Shady Creek Model Railroad

The one problem with the first module was it was not useable unless it was part of the layout. The club layout was only set up a couple weekends a year. The module was stored away the rest of the time. I created the yard module to attach to the side of the original module to make it useable. Two tracks connect the original module to the yard.

I also designed the yard module to be used without the original module. To do this, I had to fit in a yard and some industries. The yard consists of four tracks and a run around track. Two industries were located on either side of the yard lead. I still had enough room to fit in a team track and a place to park the engines. The yard track layout can be seen at the right side of this diagram.

The yard module frame was constructed in the same manner as the first module. It consist of two smaller modules measuring 2' x 1' and 3' x 1'. The two sections were permanently bolted together at construction. The frame was built this way so the yard could be lengthened in the future if desired.

Code 80 track was used for this module instead of the code 55 used on the first one. I created two 2" track pieces to connect the modules together and transition between the different track codes. To fit the yard in, I had to use the smallest radius Peco turnouts available. I also had to use a couple tight radius curves to bring the tracks around to connect to the original module. Because of these tight radii, I can not use long engines on this module.

Scenery was applied in the same manner as the first module. The one thing I did not use this time was a layer of construction foam applied to the top of the plywood. I did not need it because there were not going to be any different track elevations. I added a few scenery details including a couple patches of trees, some weeds, some bushes, and a gravel pavement area next to were the engines park. I decided the yard area looked a little bare, so I built up a hill and added an overpass crossing the yard.