hello.
on my layout plan on have drawn out 7 sidings with each one being a spur off of the mainline with one switch for each siding...
i'm hung up on how to combine the 7 siding back into one that rejoins the mainline and i'm stumped
i'm thinking i got off to the wrong start by having each siding coming separately off of the mainline?
matthew
I think that railroads would not do as you are thinking. They prefer to have fewer turnouts off the main and have the turnouts to the individual tracks as ladders off the main.
I would suggest getting a copy of John Armstrong's "Track Plans for Realistic Operations." It has many good ideas, not only for yards, but many other aspects of layout design also. Even though the title suggests it is for operations, it can be used for any type of layout you are building. The Atlas "Custom-Line Layouts" book I have shows how to build ladders and the space they will take up. There are also several other books on freight yard design available.
Good luck,
Richard
Richard, Thank you!
i've got that John Armstrong book, i'll go through it again, i'm sure i overlooked that part
Off the main have one turnout which goes to the yard lead . Ideally the lead should be as long as your longest train. Have the turnouts come off from there. There is a web page by Craig Biesiger? That outlines the basics for a good yard. Often compromises because of space need to be made. Like combining the or using the yard lead as a A/D.
http://www.housatonicrr.com/yard_des.html
Bill D
model in O. the Western NY and Ontario Railroad
examples of yard-ladders:
Paul
Hi Mathew
I would read some articles on yard construction and operation.
Real railroads don't do as you have described..
one track comes off the man into an arrival road or roads where the loco and caboose are removed
from the train and then go to be serviced the train is usually moved from the arrival road
to be broken up and sent to the various places it will then go.
Don't forget to add the track needed so the switcher can move around the yard to get to all the spots it needs to this line is purely for the switcher to move around they yard and should not be blocked by other rolling stock.
Out going trains are pushed onto the departure road or roads where the caboose and loco is added
and it is sent off to where its going.
There is a need to keep arrival and departure roads clear so the next train in or out has a place open for it.
Yours sounds like its only a small yard but the ruling principals for a larger yard are just as important if not more so to get a good working small yard.
With all the important bits that will make it work..
regards John
John Busby Out going trains are pushed onto the departure road or roads where the caboose and loco is added and it is sent off to where its going. There is a need to keep arrival and departure roads clear so the next train in or out has a place open for it.
The idea of dedicated arrival and departure tracks is something of a model railroad concept for yards the size most of can include on a layout. In smaller yards (say a 10-track yard that will fit on a two-foot wide shelf in HO, that will appear to be a large model yard but isn't by prototype standards), trains typically arrive or depart from whatever track works at the time.
Rob Spangler
Here are a couple examples from my layout. Neither of these yards has finished scenery.
This is Lakeview, a small yard used for block swaps and local industry work. The ladders at each end start from the siding and allow access to the body tracks.
The much larger Junction City yard has parallel ladders at each end to save space. In the model press the ones at this end would both be considered "simple" ladders, they're just placed next to each other. Here you can see both ladders taking off from the siding, and the crossover that allows a train to easily get to or from the main to any track. Also note the lead extending past the crossover so switching can be done without fouling the main.
Here;s the body of the yard...
...and the ladders at the opposite end. Again note that the only turnouts off the main belong to the crossover, but that any body track can be reached from the main through that crossover. This end has a more complex "compound" and "pinwheel" ladder arrangement due to it being on a curve.
Here is a diagram of a simple single-ended yard:
If you want to make the yard double-ended, Just connect all of the yard tracks together on the left side and have them come into the A/D track.
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.
gandydancer19 Here is a diagram of a simple single-ended yard: If you want to make the yard double-ended, Just connect all of the yard tracks together on the left side and have them come into the A/D track.
Amen.
Elmer, can you modify your drawing just to illustrate the point for interested readers?
Rich
Alton Junction
Just make the left side look like the right side but without the caboose track and yard lead. All yard switching should be done from the yard lead only. If you have a very large (long) yard, you could have a yard lead on the left and have two operators switching cars in the yard.
Elmer, I knew what you meant. I just thought that if you modified the drawing, you could add the other side of that ladder to help others visualize the setup.
Maybe something like the diagram below?