RBL Plan - Mezzanine Deck

This post details the small mezzanine deck on the RBL that represents Union Pacific’s trackage from Oakland to Warm Springs.

[The first post in this series on the RBL plan covers the lower staging deck and can be seen here.]

The Prototype Line to Warm Springs

On the prototype Union Pacific, there are a couple of lines running south from Oakland to San Jose as a result of the Western Pacific and Southern Pacific mergers with the UP.  From the standpoint of the RBL layout, my interest in the area south of Oakland mainly relates to the operations of the BNSF Warm Springs Turn.  I want a modeled destination for this local so the N scale version of this train will operate much the same as a real train - heading to the destination, with some switching chores along the way and at the destination, then returning to the home terminal.

UP’s Niles Subdivision is one of the lines heading south from Oakland.  It runs thirty-five miles from Oakland south to Newark.  At the thirty mile mark is Niles Junction which, is also situated at the west end of Niles Canyon. Several UP lines converge at this point from the north, south and east and there are three interesting wyes and a couple of crossings in the junction. (See map).

The Warm Springs Subdivision runs another seventeen miles south from Niles Junction to CP Julian at San Jose, paralleling the Niles Sub and another UP track, the Milpitas Sub which also runs from Niles Junction to Valbrick Junction in south San Jose.

Warm Springs is located about seven miles south of Niles Jct on the Warm Springs Subdivision. The key industry at Warm Springs is the massive New United Motors plant (NUMI) which produces cars for Toyota and GM. UP has an autorack yard here and NUMI has two locations for loading and unloading autoracks. (See map)

Trains Drive Layout Design

The RBL design is best understood by considering the trains that will operate on the portion of the RBL layout representing the route from Oakland to Warm Springs.

Trains that will operate on the modeled portion of the UP Warm Springs Subdivision are as follows:

• The BNSF Warm Springs Turn
• Amtrak California Capitols
• UP Warm Springs Local

BNSF Warm Springs Turn

Of the three trains noted above, I have most frequently posted on the BNSF Warm Springs Turn, a local that runs from the BNSF Richmond Terminal to Warm Springs under trackage rights on UP track. This train is a local switch job that has work at the NUMI motors plant at Warm Springs.

The BNSF WS Turn reaches the UP track by first taking the BNSF Siberia Lead to the junction with the Richmond Pacific (RPRC) at the east end of 23rd Street Yard.  It then journeys across a few miles of RPRC track to join the UP at Stege crossovers near Albany Ca..  From there, the BNSF Warm Springs Turn travels south to Oakland under trackage rights on the UP’s Cal-P line.  At Oakland, it continues south on UP’s Niles Subdivision, and uses the UP Warm Springs Subdivision to reach Warm Springs.  It returns to its home terminal by retracing its steps after completing switching duties at Warm Springs.

The N Scale BNSF WS turn will negotiate its way from Richmond (staging) along the BNSF Siberia Lead (helix and modeled), follow the RBL (modeled) from Marina Junction to the UP Cal-P line at Stege (modeled), then head south along the Cal-P (helix) to Oakland (modeled) and pass through Oakland Junction (modeled, but fictitious) onto the Warm Springs Sub (modeled) to Warm Springs (modeled). I think it will be a really cool train to run.

Amtrak California Capitols

These are short commuter passenger trains with a single locomotive and four or five passenger cars. Capitols run frequently from San Jose or Oakland to Sacramento, Roseville or Colfax on Donner Pass.

I don’t focus much on passenger operations but there are passenger trains on the UP’s Nile subdivision and Cal-P line and when I thought about what that meant for the operator of the BNSF Warm Springs Local, I decided that a passenger train would be a good addition to the N Scale Warm Springs line.  In practice, Capitols take a different route south of Niles Jct to San Jose bypassing the Warm Springs Sub but I can easily overlook that for the sake of some fun operation on the layout.

Warm Springs is located between San Jose and Oakland so the RBL layout will be simulating Capitols running between San Jose and Sacramento/Roseville/Colfax but the crew will pick up or terminate their passenger train at Warm Springs because I won’t be modelling anything south of there.

As an aside, there are other passenger trains that run on the UP Cal-P line and on the Niles Subdivision south of Oakland. For simplicity, these passenger trains may be modeled on the RBL by trains running from Oakland staging to Roseville staging on the modeled portion of the Cal-P line. Passenger trains in this category include the Amtrak California Zephyr which runs between Chicago and Emeryville and the Amtrak Coast Starlight which runs between Seattle and Los Angeles.   Amtrak California San Joaquins are intercity trains which run between Oakland and Bakersfield, are only seen on the Cal-P portion of the line so routing them from UP Oakland staging to UP Roseville staging is acceptable too.

