Yard Track questions

[kasskaboose]

I have Sperandeo's book on yards.  Great book, but I thought to ask some questions as they apply to my 12x7 layout set in the 1980s.  The yard will be stub-ended.  Here are the questions:

1.  How to use a three foot stub-ended track in the yard above the lead?  It might be too large for a RIP or engine facility.  I have space elsewhere on the yard for such structures.

2.  Sperandeo suggested having the track lead about as long as the classification tracks.  Is a six foot lead long enough since my classification tracks (four-five) will be about four feet each?  I don't forsee having really long consists on such a layout esp. since most cars in the 1980s were 50ft.

3.  How full to have the classification tracks at any one time?  I read anything more than half full creates a parking lot.

Best,

Lee

[Grampys Trains]

Hi Lee:  Suggestion for 1. How about making it a clean out track or team track, if you can squeeze  in a road next to it?

[locoi1sa]

   The 3 foot stub could be used for car clean out/ rip track. The six foot long lead is plenty long enough. Storage yards are just that. Classification yards are not storage / parking lots. Just leave some places for a switcher to escape or run around if needed.

      Pete

         

[Bighurt]

 There is a lot of different ways to go depending on your location within that era, and the type of railroad. IE Branchline, Logging route, interurban, etc.

The 3' track at the end of the ladder can be used for RIP or even a linear engine facility.  Depending on location the openness may represent a Midwest railroad, where space wasn't always an issue.  I prefer engine facilities away from operators hands to prevent loco accidents when reaching for a switch or to uncouple a freight car.  On a particularly small layout, the rip could just be the tail end of the track and the loco service would take place in the front.  With 3' I don't see this looking out of place.

 Think of yards as one big industry with no particular car destinations or order.  To prevent tieing up the main during shuffling maneuvers the yard lead lets the yard goat do its work uninterrupted while still keeping the main clear.  While its conceivable that a 5' track would be one block of cars requiring a single move to another track.  The yard lead ideally should be long enough for the largest block of cars moved at a given time, plus the locomotive.  Again not knowing your specifics.

Classification yards can become parking lots with two many cars, the yard goat needs spots to move cars when creating the consists.  When the way frieght arrives the yard crew will break it apart into blocks with the same destination.  They needs room to juggle these and create the departing train, so I tend to agree anything over 50% means a departure is ready to occur.

[wjstix]

You could have the track represent a team track, where cars are spotted to be unloaded directly into trucks.

BTW I was just reading somewhere - maybe the CNW Historical Soc. mag?? - that pointed out that it was rare that a switcher would need to pull all the cars on a track, so leads often were shorter than the longest track. Sometimes it only allowed for an engine and a short cut of cars.

[Sperandeo]

Hi Lee, Thanks for buying and using my book. You've gotten good suggestions on your first two questions, so I'll respond to question three. In normal operation the number of cars in a yard at any one time will rise and fall, so there's no one right number of cars for a given yard. Having all the classification tracks full is okay IF all the cars are properly classified, i.e, sorted to be ready to depart in outbound trains, transfer, or switching runs. Then you don't have a parking lot, you just need to call some crews and engines to take the cars somewhere else. Remember no. 7 from my "Ten tips for freight yard design and operation," and sort arriving cars by where they go next. Thanks again, Andy