Got yet another one for my Forum friends. Would a https://www.walthers.com/intermodal-yard-details-kit be the most prototypical way for an industrial yard existing in the early 70s to 1980 to allow for equipment like forklifts etc to travel across tracks? I have built a few wooden grade crossings for my layout and I wonder if building the crossings would be easier or if this would be easier.
As usual any suggestions would be most welcomed.
My thoughts are that an intermodal yard is fairly modern and needs wide roads between every other track to unload containers and possibly trailers. It is my opinion that the least number of Crossings would be the preferred method. On any classification yard Crossings would be at or near the end of each track to minimizecrossings
I would expect most of the area to be paved. Forklifts don't like mud. Gravel would be a bare minimum.
I think for what you want to do, that kit would be fine, or build your own to fit where you need it.
Your not talking about a big fully paved intermodal facility, just a place to have access to both sides of a freight car, similar to a team track situation.
If you look at rail yards on Google satilite, you rarely see a service road crossing the tracks, except maybe at one end or the other.
Mike.
My You Tube
The industrial area as suck starts as a single track that connects to my main yard with a turnout off the top of the yard ladder. (Closed accesses industrial track open the yard ladder.) That then leads to a runaround track so the switcher can back incoming cars into the industrail yard and then back the outbound cars into the main yard. The industrial "yard" as such consists of a track for car storage, the unload track and the team track going actual north. The team track has a ramp on the end of it inspired by the ramp seen on the right hand side of this view: https://www.google.com/maps/@46.4060097,-105.844525,3a,75y,222.82h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s4fSm2lTBsDG2-Xh7RZ7AMA!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3D4fSm2lTBsDG2-Xh7RZ7AMA%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D222.825%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656. (You can zoom in to see the ramp a bit closer up.) Kitbashed from the ramps in the Walthers OOP Team Track Kit.
The area between the team track and a kitbashed storage building (Three DPM Laube Linen Mill kits) is "paved" as such but the tracks are not embeded into the pavement.
Hope that clarifies what the arrangement is. (Yes it is good sized area on the layout.)