I am modeling the Wind River Range in Wyoming. My frelanced layout is centered around a branch. On the branch there is a town called Lafayette which has a classification yard and where this branch meets the main line there is a smaller town called Pinewood Springs. (My design is loosely based on MR's Virginian.)
I am adopting situation cards from an idea in the June 2015 issue of MR, similar to the ones used on the Olympia. One situation I have come up with is the need to refill within one hour.
In Lafayette, which is on the South end, I plan to have water and coaling towers and diesel fuel. There is no room for a siding in Pinewood Springs (which is to the North). This is my probem, what to do about refilling if a train is headed north on the main line. I know that I could create a fictional, off-layout, generic refilling location but I would prefer not to. The idea that I've come up with so far is that an extra train would deliver a water car/tank/hopper to the main. This idea is obviously fictional and off-layout, but my staging yard does go over the Green River so this is not so generic. Any suggestions or critiques will be appreciated.
Refueling on the main? It has been done all the time. I'm not too sure what exactly your conflict is. There have been coaling stations with nothing more sophisticated than a jib crane and an iron bucket to load coal with. A local or a "turn" could bring coal to replenish the bunker when the pile dwindled.
Water could be a simple stand-pipe with a short length of canvas hose to reduce splashing. No need for a big water plug, there could be a wooden tank on stilts or a tank on a hillside. A small wooden pump-house at a nearby creek could keep the tank filled.
Some locomotives even had suction hoses whereby water could be pumped right out of a creek.
Diesel fuel could be stored in any cylindrical tank or an old tank car with the trucks removed and placed on ties or concrete piers. Or, a tank truck could meet the train for refueling. I believe Jordan Model Products made a neat, old chain-drive Mack with a tank body. That could be your diesel supply.
Even the Super Chief got refueled on the main!
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Regards, Ed
Thank you for your great information. Does a refueling train need flag protection?
Oh, I've thought of another question. I've made another situation card for when a tank car leaks gasoline. If this happens between towns, what would the prototype do in that position? Any help would be greatly appreciated.