After running operation sessions for a while and placing load on the Elizabeth Oaks Yard it turned out that this yard is not frequented as intentionally planed.
The C&E has currently a maximum trafficload of 55 cars on all spots. Dividing the cars up to the two yards – Elizabeth Oaks an Sarverville – reveals that Sarverville needs to handle a maximum load of 111% whereas Elizabeth Oaks sees only 44% load.
So I shuffled around the numbers an options the Layout design has to offer and decided to detach the peninsula from the mainline and move it more to the far west of the system and connect it as a branch line – the new South Fork Branch. South Fork Branch will connect to the mainline west of Elizabeth Oaks at the Greenhill Junction.
I restarted the load simulation and came up with a more balanced load for both yards. I took the simulation one step further and added a fictive Paper mill ‘Northern Paper’ which I plan to build as a final section in the future. Even with this industry added to the system the load of Sarverville will stay below 100%
So far for the numbers, now some more pratical. The plan below shows modification in the layout plan, I will rotate the current coal loader at Red Rock and add the Westend Staging to the backside of RedRock. The Gravelsite at Spot will remain untouched but loose its through-traffic as it marks the end of the branchline.
Sarvervill will be connected to directly to the Eastend Staging
Below are some photos from the current stage.
Removing the Sarverville/Spot connection and the Westend Staging.
Framework for the new section
Backdrop is in place and construction of the new segtions is nearly completed.
The new Westend Staging