SJC as a Shelf Layout - Part 1

If this isn't the first post you've read from me, you know I'm a fan of the San Juan Central and the work of Malcom Furlow (See: "HO Narrow Gauge Railroad You Can Build").  The SJC has been a star of narrow gauge beginners everywhere for 30 years, but as I was studying the track plan, I wondered, "What would the SJC looked like if it was revised to more modern layout design ideas?"

Probably the most standout aspect of the layout would be the transportability of it.  Malcom comments in the book the layout was designed to be moved -- after all it was a prize layout that would have to be moved to the winner's house.  However I'm meaning something a lot more portable:  A shelf layout.

I've been a fan of shelf layouts since reading Iain Rice's "Shelf Layouts for Model Railroaders".  Iain, under the influence of quite a bit of european style model railoading, promotes the idea that model railroads shouldn't be built then torn down, but instead be built in small, very movable sections, that can follow you around through life.  Being younger this is a huge plus.

Anyways, the first step towards this re-envisioning of a classic was to identify the operational pieces of the layout.

The SJC fits a point-to-point setup quite well, as it has the terminal town of Montrose on one end and the terminal city of Tincup on the other.  Next to Montrose is an interchange (universal industry) with the Denver & Rio Chama Western (Furlow's home layout at the time, pp. 54) and next to Tincup is an interchange with the Rair & Tugo RR (Home layout of Wally Kosinski, pp. 55).  In addition to the various industries located in the two towns, the line also has two "on-line" industries, the McClanhan Mine, and O'Burn Millworks.

Malcom comments in the chapter on operation that the first time the train goes through Tincup you "pretend it isn't there".  If for that reason alone I feel taking a look at the SJC as a shelf layout is well qualified.

Before I go any farther, I should mention I learned this style of working -- designing a layout around functional industries -- from Scott Perry's Penoles Mining Company (On30) blog.  It's a great resource to checkout sometime, even if you're not into On30.

So given the industries of the SJC, I decided to design this layout to fit generically in a single-car garage as that seemed like a reasonable amount of space.  I started with a 10'x22' area and quickly sketched out where the main aspects of the layout would go.

Given an average of a 2 foot deep shelf, an around-the-wall style shelf layout could be built in a single car garage with 6 feet of aisle space and 30" radius corners.  Once I've got the general physical dimensions of things and I've dropped names where everything will go it's time to start thinking about the track and how it will be laid out.

Where things are might either work for or against what the feature is.  For example, the high bridge in the bottom left will give that trestle a nice curve but having the mine on a corner may or may not be a problem.