade was balanced against the 30-inch minimum radius, since combining both on a prebuilt table often forces compromises in scenery depth or siding length. Did the wooded hill end up dictating where the mainline crosses over itself, or was that planned first?
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