SP Jawbone Branch (Part 42) - Redesigns for Little Lake and Bartlett

SP 3237 Bartlett on the Jawbone branch - Leo Barusch photo, my collection

Time to come back and address some research issues and selective compression of Bartlett into my planned layout space.

Track Chart Research

Bartlett - SP ValMap (RR East to Right)

I'm unsure of the date for the SP company ValMap shown here, but I think it's later than 1960, as it agrees with the SPINS map for Bartlett with two stub spurs off one main track switch on the west end.

Bartlett MP 509,02 - SPINS Chart - David Coscia collection (RR East to Right)

The SP SPINS charts show track arrangements for the computerized system that the SP developed in the 1970s.

Aerial Photo Research

Bartlett 1944 - Fairchild Aerial Survey (RR East to Left)

I've found several aerial photos of Bartlett, but the 1947 and 1955 sets didn't have the contrast to really show what was going on... probably due to the blowing dust in the Owens Valley the days that the photos were taken.  However, this 1944 photo more clearly shows what the plant and track arrangement was at Bartlett.

Modern Bartlett Aerial - Zoomed on main building - BingMaps with scale

The plant was upgraded in 1960 with new buildings.  I still need to do more research on what exact structures will be included in my version for the Jawbone Branch.  It seems the changes were mostly the new tanks have been added around the basic building.  A few structures remain today, owned by some artists who are experimenting with optics and sound unique to the desolate location.

The Model Track Plan Evolves

Original CAD drawing for my planned model of Bartlett. 2021-02-03 - REV-C

Originally I roughed out the plan for Bartlett to put the switch right at the corner of the bookcase and would only be a single spur.  The plant structure would be placed parallel to the edge of the layout.

Early March 2024 revisions for the CAD track plan to include the double-ended runaround.

I wanted to see if I could fill out Bartlett to be more in line with the 1944 aerial photo's arrangement of tracks and structures.  In this drawing, I've moved the main track switch to the right farther, creating more space in the inside of the curve for the track and scenery expansion.

Newest updated drawing with resized inside runaround and Glass Co loading spots.

I've been wanting to get a more detailed drawing made with the road crossing, and the 'inside' runaround.  Sadly this version is gobbling up more of the space across the front of the bookcase, reducing the length between the Bartlett switch and the Little Lake East switch.  The space shown for the Southern Columbia Glass Co. is just a rough guess at this point, as I've not gone into detailed breakdown of what the warehouse and plant looked like during the 1944-1955 era.  I'll probably have room for a couple of out-buildings along the road and to the right of the road.

I may still come back and do another pass of revisions for Bartlett trying to shift the inside runaround to the left a bit more and get more of the S-curve between the west switch of the runaround and the main track switch.  Drawing switches accurately is somewhat tricky, and it's much easier to lay them out in real life on the layout itself.  So these track plans are more 'rough calculations' of what I can fit, and I always plan them to be conservative on what I can expect to put in the space. 

Redesign Considerations for Little Lake

This was one of my track plans for Little Lake from 2021-02-03 - REV-C

Originally I planned to model Linnie with the lumber mill, but research found out that it was not built back in the era I want to model.  So I changed this corner of the layout to be Little Lake, with this being the original concept.

It's still not exactly what I want, regarding the exact arrangement of the scenic elements of Little Lake... So I've been considering changing it again.

This is the current March 6, 2024 plan, which still will probably have another round of changes.

I like the original position of the MW spur a bit better coming off in the middle of the curve, or even the current "Optional" location of the spur.  Also the West Switch I think needs to move farther down the wall where the door is.

I am also leaning towards moving the company village and MW Spur to the right some, which would keep it out from behind the book case.  The bookcases rise above track level of the layout in this area, and provide a view-block between the Bartlett and Little Lake scenes, but I also want to keep the operational part of the scene from being on top of the desk, which would make switching and viewing the Company Village more difficult.

1944 Aerial photo from Fairchild Aerial Survey.

I may tend to straighten out the curve by the Truck Dump a bit more and bring the Dump away from the wall enough to have more of the Highway in the modeled space.  I may end up pulling the right corner curve out a bit more, possibly making more of the whole scene on a large radius curve to make more room for the village and buildings.  This would also allow me to make the little tangent of track under the "high rock bluffs" between the depot and the company village area.  One counter issue is that I can't push the West Switch too far along the door, as the staging yard switch work needs to start somewhere on the curve in the SW corner of the room, and the ladder of the yard will take a sizable amount of space up off the west wall of the room, and reducing the door module's tangent even more might be problematic.

Little Lake - Jawbone Branch - 2022-06-15 REV-E

Basically the area of Little Lake is still pretty fluid, as I've not been too happy and have concerns about how well I'll be able to pull off the compression and viewing angle of the village.

In Closing

Little Lake - Jennifer Dinsmore collection

This is roughly the view that I'm hoping to achieve with the model of Little Lake.  I have the feeling that I'll continue to keep massaging this part of the layout design right up until I start mocking it up and start construction.  The features of the room, like the desk and the book cases on top of it providing the view block, I really like.  Some of the other details that I want, I think will still need some more pushing and moving around to give me the same 'warm fuzzy feelings'.

Jason Hill

Related Articles:

Jawbone Branch Index Page - Overview list of all my blog posts about the Jawbone Branch project.