Ideas for a Team Track

[E-L man tom]

I have an area located at the edge of my small switching layout that is along a side track. the dimensions are approximately 14" X 3 1/2". I want to put a team track loading dock there. I would like some ideas on: 1. the loading dock (i. e. ideas on whether it should be concrete or wood, etc.), I have room for approximately 10-15 X 50-60 scale feet, 2. the office/scale house and, 3. any other equipment that may be practical in this space that would lend itself to a team track scene. BTW, I'm modeling northern Ohio (betwen Sandusky and Toledo) in the mid 1970's.

Thanks,

[dehusman]

Minimal : all you need is a gravel or paved area next to the tracks.  Nothing else.

You could put in a dock, it can be any size you want and should have a ramp down to ground level.  Wood or concrete is your choice, most of the ones I've seen are wood.  Some of the ones on the RDG had a small hand powered pillar crane (like the Alexander model).

There really isn't a need for a scale or a office. 

A more extensive one might have an unloading pit and a conveyor or a dump.  Some may also have an overhead crane that would bridge the track and enough area to pull a truck up along side the car.

[E-L man tom]

Thanks, Dave, I was thinking a small dock would be a natural for this area.  I'm thinking probably either wood or concrete would do for the era I'm modeling. Additionally, has anyone got a picture of such a wooden dock? I took pictures locally of a concrete one but haven't seen a wooden one around here. I'm leaning towards wood but haven't made up my mind yet on that.

[Grampys Trains]

This is a combination team track and TOFC unloading ramp. DJ.

[HoosierLine]

In a lot of cases you don't even need a ramp, just a nearby parking lot or road that allows the trucks to pull up to the car.  Surprisingly, team tracks still see a lot use even today.   The one near me has something called a 'Yard King' which is a small portable ramp on wheels.  A forklift just drags the ramp up the box car door.

Lance

Layout Design, Construction, and Track Plan Books:

http://www.lancemindheim.com/bookstore.htm

[dehusman]

Although this technically isn't a team track its what one might look like:

Valley, NE

[dehusman]

Here are some pix from 2006 of someplace in Northern MO or southern IA.

Here is a loading dock that looks worse for the wear:

Here is an overhead crane for unloading open top cars:

Detail of the crane winch:

This is used to unload covered hoppers into trucks:

I was taking a pix of the elevator but got them loading grain into covered hoppers too:

[E-L man tom]

Guys thanks so much. This really gets the seed for thought growing on this. These are all wonderful ideas. I wish I could integrate all of them into one scene but I don't think that I could cram them all into the space alotted here!

[rrinker]

 That's be beauty of a team track. Minimal infrastructure but you can spot nearly any type of car there. And even just switching vehicles around periodically to change the scene - one day a furniture company truck, next day a small flat bed truck, then a produce truck - the possibilities are endless, unlike a specialized industry where they pretty much always ship an receive the same materials.

                           --Randy

 

[Bob Sandusky]

In Albany just north of Downtown and east of Broadway there is 6 (I think) track 'team track' yard.  It doesn't have a loading dock at all.

The cars that are unloaded there are done either by hooking up a tanker truck to the car, or a conveyer unloader under a hopper or a crane or front-end loader is available to unload flat cars and gondolas.

To recreate it all you need is a paved or graveled area for the trucks and a couple oif other items and BANG instant industry for vitually any type of car you can imagine.

It is surrounded by a fence and has a small office for drivers to check in and out.

[304live]

some great ideas in this thread!

 

thanks guys for the pictures

[doctorwayne]

Here are a few views of one of my team tracks:

EDIT:  Or not - seems as if photobucket isn't going to show the pictures.  Sorry. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's an aerial overview:

 

Smaller yards get an office and the loading dock:

 

...and others may also get some short-term warehousing:

 

Wayne

 

 

[steinjr]

Here are some links to previous posts showing Wayne's team tracks:

http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/forums/p/165255/1818320.aspx#1818320

http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/forums/p/152149/1726012.aspx#1726012

Smile,
Stein

 

[doctorwayne]

Thanks for the assistance, Stein.

I'm uncertain as to why my pictures won't show - I posted one using the exact same link (still in memory) in another Forum and it shows just fine. 

 

Wayne

[rrinker]

 Looks like the URL got cut off - are there spaces in the names? Depending on where it's pasted, spaces have to be replaced with % 2 0 

                --Randy

 

[rrinker]

 

 Yup, that's the problem. The folder path includes "trackside photos" in it, if you check properties of the oens that failed to post, the URL stops at "trackside" I just cut and pasted one from the old thread that did work and it shows up fine. Unlike the other palce, you have to use the image tool to put a photo in here - this is the one thing I do not like about the update here, you USED to be able to use bbcode like [ i m g ] and [ u r l ] here but those no longer work, at least in SOME palces - this site is somewhat inconsistent about it. This is not the only forum I use that DOESN'T reliably support bbcode.

