I use mostly #4 to save space.And all my cars long and short have no problem.I drive slow though over them.
wjstix Spacing may not be as big an issue as space. If you use say no.6 turnouts, your shortest track might end up only being a couple of feet long as they can take up a lot of room...however, it also means you can run anything you want on them. If you're using a track brand like Walthers that has no.5 turnouts they're generally a good compromise - take up less room than a no.6, but you still should be able to run most any equipment thru them without derailing your bigger cars and engines.
Spacing may not be as big an issue as space. If you use say no.6 turnouts, your shortest track might end up only being a couple of feet long as they can take up a lot of room...however, it also means you can run anything you want on them. If you're using a track brand like Walthers that has no.5 turnouts they're generally a good compromise - take up less room than a no.6, but you still should be able to run most any equipment thru them without derailing your bigger cars and engines.
I pretty much agree with the ideas outlined above. My main concern in staging is reliability. I use min no 6 to make sure that everything will run w/o derailments. They do take more space but they run perfect...
Guy
see stuff at: the Willoughby Line Site
It depends on the equipment you intend to run and the manufacturer of the turnout (unless you make your own). I use Walthers/Shinohara Code 83 track and turnouts. Their #4 turnouts have a radius of closure rail (RCR) of 26". I have run 6 axle diesels and a BLI 2-8-2 through that turnout (slowly, of course) with no problem.
I suggest you experiment with the equipment and turnouts you intend to use.
Dante
PS. The W/S #4s, when laddered, produce tracks spaced at approximately 2-1/4". If you shorten the ends of the turnouts, you can reduce that spacing.
If you use a compound ladder instead of a simple one, you can get more and longer tracks into the same space. An "Atlas Trackplanner" has a diagram as I am sure do other sources.
A three-way turnout with a compound ladder each side would give you about the most tracks in the space that I can think of.
As mentioned your era (length of car) can make a difference too.
Good luck,
Richard
If you can get at the staging area, you could put (mostly) parallel tracks on a sector plate and avoid turnouts altogether. You would also gain the track length that would be used up by the turnouts.
Assuming you are simply going to run a train into staging and leave it alone until you power the locomotive to get it out, you can lay your tracks with minimum clearance (I use 45mm in HOj, which is size-equivalent to HO) OTOH, if you expect to have to insert the 0-5-0 you will have to leave finger clearance between cars on adjacent tracks.
If, as you said, you will never, ever use anything but 4-axle diesels and 40 foot (or shorter) cars, #4 frogs will fill the bill. The problems will start if you decide to buy a 60 foot car or a 6-axle diesel. I personally build either #5 frogs or frogs built to minimum 24 inch radius curve. (The nice thing about hand-laying your own - you aren't locked into some commercial source's chosen geometry,)
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
There are lots of questions to ask and most of the answers will be in the book" the Model Railroaders' Guide to Freight Yards" by Andy Sperandeo. i have found it an invaluable resource.
robdmarch Also correct me if I am wrong to call them turnouts. Thank you. ROB
Also correct me if I am wrong to call them turnouts. Thank you.
ROB
The things you are looking at *are* turnouts. Switches are on the electrical panel. However the turnout points themselves are the "switch" The frog and other rails are part of the turnout. Most railroaders (model and prototype) frequently lump the whole thing under the word "switch". Track workers would not make that mistake.
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
All depends on what you want. Different track configurations will give you longer tracks in the same area.
Older eras might want a #4 turn out, while the same plant made today might use an 8 or a 10 or more.
I use a No. 4 because I want to get as much action in as little space as possible. My prototype, the NYCT, uses very tight switches, but then they run shorter cars under city streets, and must thread in and out of support pillars. On my layout a snap switch would not look out of place, out in LA a number 20 turnout might be used. In a yard such as you are thinking it would of course be less.
To tell you the truth, I build my yards with number 4s and even then I may trim the ends off of them with a motor tool to get the tracks closer together.
I am wondering what # turnouts I should use for my staging area which will be a space of 18" wide by anywhere from 4 ft. - 6 ft. long and I was thinking of having four rows of track for staging also. Being new to building a bigger layout that is permanent I did not know if there is a standard # so that you have a certain spacing to youre staging ? Also correct me if I am wrong to call them turnouts. Thank you.