yards

[Anonymous]

I am just curiose how many people have yards on thier layouts. I do not think I will have one.

[Noah Hofrichter]

The layout I have wasn't designed two years ago when I didn't know much for operation, It was design for continuous running. Now that I run some operations on it I wish I had a yard

[Fergmiester]

I added a yard a year ago. It really makes the whole thing come alive and adds that little something special. There is now plans for a second and maybe third yard.

[BNSFNUT]

The yard is the main feature of my layout. It takes up about 50% of the main section of the layout. I am hooked on switching so my yard is larger than most layouts. With 6 industries near the yard and 8 industries on the branch line I have many operational choices.

[Big_Boy_4005]

The first thing I built was a yard, I have 3 more planned. Gotta have some place for all those cars when they aren't moving.

[CP5415]

I will have about 3 yards on the layout & 3 six track staging yards & a 2 track staging yard
incorporated by the time I'm done, if the MRS allows me to go ahead with my plans as I see them [;)]

Gordon

[Anonymous]

I have two. My main is a continuous loop so the second yard is actually a destination on both the east and west ends of the RR.

[AggroJones]

I have a small 3-track yard near the center of the layout.

[Anonymous]

My layout has a marshalling yard that will hold about 40 freight cars, and the drill track interchanges with my branch line, which has 6 industry sidings on it, and I have a staging yard with 5 tracks off the branch line, 6 industry spurs off the main line, and an engine service area that includes a turntable and a 6 stall roundhouse.

[IRONROOSTER]

I don't have a yard or plans for one. I have done them on layouts in the past and found I used them for storage. So for this layout I put staging tracks in where the yard would have gone.
At 11x18 foot in S scale (equivalent to 8x13 in HO) I wanted to run 2 trains (on the mainline) and one on the branch line with one operator. Achieving this goal meant no room for a yard. If more space becomes available (a future possibility) then I'll revisit this.
Enjoy
Paul

[GDRMCo]

I have 3. 2 are the main yards at Townsville and Ayr. The other is the interchange yard with Pacific National.

[Anonymous]

I have one large yard that takes up a large portion of my layout. It contains an intermodal terminal and an 8-stall roundhouse. I also have a very small "yard" that consists of 3 sidings in another area of my layout.

[Roadtrp]

Like AggroJones, I have a small 3-track yard near the center of my layout.

[Anonymous]

My layout is a yard - it's a small switching setup at the moment, though I do hope to expand at some time - have plans for another pair of 1ft x 4ft boards with (possibly) a plastic pellet silo, a carfloat bridge undergoing restoration, and maybe a couple of the Walthers low-profile buildings.

[tomwatkins]

I removed a small subdivision point yard about a year ago and replaced it with what was actually in that area in the time I am modeling. The yard was like a 400 pound gorilla. It was too small to actually function well, and it took up too much space for something that didn't work. In that space I now have the trackage to serve a sawmill, planning mill, oil distributor, small stockyard and a pulpwood lot. I'm fortunate in that I have space available in another finisher room adjacent to the railroad room to build a much larger yard which will be modeled on the Southern's yard in Asheville, NC. Construction on it won't begin anytime soon, but I'm gathering information for it and loking forward to it.
Have Fun,
Tom Watkins

[ShaunCN]

I have very small yards at both ends of my layout.

[BRAKIE]

For me a layout without a working yard would be like walking in the snow with bare feet.

[trainfan1221]

I have a staging yard, and in the middle of my layout I have a larger freight yard. Although my layout is only 6x3 and a continuous loop, I feel the yards add a lot. They are fun to use and add operational interest when you switch them. As long as they are done well so things don`t derail.

[ClinchValleySD40]

I've got four. I guess it depends on what you're going to run. If you just want to watch trains run, no yard needed. But if you're going to do any kind of ops, I'd think you'd need some kind of yard.

[GerFust]

All staging in mine happens in a separate cassette, due to space constraints.

-Jer

[vsmith]

Two very small yards, one at each end of layout.

[dragenrider]

I'm not much on switching a yard. My old layout had a three track yard and it got pretty boring in a hurry. [|(] Now I just have a small industrial area with a few short side tracks that serve that need. It's enough to provide an interlude from highballing through my make believe world! [:)]

Any major switching is accomplished by one of my two 0-5-0 switchers. [:P]

[randybc2003]

Very small yard for very small trains. 4-4-0 Am. Std. woodburners w/ 1-5 cars. One interchange track, main line, siding w/ "freight loading" spurs. Switching lead on the sidign, and loco service w/ wood yard, water, and station. Don't tell me I don't have a yard!
randybc2003

[Anonymous]

Just two very small ones. Each with just two yard tracks, one also has a small caboose track and RIP track. Roll dice for each car going into the Bree yard to see if it needs to move to the RIP track.

This is plenty of capacity for us, we didn't want huge yards, just enough to facilitate interchange between the three railroads on the layout.

--Mo

[Anonymous]

Maureen, are you modeling a fictional railroad in middle-earth? man that would be cool !

[Anonymous]

I kind of wish I had a yard, but there is no room on my layout for a worthwile sized yard.

[n2mopac]

When complete my layout will have 6 yards represented. These range from a 2 track representation of an interchange yard to an online flat classification yard with 7 class tracks and an involved industrual district surrunding it. These also include a 6 track staging yard, double ended for continuous running.
Ron

[AntonioFP45]

For good ops, even on a small layout a yard is needed.

Mine will consist of a branch coming off of the two track mainline with 3 to 4 "ladder tracks" long enough to hold 7 to 9 freight cars since I will be a little cramped for space. For me the yard will be essential as this is where I will make up or break up long distance and local freight trains. The mainline will be a continuous loop so the yard will be a final destination.

[Anonymous]

I have one yard and plans to make a two track stub end staging yard to hold 20 cars on each track. Big enough to run my biggest train oout of view. I have one 5 yard track ith a two track car repair track , a branch line at each end and a 3 siding engine terminal. Fo or me having a yard is essential as cars need to be dropped off and classified to go to to the two main industry sidding plus the industrys along the mainline. Another good point about yards is when cars are not being used they are still on display on your layouts so visitors can still enjoy your fleet.

[cwclark]

I wouldn't have a layout without a yard...that's half the fun of the hobby is switching the rolling stock around. I like to have index cards with "orders" on them...When a train comes into the yard I shuffle the cards and then bring out a road switcher and randomly pick out about 25 cards which have rolling stock numbers on them and it's destination..Then I make a train from the card indications and send it out to the various destination locations...Another train goes out...picks up the cars and then back to the yard again for reclassification...My new layout design will incorperate a "Wye" in it so that I can turn a train around before the yard lead tracks..since I model modern day railroads, this gives me the opportunity to do away with the roundhouse which is slowly fading away from the railroads and put in a diesel service area instead....chuck