PruittNo way should an 0-6-0 yard goat be able to move most of a train that will be hauled over the road by a Decapod, for example.
.
Sure it could. The little 0-6-0 would just never be able to get that train up a grade or moving at road speed.
A typical 18 wheeler has a 425 horsepower engine to get 80,000 pounds up to 70 MPH quickly and effectively. It also needs to be able to pull 80,000 pounds up hill.
That same loaded trailer is hustled around a yard by a smaller truck with a 165 horsepower engine, and it handles it up to 30 MPH just fine.
That 0-6-0 in a level yard could probably assemble nearly any train needed.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Thank you all for your responses. I greatly appreciate your input and knowledge.
I think I will get a copy of John Armstrong's book. I have seen so many recommendations that it must be a must read.
Ed
Semi newbie HO scale modeler coming from the O scale world
Pruitt No way should an 0-6-0 yard goat be able to move most of a train that will be hauled over the road by a Decapod, for example.
certainly not as fast.
greg - Philadelphia & Reading / Reading
DoughlessFor an 8 car train, sorting ahead of time really doesn't matter.
Your plan sounds very similar to mine.
I don't plan on assembling any train longer than 8-10 cars in the yard. Locals from Centerville to Port Annabell will be 3-6 cars long. Locals to Great Divide and Manchester will be 4 cars maximum.
A small yard should do just fine.
SeeYou190 Doughless My yard is small, since I model a shortline. It will probably be two or three tracks. . I have no intention of actually sorting cars or reproducing actual concerns about car sorting. . I just want a small yard to toss trains together, and move them out. . -Kevin .
Doughless My yard is small, since I model a shortline. It will probably be two or three tracks.
I have no intention of actually sorting cars or reproducing actual concerns about car sorting.
I just want a small yard to toss trains together, and move them out.
For an 8 car train, sorting ahead of time really doesn't matter. If I'm switching an industry where the car that's needed is at the head of the train, I'll just leave the other 7 cars on the mainline then fetch them when I'm done switching.
My yard will mostly reflect interchange. I'll fiddle it with different cars I pull and place off and on the layout, and they will be in whatever random order the class 1 railroad left them. For the most part, my operation starts when the road local is ready to depart, except for maybe a couple of sorts of cars that have been on the storage tracks.
But when dropping off the train back to interchange, I might need a lead as long as my train, since most railroads would have leads that are at least 8 car lengths long. The runaround will have to be that long too, for the loco to get to the end of the train for a shove onto the yard track.
Some cars might be placed on the storage tracks. Empties that are not ready to go back to the class 1 right away.
- Douglas
I model the late steam era, and limit the size of a cut of cars being switched into a train. No way should an 0-6-0 yard goat be able to move most of a train that will be hauled over the road by a Decapod, for example.
So my drill track needs to be only as long as the longest cut my largest switcher can handle - in my case eight freight cars or five passenger cars (for simplicity's sake, I allow one freight car per driver, so an 0-6-0 can move six cars max, and an 0-8-0 eight cars).
My max freight train length is about 25 cars plus caboose, but because my goats canonly move such a train in small segments, my drill tracks are relatively compact and do not bloat the length of the yard excessively.
Mark P.
Website: http://www.thecbandqinwyoming.comVideos: https://www.youtube.com/user/mabrunton
chris
thanks for all the examples. appreciate the time to explain.
if a RR yard were being built today, do you think it would be designed with not enough tracks?
gregc of course, the arriving train comes in on the arrival track.
of course, the arriving train comes in on the arrival track.
Assuming you have a specific track or set of tracks that is a dedicated "arrival" track. Not all yards need to have a specific track that's only used for arrivals, in some cases trains can arrive into any convenient track.
gregc any train arriving in a yard has the potential to have cars for all possible destinations.
any train arriving in a yard has the potential to have cars for all possible destinations.
Well, any destinations other than the one(s) it just came from.
gregc So until the next train arrives, an empty "local", or any other track can be used for other intermediate purposes. i understand that if you don't have enough tracks for all destinations, some tracks may need to hold cars for multiple destinations, so there isn't a unique destination for each track. It makes sense that when a train depart, the track it frees up can be used for cars for one of the destinations sharing a single track how do you handle that situation?
i understand that if you don't have enough tracks for all destinations, some tracks may need to hold cars for multiple destinations, so there isn't a unique destination for each track. It makes sense that when a train depart, the track it frees up can be used for cars for one of the destinations sharing a single track
how do you handle that situation?
The main point is, which track is the "local" track is entirely transient, changing at the whim and need of the yardmaster.
Like someone else said, there's no "rules"; the YM is entirely empowered to think on his feet and make decisions on how best to tackle things.
