I'm poking through the wall into an adjacent room to add a 4-track single ended staging yard. I'm trying to decide if it is worth the reduction in capacity to have a crossover near the end of the yard to allow loco's to escape. The space at the end limits train length, but then I need to keep the adjacent track empty to allow for a runaround. But then moving 2 or 3 diesels by hand on a regular basis would be a pain and would be hard on the details. Everything is a compromise.
Opinions?
BTW, these tracks match the length of my passing sidings if I leave them without the crossover.
I have the right to remain silent. By posting here I have given up that right and accept that anything I say can and will be used as evidence to critique me.
Make the end of the tracks a traverser or cassette. If you have enough width, all 4 tracks could continue onto a traverser and then any loco could be moved to any track without picking it up.
I wouldn't bother with crossovers - this is staging, so once a train enters, it's done with its job. If you need to reuse trains, then you have active staging, in which case someone will have to 'work' the staging and rearrange trains. A cassette that hooks to the end would allow moving locos without handling them, otherwise you can just physically pick up locos and rolling stock and move them around as needed.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
The traverser is a really good idea. However, if you don't opt for the traverser, remember that you only need one crossover. One track serves as your arrival track with a crossover near the end to serve as an engine escape, and the other tracks can be full length
How about a trasfer table at the end?
All of my staging is single-ended - two "yards" of 5 and 6 tracks respectively, and three other locations with 2 tracks apiece. When a train arrives in a staging yard, the cars are either picked up by the local switcher for distribution or, more often, removed from the layout completely. The locomotive(s) are then free to run to a nearby wye or turntable to be turned and prepared for their next run (I run steam only).Other than for repair or periodic servicing, locos are not manually handled. The rolling stock is returned to its respective boxes - these are stored beneath the staging yards, which, except for one, are stacked:
The staging, at right, operates as follows: the two lowest tracks (at the edge of the aisle) are accessed from the far end, and join the layout via a liftout (visible leaning against the base of the steel support post).The next two tracks up and the 5 track yard immediately above them join the layout at right, just beyond camera range, while the uppermost staging yard of 6 tracks will utilise another liftout to reach the upper level of the layout, across the aisle.There'll be another pair of staging tracks located in another room, with access from the layout through an opening in the wall - these and the lowest pair of tracks in the photo represent interchanges with two other roads, while the mostly-hidden pair in the photo are industrial tracks - no modelled industries, of course, but as many traffic-generating spots as I care to create. The two larger staging yards represent "elsewhere", with the lower one being the south end of the modelled line and the upper one the north end.I should also mention that this is designed primarily for one-man operation, with trains running sequentially - an operating "day" might require a month of running trains. Operation is DC.
Wayne
rrinkerMake the end of the tracks a traverser or cassette. If you have enough width, all 4 tracks could continue onto a traverser and then any loco could be moved to any track without picking it up.
Is this something I could buy and install or are we talking DIY? If it's a DIY, are plans available?
Maybe one at each end that are interchangable? Loco's on one cabooses on the other and swap them between sessions?
The KISS principal works best.
My staging consists of two single ended tracks. After an operating session, I just back the trains out and run to the nearest passing track and put the locomotive on the other end and then back the train into staging again, ready for the next operating session. This also gives ME something to do between operating sessions.
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.
If there is a passing track just short of the entrance to staging, you can make your last visible maneuver a runaround and back in. For a prototypical excuse, you can say the staging yard is actually the interchange with the (fillintheblank) and there's no runaround there.
Another possibility is to make the entire staging yard a turntable. This is predicated on having enough space to turn it, and would require some inventiveness to provide it with a movable pivot point.
My own Down freight staging is back-in, and then requires a backing maneuver to get the locomotive pointed in the right direction. Think John Armstrong's reverted loop with a switchback thrown in. On the other hand, most of my passenger schedules are covered by DMU and EMU trains that are, effectively, double-ended.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Or... You could do what NYCT did when they still pulled trains with steam locomotives.
The locomotive pullis in and uncouples. A spare locomotive trapped from a previous departure connects to the new head end and pulls the train out. Now the locomotive that was on this train is free to pull the next train out of the tracks.
In practice you would have your four or five staging tracks as per normal, but with a short trailing point track just ahead of the yard throat. You park a spare locomotive on this. When it is time to pull a train out, this is the locomotive that will handle the train. Once it clears the area, the trapped locomotive is moved to the holding track to await the next departure.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
On my last layout I had one pair of double ended staging tracks so I could get the engine out, but the rest were single ended. It made things a LOT easier.Also, the last step for every train crew was to swap engine and caboose on their train, and THEN park it on a single ended track.Try it, I think you'll like it!
Disclaimer: This post may contain humor, sarcasm, and/or flatulence.
Michael Mornard
Bringing the North Woods to South Dakota!
carl,
Usually, traversers are made with a pair of drawer slides, but others have used UDHW (I think that's the acronym for that hard, slippery plastic) or something else. Different ways of doing it, but you basically build an upside down drawer. The track mounts on top. When the traverser is all the way in, the track aligns with the back track. As it's pulled out, you can line it up woith the other tracks. It obviously needs a stop just past the track closest to the aisle. Power needs to be supplied by a flex lead, although hand power is sometimes enough for a particualr application.
There should be some articles in various mags or online by searching the usual databases.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Hi Carl.
I have a two track staging area with a crossover at the end. I found that most of the time I either back the trains in or locomotive first and use a switcher to move the cars for the locomotive to escape. In short, I rarely use the crossover.
All the best.
