Staging Yards

[Anonymous]

Another question from the beginner here , I have looked through several magazines and online , but I still do not understand what a staging yard does. Yeah it obviously stages trains somehow but.. I need a clearer understanding

Thx in Advance ,

Greg[:)]

[wp8thsub]

A staging yard represents the "rest of the world" beyond what you can model on your layout. My WP 8th Sub layout represented a fictitious portion of the prototype Western Pacific in California and Nevada, and could only represent so much of the route. The west end staging was designated "Stockton" (for WP's major classification yard on the west end of the system where the prototype originated and terminated most of its mainline trains) and the east end staging was "Salt Lake" (for the eastern terminus at D&RGW's Roper Yard in Salt Lake, and the interchange with UP). Staging gave the crews the idea that their through trains started somewhere beyond the modeled portion of the railroad and headed somewhere else. Without staging, your trains start and stop only on the portion of the railroad that you model, which can detract from the feeling that your layout is part of a bigger transportation system. Just about any layout can benefit from some kind of staging, with the exceptions of self-contained industrial railroads or isolated lines without interchange (like many narrow gauge mining or logging operations).

[IRONROOSTER]

A staging yard is one where you have one to several tracks ususally but not always hidden. On each track sits a complete train - engine, cars, caboose if appropriate. During your operating sessions these trains appear usually according to a schedule and run over the visible portion of your layout and then disappear into the same or a different staging yard. A variation is to terminate the train on your layout and make up new a train which then travel to the staging yard.

In the loop to loop plan they are usually in the loops. In the oval plan they are usually along one side that is then hidden. Large plans can have several staging yards, small plans tend to have one.

Another variation is the hidden interchange tracks - instead of a complete trains some number of freight cars sits on the track and periodically a loco comes and retrieves them and then puts other cars on the track.

An interesting variation that is seldom seen is to have a point to point layout with the staging tracks halfway between the points. The trains are made up at one terminal and head towards the other. When they reach the staging yard they park on an empty track for a while and other trains leave from the staging yard. This would all be done according to a schedule.

Enjoy
Paul

[dknelson]

Let me give an example. My friend Ken;s layout represents the Burlington Northern between Galesburg IL and Peoria, and Peoria across the river to East Peoria -- about 50 miles. It is an around the walls layout that makes a big oval BUT he runs it strictly point to point. In the laundry room, out of sight of the operators and visitors, is a large yard. That yard represents both Galesburg (BN Railroad) and East Peoria (Peoria and Pekin Union, or P&PU). As dual yard master I make up departing trains and break up arriving trains. It is "active" staging" meaning that the trains do not simply arrive and depart but are actively changed during the operating session. The exception is a staged coal train where I add or take away loads, switch the caboose and power, and run the same cars the other way, provided we have a crew since coal is an extra.
We use timetable and train order operation, with train registers for arriving and department crews, and and card system is used for car forwarding.
The car cards tell me whether that car gets taken off the layout (in which case another car is added, with its own car card), what train it departs on, how it is to be blocked, etc. I am constantly busy.
Ken is a purist in that power that is "in" Galesburg cannot be used for a train leaving East Peoria even though the engine is right there in front of me and I need a locomotive! After all they are "in" two different cities and on two different railroads! Instead it would run light to East Peoria from Galesburg. Likewise the cars -- they do not "fly" the fifty miles but are where they are and travel the track if they need to get between cities. Having said that, when a car is added to the layout after one is removed, it might be added to the other city.
But what the crews see is simply that trains come over the river from East Peoria (hidden, active staging) into Peoria -- the modeled part of the layout. On the other side, trains leaving Galesburg (again, hidden active staging) -- which again is not modeled in the sense of buildings and scenery -- "suddenly" are at Gilson IL to make the trip to Peoria. That is where the crews get their train and their orders. Sometimes I spend the entire night by myself back in the laundry room, talking with radio to the dispatcher and to the "bridge tender" for the tower between East Peoria and Peoria.
I hope this gives you an idea about one kind of staging. There are as the posters above point out, also purely passive staging -- where trains are made up in advance so that they appear on the modeled portion of the layout and perhaps go to a yard that is modeled on the layout or go to another hidden staging yard. Some staging is stub ended, some is double ended. Some is hidden some is out in the open. But the main reason for staging is that almost nobody has a large enough layout to truly model a world where traffic originates, gets picked up by a local, gets taken to a yard, gets added to a freight, and that freight takes it to a different yard where the car is removed, gets put on a different local, and is delivered to a different local business. You can do that for sure but the space between customers is often just a few hundred scale feet away from the point of origin! Or even if you can model that realistically, what of the long distance trains, Amtrak or intermodal, or coal that cross country and come and go but do not have any meaningful stops on your portion of the modeled world? Those are ideal trains for staging.
Dave Nelson

[wp8thsub]

I remembered that a photo of the 8th Sub's active staging yard in action was posted on Blair Kooistra's site: http://www.wwvrailway.com/gbg4.htm . More on active staging can be seen on Lee Nicholas' Utah Colorado Western site: http://www.ucwrr.com/ .

