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Large Scale Pierfront Railway

A 12' by 18' dockside operation for Large Scale

This is a pier front layout for Large Scale.  It can easily be adapted for an outdoor garden with a pool or other small waterway.  The idea cars and locomotives here would be smaller types, especially Narrow Gauge.  Small steam porters and tank engines are in their element, as are various diesel critters.  Cars would include small freights and the odd kind of things seen in a small narrow gauge railway.  You can be creative.  Try placing propellers or other nautical gear on flatcars for delivery.

Note that in real pierfront operations, those facilities that service as well as offload cargo add an interesting element.  They bring in aplenty of fuel for the ships, either carloads of coal or tankers with oil.  They must also have reefers for food for the crew.  Some might even bring in maintenance and repair equipment.  In the old days, pierfront railways hauled in long strings of coal-laden hoppers, then sent out lines of empties.  It is one of many possibilities for this pleasant little railway.

Our railway used 4' and 5' curves and standard turnouts,. The grade and raised bluff are optional.  There are facilities for the railway along the sidings inside the right loop, while sidings at the lower left are a staging yard or interface with a mainline railway.

Though I have the curved track rising to the top of a bluff, the entire layout can lay flat.  The grade is but an idea.  This layout is fun for those who like small switching and waterfront operations, and would look nice beside an outdoor pool.  A good gardener can take advantage of the trackwork pattern

Here we have a spur running right next to the bluff.  It serves a couple of pierside industries.  Creative folks can make a nice scene of waterfront commerce with shops like propeller works, spyglass vendors, compass companies, etc.

A slight change: the spur shoots off the siding.  A little change in trackwork makes a big difference where Large Scale scenery and planting is concerned.

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