tomikawaTTNevin, My choice would be to have the wye project into the room - on a drop-down leaf. By using those long antique barn hinges, you could offset the hinge point well behind the front edge of your shelf to protect the desert scrub from damage when the leaf is in the fully dropped position. A slight bevel in the edge of the non-moving part will prevent interference and allow the two to meet in a barely-perceptible line. Just my , other opinions will differ. Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - in a Clark County, NV, garage)
Nevin,
My choice would be to have the wye project into the room - on a drop-down leaf.
By using those long antique barn hinges, you could offset the hinge point well behind the front edge of your shelf to protect the desert scrub from damage when the leaf is in the fully dropped position. A slight bevel in the edge of the non-moving part will prevent interference and allow the two to meet in a barely-perceptible line.
Just my , other opinions will differ.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - in a Clark County, NV, garage)
I really like that idea. - Nevin
lvanhenIf space is the issue, a turntable will take up a lot less room, and fit on your shelf. My
If space is the issue, a turntable will take up a lot less room, and fit on your shelf. My
You are right, and there is currently a turntable in place, but I am modeling the Nevada mining railroads before WWI and turntables were very scarce in Nevada. The T&G had one in Goldfield and that was the only one. Wyes were definitely the way they turned engines in Nevada except at Ludlow CA on the Tonopah and Tidewater, which used a balloon track that looped around the entire town just like a model railroad. - Nevin
Another variation is the Grantham railroad wye that is used in the UK. I'm not sure if it got much use in the states. The nice thing about this is that it keeps the entire wye to one side. If you need to, you can cross the main line slightly or curve the mainline away from the wye.
Larry
pcarrol brought up the use of a sissor wye in the Model Railroader Forums. It can be a space saver since the tails are not moving in totally opposite directions. The entire thread can be found on this website.
The curved wye can be a bit more compact overall, but may not fit as well in the narrow shelf style of layout that the original poster was building (if I recall correctly). It could fit well, as mentioned, around a curve in the main track.
Byron
Layout Design GalleryLayout Design Special Interest Group
The purpose of a wye is to reverse the direction of travel of trains approaching the wye from at least two different tracks. Two parallel tracks on opposite sides of the narrow shelf form an 18" radius loop at the widened end, and then cross each other, at an X to form two opposing reverse loops. This will accomplish the same purpose. It will require four switches, an X cross over, and either DPDT toggle switches, or auto reverse loop modules). On my layout, I have another set of opposing switches,at the top of the loop, to form train length spurs, to allow priority trains to pass, to serve industries, or store freight cars for later pick-up. Bob Hahn
NevinWI am thinking about adding a wye ... so I am thinking about #4 turnouts and 18 inch radius.
It would be wye turnout, 1 section 18" radius curve, 1 section 1/3 18" radius curve, wye turnout - repeat.
I've built this using 22" radius curves and it fit into the corner 24" wide. It is shown in the upper left of the photo below. The aqua/green GN box car is sitting on the closest turnout of the wye. The end of one of the other legs is where the tall smoke stack is.
In the classic "wye" shape, it would protrude about 3 feet into the room, as seen here with a 1-foot-long "tail" beyond each turnout. Different turnouts would change the dimensions a bit.
If your equipment is shorter, you could decrease the length of the tail ... you just need clearance beyond the points for your longest engine.
Keep in mind that you can bend a wye around a turnback curve or even make a "scissors" version with a crossing to change the overall shape a bit. Although for your prototype, simpler is probably better.