A Plan is Forming

Up until recently I didn't have much of a plan or theme for my present day layout. Only a few parameters were set; BNSF and CSX would be the major road names and it'd have to be located for the most part in or around Illinois and Missouri, where both roads could legitimately be seen together. This is also made sense for me as I wanted to model grain elevators as I'd seen them on my recent train trip last summer. So the idea was to model it so CSX would drop cars here BNSF would take them away and vice versa. But I don't have enough room to truly make this work so it really needs to be a switching layout, representing a smaller zone geographically.

If you follow most of the kits I've done, you'll know I prefer to model subjects defined by specific themes. A theme or idea provides a spine to which everything else can hang. Without one it's just too random; a guessing game, especially when planning a layout. What industries would I model? How are cars moved around the layout and why. Questions I've learned to ask myself thanks to columns like Tony Koesters Trains of Thought in MR magazine - why is this car on your layout?

Once questions such as that are answered, the rest is easy, just implementation stands in the way. So, I've been fishing around for a concept that the layout would be based on - finally a compact fluorescent, energy efficient light bulb went off in my head - all the industries served on my layout would more or less be eco-friendly.

I could model industries like grain, coal, lumber - the usual and that could be fun. But since it's a subject I have great interest in; sustainable resources, alternative energy, recycled products and materials - it all makes so much more sense to me. So many questions were instantly answered by defining a layout concept.

-Right off the bat I could keep my grain elevators, they could process soybeans and corn. The corn could be sent to another industry on the layout, Ethanol processing- fortunately Athearn makes Ethanol Tank Cars.

-I wanted to feature some kind of food distributer, soybeans could go there, soy based products could be shipped out.

-Wind power is a big favorite of mine; I 've known about a company called Zoltek, they manufacture carbon products, specifally blades for wind turbines and they're located in Missouri. This kind of industry requires all kinds of raw materials, so that's another one to add to the list. I might even try and model some wind turbines for the layout, or at least include them in the backdrop.

-I've always been fascinated with landfills, I might model a portion of one, replete with methane vents that are diverted to power plants to generate electricity. That would be an interesting change from the usual rolling hill landscape seen on many layouts. A portion of it could be modeled in its final state covered in grass, another could be still open to receiving waste, lots of trash and birds...

-Instead of a coal power plant, a waste-to-energy plant could be modeled, receiving shipments from the garbage train.

-Another warehouse could be for a photovoltaics company.

-A MRR forums member had sent me the photos(above) of a great cardboard recycling facility. I plan on modeling it based on those photos.

So you get the idea. I can't think of anything more modern on a present day layout than the above. I'm even considering calling it the Green Belt; simple enough and to the point.

Fortunately the internet can provide plenty of research on the subjects to be modeled. I'm looking forward to it.