Bard Creek Railroad System Diagram

After discovering Bard Creek, looking for information about the area's geography, looking up Colorado Central as well as Colorado and Southern railroad information, checking Google maps and creating a route for this fictitious line: I have now gone a step further and created a system diagram; showing where I'd place every turnout, turntable, snow shed, bridge, etc...

So behold, the official Bard Creek R.R. System Map:

You may need to click to expand it to a full view or open it in a different tab.

I did this diagram based off of what I saw in this Satellite image which came from Google Maps, and then I traced the route in a true map fashion:

Technically, the above diagram is the "trackplan" of the whole 5 mile route I made up.  any modules that I build will represent something shown in this diagram.  small modules could simply have a water tower near the creek, larger modules will support mines, snow sheds, and other space-needing scenes.

One quick note to those who ask, "Why have snow sheds?"  Remember that this railroad is supposed to represent Colorado railroads in general, so whatever you find in the state could easily be represented on this railroad.  Plus, snow sheds are cool!

--James

Some items to remember:

Onlytrains.com has a 1.8 Amp transformer that would be perfect for my set up for $50

Switchcrafters is $153 with shipping and a $127 base price including a turnout, enough rail, joiners, and spikes.

6 train cars by Bachmann that I can modify and turn into my own cars are about $140 without shipping.

Let's talk budget...

So after researching prices for the various things I'll need to build this railway, I've developed a budget which I hope to have matched on my bank account by May when I start construction.  First, let me make a list of what I'll need:

• 5/8 inch plywood (one sheet per two modules): $25.00
• 1/8 inch hardboard (two sheets per module): $8.00
• 1" foam board (two sheets per module): $13.00
• hardware(nuts, bolts, washers, screws, glue): $25.00 per module
• Track from switchcrafters: $120.00
• Ballast, dirt, and soil: $30 est
• Power supply: $160 or less
• Lighting: $30.00 per module
• Rolling Stock (6-8 cars): $180
• Paint (Black, grey, tan): $20
• grasses and plants: $30 est
• Trees: $30 est
• TOTAL ESTIMATED BUDGET FOR LAYOUT:  $789

Of the things above, items I won't need right away include:

Power supply: $160 or less

Lighting: $30.00 per module 

 3-4 of the rolling stock items: $90

 Trees: $30 est

The result of leaving out the above items would still give me an operational layout that could be displayed at a show.  Plus, anywhere I can save money I will do so.  That means that the amount I need to worry about raising is: $449 plus about $50 in shipping for online orders and some extra for sales tax.  Therefore I can round up to about $500 as my budget limit.

Is this a $500 layout?  It built under certain circumstances, then yes.  However, as I pointed out the items I would leave out would have to be added at some point after initial construction.  The power pack would need to be added for sure before the first show.  The other 4 cars would complete the needed rolling stock and trees would be nice.

However if I can set aside $450 to $500 by May, then this layout will be possible.

So there is my budget thus far.  Some items may change, although I highly doubt it.

--James