These passenger trains will get in the way of freights running on UP tracks on the RBL including the BNSF Warm Springs train on the Cal-P portion of the layout between Oakland Junction and Stege. The BNSF Warm Springs train will also have to stay clear any Capitols south of Oakland as they’ll be running on the N Scale Warm Springs Subdivision too.

UP Warm Springs Local

I am not even sure that such a train exists, however it will on the RBL layout. This UP train is another way to provide traffic to interact with the BNSF Warm Springs Turn while it is on the N Scale UP Warm Springs Subdivision.

On the RBL layout, the UP Warm Springs Turn will go from Oakland staging on the lower deck to Warm Springs on the Mezzanine deck and return, switching West Oakland on it’s way home. (Again, West Oakland is on the other side of Oakland in reality, but hey,  I made up the train, so I can also make up where it goes and what it does, right!!). In practice, it is maybe more likely that this train would run out of San Jose. The line from Warm Springs to San Jose will be fresh air on the RBL layout so I really hope the UP local is based in Oakland!!  If you have any information about local UP operations in this area, I’d be interested to hear details.

The UP WS Local can be scheduled such that it adds a range of interest, challenge and/or stress for the operators of the BNSF WS train on the otherwise quieter N Scale Warm Springs Sub, depending on when the UP train shows up from Oakland.

As you’ll see in the plans below, there’s not much room at Warm Springs, so adding the UP local makes more sense than scheduling a UP road freight that would basically have to terminate at Warm Springs and just sit there causing a log jam. The UP local not only takes up the main but could really complicate matters for the BNSF crew if it were to be switching Warm Springs when the BNSF train showed up for example.

The Warm Springs Sub

So here is the plan of the Warm Springs Sub located on the mezzanine level of the RBL layout. The Oakland staging tracks have been turned off to make the Warm Springs tracks easier to see.

Lower and Mezzanine levels (Oakland staging turned off for clarity)

With reference to the above plan, the Warm Springs Sub runs counterclockwise from Oakland Junction on the root of the peninsula which supports the Cal-P Helix. The Warm Springs line then swings around the base of the helix and curves back around to parallel the left hand wall of the layout space.

NUMI Plant

The wall on the left end of the room provides the perfect location for a flat of the long NUMI building. There is a small yard here for sorting autoracks. The tracks in NUMI’s yard are the longest stub-ended tracks on the RBL layout at 144 inches. Each of the two yard tracks will hold about twenty autoracks. The actual BNSF Warm Springs Turn can have as few as a couple of autoracks to over thirty in its consist. More typically it has ten to twenty autoracks trailing so the capacity of the yard relative to the demands of the local will work out well for the N Scale version.

The NUMI plant with its long yard is the largest industry on the layout. Because it is somewhat isolated on the mezzanine deck, its size does not clash with the appearance of other industries on the layout which all tend to have a smaller footprint.

The NUMI yard tracks are basically straight with at least a 19” curve at the upper left corner of the room, so there will be little to bother the autoracks as they are being switched and sorted and they should look good on the broad curves too. This is important to me. I am a major fan of good track and zero derailments.

Warm Springs Industrial Park

The Warm Springs Sub continues along the longest wall at the top of the plan to reach a small industrial area at Warm Springs. I’ve been somewhat liberal here in terms of industries so as to provide plenty of interesting operation. The prototype has fewer industries at this location but I’m not striving for high fidelity with the prototype at this point, it’s more about operations. I don’t expect any of these model industrial spots to receive large numbers of cars or to be switched every session. Between the BNSF and the UP locals there’ll be plenty of activity which can be controlled through managing waybills.

A few of the Warm Springs industries are located around the Siberia Helix to get the best use out of the space. In all instances, care has been taken to keep switches and uncoupling locations close to the front of the layout for ease of operation.

The Warm Springs Amtrak station will be located in the wider space between tracks just above and to the left of the Warm Springs label on the plan. An Amtrak train could be parked here adding a pressure to the local crew needing to switch industries against the long wall.

Mezzanine Concept

The logical place to put Warm Springs line turned out to be over the staging deck. Since Oakland was located at the bottom of the Cal-P Helix, Warm Springs had to be somewhere on or around the lower level near Oakland. but I wanted as many staging tracks as I could squeeze in on the staging deck and I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of the Warm Springs track being side-by-side with the staging yard. My solution was to locate the Warm Springs Subdivision above the staging deck which also made it possible to run a train from Oakland staging, to the Warm Springs Subdivision - cool!!

The more I explored the design, the longer the modeled portion of the Warm Springs Sub became until it wound its way around the left and top walls of the layout room and stubbed out at Warm Springs which ended up being physically located up against the Siberia Helix.

The mezzanine level will be about five inches above the staging yards below it. I have taken care to not locate any of the warm springs subroadbed over staging area switches for ease of maintenance.