 

 

               --Randy

[R. T. POTEET]

Maybe something passed me in the nighttime but I never saw a team track that was not accessed from ground level. The one I'm most familiar with is the one in Roberts, Ida; My grandpappy used to access coal from a boxcar there and we'd just back a flatbed up to the car and shovel coal into the bed. I used to pick up a few bucks unloading material for the local lumber yard/hardware store. There was never much more than a couple of inches different between the levels of the boxcar and a flatbed truck and we overcame that with a  sheet of 3/4" plywood.

[doctorwayne]

Thanks for checking, Randy.  I've always simply copied the "img" tag line in photobucket, then "pasted" it here - The last time must've been no more than a day or two before the attempt here, and it worked fine. 

I went to the post with the failed pictures and attempted to edit one using the insert image option, but got similar results.

I know that there are a few on these Forums who will be relieved, but I'm not going to jump through MR's hoops merely to share photos which I believe may be instructional or otherwise helpful. 

To all who've enjoyed my photo attempts in the past, my sincere thanks for your warm reception.  If the situation changes regarding photo posting, I'll be back.

Wayne

[rrinker]

 Use the direct link, not the IMG one, and use the insert media on the toolbar. Seems to work every time. Things USED to work here using the ing tag completely, but now that seems to only work in the quick reply but not full reply - or maybe it's the other way around. But the direct link pasted into the insert media box always works.

                  --Randy

 

[EM-1]

I don't know why this is the only site I frequent that doesn't just let you choose a simple upload direct from your computer files.  This is the only one of about 12 that requires going through something like Photobucket with the extra hastle.

There's a medium size trucking firm near my house that has a multi-use team track werving their site.  Just a curved spur, on elevated roadbed, right off a NS interchange yard.  The end bumper appears to just be a tie across the tracks.

Used to see box cars, open and closed hoppers, tanks, all kinds of flats.  They even get their tractors and trailers shipped in by rail.  They have at least one conveyor, some kind of portable pump for the tanks, at least one Bobcat, a front end loader with a backhoe, a heavy lift crane, and at least one very heavy duty forklift.  While passing it to/from work, I've seen Bi and Tri level auto cars, once one of the articulated auro carriers, long flats with stacked flatbed trailers, Freightliner and Kenworth tractors, heavy machinery, the aformentioned hoppers, a tank or two hooked to the portable pump, prototype "Snap Track", and just a couple weeks ago, they were unloading several flat car loads of what looked like standard rail, while a crew with a gas welding set appeared to be trimming sections of the rail.  The rail was set on the ground for the crew to work on.  Rail was gone within a week.  I've even heard they get their diesel fuel in buk by tank car.  They have what looks to be two large vertical tanks behind the 6 bay maintenance garage.  They also receive and transport sheet and wire coils

I'm not sure what the spur radius is,but the yard is usually serviced a couple times a day by 1 or two GP or SD-40-2s, sometimes something larger.  I imagine the spur radius is wide enough to take even some of today's big C-C diesels.  It's not only a decent setting for a very busy team track.

 

[steinjr]

doctorwayne

Thanks for checking, Randy.  I've always simply copied the "img" tag line in photobucket, then "pasted" it here - The last time must've been no more than a day or two before the attempt here, and it worked fine. 

I went to the post with the failed pictures and attempted to edit one using the insert image option, but got similar results.

 Mmm.  I created an album with a space in the album name (Two words) on photobucket and uploaded a test image.

 If I in photobucket new interface move the marker over the thumbnail of the image and click on "direct link" - I briefly get a "copied" text on photobucket.

 Then I go to the insert media button here (with the film roll) and paste the link. I note that the link pasted contains %20 (ie ascii code decimal 32 - space). Upon clicking OK, the image displays just fine.

 If I in Photobucket instead move the marker over "IMG code" and click, I get a brief "copied".

 Then I put my marked wherever I want it in the edit window here and do a paste. BB code is posted here. When I preview or post message, picture shows up just fine.

 Doing a quick reply and pasting the BB IMG code into the message also works just fine for me.

 Doesn't look like the forum as such is breaking links containing spaces. 

 But it could be forum/browser interaction, I guess.  I am using a reasonably new version of Firefox as my web browser.

 Or it could be that Photobucket had forgotten to convert spaces to %20 when they let you copy the links from their new interface (Photobucket fairly recently changed their user interface).

Anyways, I hope you don't stop posting, Wayne - you images are a very valuable (and inspirational) contribution to any forum you post in.

 Smile,
 Stein

 

[doctorwayne]

Thank you for your very kind words, Stein. 

Since the second procedure which you outlined above is exactly the same as the one which I've always used, I decided to give it one more try and edited my original post with an additional image.  Lo and behold, it worked! 

I not too pleased with photobucket's new format, as it seems rather awkward to use.  However, I had no problems using it to post photos elsewhere and that's why I felt that the problem might lie here.

 

Wayne

[pmsrr]

Another thing a Team Track could be used for is a place for locos to be refueled by an area vendor. All you need is a fuel truck (straight truck, not a semi) that fits your R.R.'s era, spot the engine(s) on the Team Track and place the truck beside them. I drive a fuel truck for a living and have refueled many Union Pacific locos directly from my truck. Just an idea I had for my own layout that I thought I'd share with you.