As the song goes 'The railroad runs through the middle of the house' ...

Yes:

Class 260 shunter hauled mixed passenger / freight train to Gefrees, Franconia (1973).

I like it

Thewolf

Aks picture of a train exiting from under a building (Post #401) brought to mind a place I visited in south west Norway.

I like to take an interest in how railways fit (or use) the landscape.
Here in Stavanger (south-west Norway), the sprat canning industry created the need for railway lines in the 1880s.
Naturally, the canneries were close to the waterfront, and their product could be distributed by rail and sea.
Stavanger became the terminus of the Southern Railway from Oslo via Kristiansand.

I have found evidence that the rail lines extended for some distance along (or alongside) the wharves to serve the canneries on the west of the fjord.
I believe wharves on the east side were also served by rail, and I found the junction of these two lines underneath the Vektergarden office/shopping centre.
I am unable to find any old maps, or photos, that may confirm this theory. Over to you Ak.





Along the harbour of Stavanger today, there are around 60 maritime buildings. They were built at the end of the 18th century and early 19th century.
They were previously used as salting works for herring, storehouses for salt, logs and other goods, as well as for other industries.
Naturally these industries could be well served by rail.
On the other side, at the back of these houses, was the owner’s residence with exit to the street. These are now converted into offices, restaurants, apartments as well as other businesses.

Acknowledgement to:
http://www.regionstavanger.com/en/Product/?TLp=1008068
http://media.tellus.no/images/?d=85&p=7877&t=1&.jpg&w=350&h=233

The wharf junction is immediately after the exit from a tunnel about 500 metres long.
This tunnel runs approximately south to north, and begins at the Stavanger railway station, which is a terminus.
You can see the line marked red in the map.
From where it forks, the lines extended along both east and west sides of the town fjord.
I failed to measure the gauge of the lines. I have discovered since that Stavanger railways were originally built to a narrow gauge and converted to standard gauge.



The south tunnel entrance is alongside the Stavanger station terminus (photo below).
The structure over this tunnel entrance is an extension of a roadway, and the railways now use this at times as a shelter for housing locomotives.



If I were to build a model of a town wharf with railway, this would be an ideal scenario.
The Cannery Museum might even be able to bring this to fruition? I did not have time to visit this place, which would have been most interesting. Maybe they already have a model train to illustrate this.

regards
Kimball

Or - turning the turntable topic around - if a modeler believes that his/her "short" turntable is not prototypical:


PKP Pt47-65 steam loco (2010 in Wolsztyn, Poland).


www.bahnbilder.de

The Windbergbahn near Dresden in Saxony, Germany is another nice prototype. Constructed in 1856, this winding standard gauge branch line is considered as first German mountain railroad
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windbergbahn

Looks like something for someone with a lot of room ... a turntable is bad enough ...

Mount Tamalpais & Muir Woods Railway, California, USA.


Above parallel tracks at the Double Bow Knot curve connecting two points 800 feet apart separated by a 130-foot elevation.

Nothing like undulating track to keep the passengers happy

A couple more from the US;

Clearfield, Utah. A large industrial area with several parallel spurs:



Check it out on Google Maps https://goo.gl/maps/vDKgTqzFQny

For those who have a double track mainline, but don't have shared or exactly parallel tunels:

The Kyune/Nolan Tunnels along the D&RGW Utah Subdivision. Found in Price Canyon (now Price Canyon Recreational Area) North of Royal, UT. There are actually 2 sets of tunnels which are both like this in the area. The follow the Price River, the Northern set of tunnels crossing over it just after the North portals. So not only does the line split for the tunnels, but it also goes over two separate bridges immediately afterwards!


Source: http://www.carrtracks.com/tnl5343.htm







-Brandon

One more, found a better photo of the bridges at the North entrance:



-Brandon

I love this environnement

Thewolf

Not as spectacular as the above posts, but in my view also inspiring for a MRR set-up. Further to the Portuguese wye presented here:
https://www.marklin-user...the-prototype#post493567
West of the wye shown in above post - thus towards Setubal - there is a tunnel under the town center connecting the downtown port area with the Setubal central station. The line is disappearing in a curve between and then under houses. The wide Rio Sado river mouth in front with quays and boats and cliffs and houses in the rear frame the rails, thereby offering a pleasant diorama-like view.


Street level view


Commuter train in front of southern tunnel portal.


Two freight locos maneuvering under the road overpass.

Edited by user 06 July 2016 16:06:17(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Panhandle Wye, Pittsburgh

A short siding right before a tunnel? Why not. I would really love to know what the that structure is next to the tunnel (abandoned bore?), and the purpose of the siding. Also notice the observation end unit not at the end of the train.




"No 10 Train E of Egeria Colorado Last Trip"

-Brandon

Hi Brandon. My first thought about the siding was perhaps for a snowplow unit? It looks like they might get lots of snow here. Peter

Two parallel lines separated by a narrow river to add plausibility on your compressed layout? Looks like Eagle River then.

Hello again Ak,

Also from La France, an interesting image of a canal going over a river, I took this image in Béziers in 2012.

Regards,

Philip