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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by wickman [quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by ndbprr A number of factors wuld seem to apply here. A class one would probably have union considerations to dictate who does what. A short line would have the most expedient way. I would justify a switcher at that location to add interest and another crew. [/quote] Thankyou for the response but what about the innitial question[:)] [/quote] It may not look like it but ndbprr has raised the MOST important issue to what would happen if you want to reflect real RR practice. Okay, we all scale down and imagine tracks in the locality that we run moves to/from but don't actually model. If you accept the idea of thinking of your scene as being like theatre you might llike to build the wider scenario in your head... If this is a yard in a fairly major area with other yards and lots of traffic there may be justification for a switcher to take a pathway on the main (possibly with a few cars) to come to your yard and switch whatever needs switching. (Bear in mind what has been said about the fact that you would have more than one train - or elements of more than one train - in the yard at any one time). Unless you are thinking of a high degree of compression the yard is probably not big enough to justify the cost of keeping a switcher there full time. If this is the only yard in town it is more likely to be switched as part of the road engines turn (subject to union Rules). This sin't as bad as it sounds. it might mean that a road engine ( or several seperate road engines0 cut off cars but don't switch them further. later in the day either a local working or a designated switcher may do the sorting out. If you want to be RR like the bottom line is cost effectiveness. Bear in mind that switchers are relatively slow moving so that if they have to come from far away on the main they are reducing the capacity of the main. Sometimes even the big RR get round this and Union Rules by stabling a pretty old /low powered otherwise obsolete switcher in a remote location and "bussing" in crews as and when needed. As for the lead being longer than the longets road... yes... if you plan to pull a full road out of one road and push it into another... otherwise it only has to be a bit longer than the longets cut of cars you wuld normally switch... if there is a need to move a longer cut it has to be moved in more than one go... sometimes this will be just two moves - but this will change the order of the cars... keeping the cars in the same order gets more interesting. Also... access to the works sidings... so long as you can get the loco and the longest car into the switching neck you are in business... even if the siding will take 20 cars. It just takes a lot of switching to get a full set of cars in or out. (I know:- I've done it - crews hate it - modellers love it --- until about an hour into a two day show ...) Hope this helps[:p]
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