Success Factors

Having run several layouts with staging adjacent to other operational trackage, I am confident that the mezzanine arrangement will work fine. My expectation of success of this concept is based on the following observations and expectations:

• Operators of trains on the mezzanine will be focused on their train and the switching they need to do and they won’t pay much attention to the staging nearby on the lower deck
• Five vertical inches contributes to the perception of separation between the staging and the WS tracks
• Staging will mostly be static apart from the occasional arrival or departure but there’s no switching going on there during operations so trains in staging are mostly standing still
• Switching the NUMI and Warm Springs area will be more satisfying than just swapping trains in a staging track representing Warm Springs, which, was the alternative to making the Warm Springs line operational
• The WS Sub will host Amtrak and the UP local which provides additional jobs for crews
• A variety of trains on the WS Sub adds interest and challenge to the Dispatcher’s role
• I plan to build from lowest to highest levels so it will provide operations early in construction before tackling the helices and upper deck.

How Will it Look?

Here are some 3D images of the N Scale Warm Springs Subdivision. All images can be clicked for a larger more detailed image. Some views have the trains turned off for clarity (or I forgot to switch them on!).

The Warm Springs Sub line can be seen leaving Oakland Junction which is at left of this view. The Warm Springs Sub loops around the base of the helix.

Here’s where the Warm Springs Sub connects with the NUMI yard. There will be a long flat against the wall here representing the NUMI building.

This is the view of NUMI with some autoracks in the NUMI yard and the UP Warm Springs Local in stub-ended staging below it. It is always surprising to me how little the enjoyment of operations depends on scenery or significant physical separation of operational elements such as tracks, or locations.

Above is the view looking south along the NUMI yard. The yard swings right at the wall and connects with the Warm Springs Sub again around the corner.  Sitting below the Warm Springs Sub are the two west staging yard throats. UP Oakland staging is in orange and BNSF Oakland staging is in pink. The yellow track below staging at the front is the Valley Main and the west end of the Valley Main siding can also be seen.

 

Around the corner, we can get a good view at the south end of NUMI Yard and it’s junction with the Warm Springs main. Staging stretches out on the lower deck with Valley siding below the front of the lower deck in yellow. Only the Warm Springs deck and the Valley Main line will be ballasted and scenicked. This should help to operationally separate the three decks that are all within an 8” vertical range.

About six feet further along, we are approaching Warm Springs. The effect I am looking for is for the Warm Springs Sub main to appear to be heading south through the wall ahead. There will be a station just before the wall, an industrial lead on the left side of the main serving a few industries, and another industrial lead curving off to the right serving four industries near the Siberia Helix.

The east end of Valley siding is just visible on the yellow track and we are nearing the east end of staging on the lower deck - UP Roseville staging in orange and BNSF Stockton and Richmond in pink. BNSF Richmond staging is where the Warm Springs Turn originates.

If we turn around at this point, this is the view back toward the south end of NUMI yard. I have switched on the trains layer to illustrate how trains in staging will look. You can see one train in UP staging under the Warm Springs Sub mezzanine level. The Warm Springs Sub main track is the one at the front.

This is a closer view to Warm Springs. The mezzanine deck widens here to accommodate the station and a little industrial action on the far side of the main. There is about six feet between the end wall and the flat car on the industry lead on the left.

A track branches go to the right in the foreground on the Warm Springs Sub and then branches to the right again further down to become the second industrial lead.

This is the view to the second industrial area. There is a small siding to allow runaround moves. Two rail served sites are on the far side of the lead. There is a small spur that branches toward the helix that will probably be a team track and a longer spur that branches to the right and leads to a loadout that uses the curved shape of the Siberia Helix to aesthetic advantage as seen in the next view.

I really like this design for this industry. There is a short lead to access the industry so it is not jammed against all the other industries or the lead that serves them. The switch and uncoupling places are readily accessible, the curved alcove for the loading area looks great and I like the additional spur for cars that would be required by other parts of the plant (not modeled). I’ll put a thin wall against the helix to blank out any distracting movement from trains using the helix.  For a small, odd shaped piece of layout real estate, I think this is a real winner.

This is how the rest of the industrial trackage lays out. The team track is in the middle of the view to the right of the lead with two gondolas. There are two industries to the left of the lead, a warehouse with the single blue box car at one of the loading doors and a spur that goes back to the left of this view that will likely be a tank car loadout of some kind.

To add interest, the tank car spur is a switchback that uses one of the warehouse tracks as a switching lead.

Overall, Warm Springs tracks can accommodate the Amtrak and two locals here at the same time, though it will require some cooperation between switch crews. Should be interesting.

Next Installment

So that’s the plan for reaching Warm Springs on the Mezzanine deck of the RBL layout. I am very interested to see how it turns out in practice.

The next post in this RBL plan series will focus on the scenicked Upper Deck.

- Coxy