[cwclark]

I'm not fond of staging yards since i believe every piece of rolling stock you own should be out on the layout for display..instead of a staging yard i just build a yard right in the open that is visible to everyone...staging yards are ok if you are in a club with lots of help from others in an operating session...but trying to run an entire railroad empire by one's self is hindered in my opinion by using staging yards...I guess i'm just one of those guys that has to see the entire big picture of my layout in the open...Chuck[:D]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by cwclark

I'm not fond of staging yards since i believe every piece of rolling stock you own should be out on the layout for display..instead of a staging yard i just build a yard right in the open that is visible to everyone...staging yards are ok if you are in a club with lots of help from others in an operating session...but trying to run an entire railroad empire by one's self is hindered in my opinion by using staging yards...I guess i'm just one of those guys that has to see the entire big picture of my layout in the open...Chuck[:D]

Single-person operation is actually enhanced by staging yards, since it gives you a place to park a number of other ready-made trains, freeing you up from yardmaster duites while you run your local or whatever. With a minimum of effort, you can get a large number of mainline trains rolling on through, all the while paying strictest attention to your one-man job. Without the staging, you might never have more than one train moving over your line, which can be underwhelming.

I agree with you, though, that hidden staging is to be avoided. In my own case, I will have a staging yard representing the two endpoints of my division along one of the four train room walls, but this will be an open-air yard, which I will construct as a display area. It will be the elegant, non-modeled equivalent of a display case, because most of the time my trains will simply be collected there. Of course, I could get another town modeled in the real estate that is above this yard, but I think all in all I am going to prefer having a classy display area instead.

[Anonymous]

I operate my 2 1/2' x 5' N scale layout by myself, and I have two staging tracks to stage a pair of locals when I operate it. Basically, the staging represents yards where the locals orginate and return. For a small layout that a single person operates, staging can make that layout operate as a small portion of a bigger system.

---jps

[Anonymous]

Additionally, one could also simulate several trains running through a busy area, while manually controlling the Local freight (for example). Using a Command Control System and a computer software program (Winlok 2.1), My Joppa Sub routinely runs through freights on a timetable system. Now, that's probably more advanced operation, but it is very realistic, since I have waited numerous times at Benton Jct. (IL) for the CHDAZ and CHSA to clear the interlocking at Benton in order for me to proceed to Salem IL yard!!

Staging enhances the operation of your layout. If you have room for staging, I would definately suggest incorporating one.

[Anonymous]

Staging yards are one of the new "must haves" that have come up in modern layout design in the past few years. IF you are planning to operate, staging adds an enormous amount of flexability to any layout design.

The axiom for effiicient switch yard usage is to run the yard about half full. Most of us don't have the space to have huge yards and when you follow the half full axiom, they don't hold as many cars as most of us would like. I added a third level to my double decked railroad just to get some staging area.

The other thing to keep in mind is that as you continue to be in the hobby, your roster will grow. Eventually you will out grow all of the available siding space on your layout and will be looking for storage just to keep things manageable. Staging can help here as well. Think 10 cars per year over 30 years, thats 300 cars taking up at least 150' of siding space in HO. The formula Tony Koester came up for dealing with staging is if N equals the amount of staging you think you need, the amount you actually need is 2N +1. All I can say is I hope he is wrong....

Guy

[CBQ_Guy]

QUOTE: Originally posted by cwclark

I'm not fond of staging yards since i believe every piece of rolling stock you own should be out on the layout for display..instead of a staging yard i just build a yard right in the open that is visible to everyone...staging yards are ok if you are in a club with lots of help from others in an operating session...but trying to run an entire railroad empire by one's self is hindered in my opinion by using staging yards...I guess i'm just one of those guys that has to see the entire big picture of my layout in the open...Chuck[:D]

Just wondering, then, how all those cars from the "other" railroads got on to yours.

[Anonymous]

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