Reinhard
Joe F
I have used two options, a sector plate and a turntable. A secto plate is a section of track as long as a set of engines that pivots at one end and the other just swings between tracks. On my last layout I had a 7 track staging yard so had an 11" home made "turntable". It was a strip of masonite 2" wide and 11" long with ascrew in the center and flex track glued to it.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
mlehman carl, Usually, traversers are made with a pair of drawer slides, but others have used UDHW (I think that's the acronym for that hard, slippery plastic) or something else. Different ways of doing it, but you basically build an upside down drawer. The track mounts on top. When the traverser is all the way in, the track aligns with the back track. As it's pulled out, you can line it up woith the other tracks. It obviously needs a stop just past the track closest to the aisle. Power needs to be supplied by a flex lead, although hand power is sometimes enough for a particualr application. There should be some articles in various mags or online by searching the usual databases.
I literally thought this up while I read your post, so who knows if this would work, but it passes the "it made sense in my head test" and usually that's all I need to say something stupid:
So you got your subroadbed at the end of the yard, right, and for ease here, we'll just say it's half inch ply on good old box benchwork. At the end of the line, you'd have another hunk of ply on top on a box, bolted to the end of the "true" benchwork but...a few inches lower.
Now...get yourself four O scale trucks and enough O scale track to cover the whole distance of the traverser. Undoubtedly, some of you already see where this is going. Make two "flat cars," ensuring that the trucks are on so tight that they don't rotate. They wouldn't need to be much more than, oh, 3 inches apart.
Figure out your longest possible motive power (like if it's a full ABBA set or something it's going to be pretty long and maybe you need a third "flatcar"). I'm going to go with 15 inches right now. Cut a piece of 1x3 or equivalent 15 inches long. Attach the two "flatcars" so you have an I shaped object (truck side down), with the mounting points set in about 3 inches from each end. Lay two parallel lines of O scale track perpendicular to the end of the staging yard. Lay some track on the plank. Put the I-car on the track. Hopefully the top of the railhead on this I-car device matches your railheads at the end of the yard. Maybe attach a handle or something to the I-car?
Powering it has a lot of options. I considered running your track power to the O-scale track, then having wipers on the O-scale trucks, that are attached to feeders to the traverser?
Drawer rails and wheels are probably a lot cheaper though!
NittanyLionDrawer rails and wheels are probably a lot cheaper though!
Well, yeah! Decent, cheap ones, anyway, is what you want, as you can drop some big bucks on drawer slides, like the 250 pound capacity ones that "power" the drawers in the back of our LandCruiser. Drawer slides also don't derail. But you definitely get some extra points for creativity. I've got some LGB track laying around, so that could be used...nah.
Buuuuuuuuut, you could get an O-scale power truck for my elaborate design and move it around that way!
I was going to say "let's see a drawer slide do that" but then I immediately thought about getting some small rubber tires that would fit into the rails, a small electric motor...
Now I kinda want to build one out of parts I have laying around just to see if it works. Would have to be for N scale though and use some HO trucks.
Chessie reinhard Hi Carl. I have a two track staging area with a crossover at the end. I found that most of the time I either back the trains in or locomotive first and use a switcher to move the cars for the locomotive to escape. In short, I rarely use the crossover. All the best. Reinhard
NOW why didnt the LION think of that! Have a pocket for the switcher, and REBUILD the trains while they are back there so that the CARS will be in the correct position for the next trains. Cars would even come out of DIFFERENT trains.
Cool.
gandydancer19The KISS principal works best.
It is amazing how it easy is to forget that in the pursuit of an interesting engineering challenge. This staging yard will be in my office. The last 16" of the tracks will be between the wall and the gun safe so something complicated that requires easy access wouldn't work.
What this post also reminds me is that since I won't be reusing trains during an operating session, I don't need to worry about being able to reverse them "off stage". I have a small yard near the point where the lead to the staging yard goes through the wall where the trains can be reassembled.
Thanks to all for the suggestions. The sector plate (is there another name for that?) sounds like an interesting idea that I might use as my "throat" for this staging yard to eliminate the loss of length that comes with a ladder. Anybody ever done one 13' long?
carl425 Anybody ever done one 13' long?
I've got no idea, but I can say that would be a tough one with wood because of the potential for sag, based on my general woodworking experience. It could be supported by multiple rollers along its length, so that could be one way to overcome the sag.
Even metal is subjected to sagging at those lengths unless somewhat similarly supported
Most sector plates I've see are supported by a pivot at the far end, then clear span until you get to the track end, which rests on some sort of roller arrangement. Basically a lot like 1/2 a turntable. Lengths in the 6' to 8' range seem to be close the practical maximum before meausres like I mentioned may have to come into play.
You might be able to work out the mechanics so a secotr plate could be used in place of a yard ladder, but the typical design, both ends move, so the incoming side fromt he layout wouldn;t stay lined up with the inbound track while you pointed the far end at one of the yard tracks. This is more a job for a traverser. Same deal, one incoming track, no ladder of turnouts. Line up and empty track, run the train off the layotu into stanging, move the traverser to the next emptry track for the next incoming train. Length is only as long as you need to handle a typical train length, all that space used by a yard ladder is available either to make the staging tracks longer or add a bit more visible railroad before hitting the staging.
The one I have seen isn't quite that long, but it is set up so the plate (made of plywood) with the tracks rests on top of another sheet of plywood, which has a frame under it to keep it from sagging, just like the rest of the layout. This is attached to a modular layout taken to shows.
I'm thinking of one, but not quite that long.
Good luck,
Richard
If it's going to be 13' long, I would suggest that it be built like a turntable, with the pivot in the middle and the ends supported on some kind of rollers. That means only 6-1/2 feet between supporting points, which should moderate the tendency to sag. Of course I'm not suggesting a turntable that turns 180 degrees. Just one that turns enough to change tracks. Sort of a two-ended sector plate. The pivot could be a bicycle wheel hub or something similar.
Tom