As a frequent YM on the large club yard, some ideas off the top of my head:
- if an (unclassified) track has a large percentage of cars for the "Anna" local, and the "Anna" local just left and the next one won't be for another 24hours on the layout timetable, prioritize classifying something else and sort that track later in the session after other trains have cleared out
- look for an easy classification job that will empty a track and put all the cars into existing blocks on already assigned tracks so you can clean out more empty tracks
- prioritize classifying tracks that have high percentages of cars for an upcoming connection, to fill up trains that will be leaving sooner on the schedule and get cars out.
- if you're running out of tracks, send stuff you don't need until much later (like those "Anna" locals) into a "reswitch" track. Handling the car(s) twice is less efficient but sometimes preferable to not being able to do anything at all because all your tracks have something in them. Having just a car or two blocking up an entire track for the majority of a session just because you "need" a track for that destination isn't helpful either.
- if you do need to build multiple blocks in the same track, keeping them segregated can be a trick, if you have a double ended yard and are clever/careful about it, you can have crews switch things in from opposite ends, but that also depends on the mix of cars in the tracks you're classifying.
- otherwise, if all else fails and the yard is totally plugged, use a variation on the reswitch tactic and send two blocks into a single track so you can get some other tracks cleaned out, and when you have breathing room again, pull that track and segregate the two blocks. Obviously these would need to be blocks that aren't going to be picked up until a bit later since you need time to segregate them first.
Chris van der Heide
My Algoma Central Railway Modeling Blog
gregc cv_acr At some point the local (or it's opposite direction counterpart) will arrive in the yard, filling up a track with its cars that require sorting. Eventually the yard switcher will pull and sort the cars from that track into other tracks based on their destinations and that now empty track again becomes available. of course, the arriving train comes in on the arrival track. cv_acr Once the local leaves, the empty track is free for re-assignment. A spot for the next day's local cars might not be needed for a few hours yet. any train arriving in a yard has the potential to have cars for all possible destinations. So until the next train arrives, an empty "local", or any other track can be used for other intermediate purposes. i understand that if you don't have enough tracks for all destinations, some tracks may need to hold cars for multiple destinations, so there isn't a unique destination for each track. It makes sense that when a train depart, the track it frees up can be used for cars for one of the destinations sharing a single track how do you handle that situation?
cv_acr At some point the local (or it's opposite direction counterpart) will arrive in the yard, filling up a track with its cars that require sorting. Eventually the yard switcher will pull and sort the cars from that track into other tracks based on their destinations and that now empty track again becomes available.
cv_acr Once the local leaves, the empty track is free for re-assignment. A spot for the next day's local cars might not be needed for a few hours yet.
any train arriving in a yard has the potential to have cars for all possible destinations. So until the next train arrives, an empty "local", or any other track can be used for other intermediate purposes.
The yard master directs the crews, by written order, or by radio, or verbally in person, that is his job. He may prefer to always build the east local on the same track, or may use a different track every day.
Sheldon
cv_acrAt some point the local (or it's opposite direction counterpart) will arrive in the yard, filling up a track with its cars that require sorting. Eventually the yard switcher will pull and sort the cars from that track into other tracks based on their destinations and that now empty track again becomes available.
cv_acrOnce the local leaves, the empty track is free for re-assignment. A spot for the next day's local cars might not be needed for a few hours yet.
DoughlessMy yard is small, since I model a shortline. It will probably be two or three tracks.
cv_acr ROBERT PETRICK You work half the train and set out the cars on the departure track, then work the other half, take the second half and join up with the first half, sound the horn, ring the bell, and off you go. Vice-versa the other way around for arrivals. Easy. Otherwise known as "doubling" the train. e.g. YM to train: "955 arrive into track 3, double into 4." * *Real example. On the club layout, the yard tracks range from about half a dozen (at the back end) to ~22 car (at the front near the main) capacities. 20 tracks total. Basically all of the locals in and out of the yard will fit into the majority of the tracks, but there's one mainline freight that runs 30-40 cars that terminates. It will almost always tie up two tracks on arrival, doubling over what doesn't fit in the first track.
ROBERT PETRICK You work half the train and set out the cars on the departure track, then work the other half, take the second half and join up with the first half, sound the horn, ring the bell, and off you go. Vice-versa the other way around for arrivals. Easy.
You work half the train and set out the cars on the departure track, then work the other half, take the second half and join up with the first half, sound the horn, ring the bell, and off you go. Vice-versa the other way around for arrivals. Easy.
Otherwise known as "doubling" the train.
e.g.
YM to train: "955 arrive into track 3, double into 4." *
*Real example. On the club layout, the yard tracks range from about half a dozen (at the back end) to ~22 car (at the front near the main) capacities. 20 tracks total. Basically all of the locals in and out of the yard will fit into the majority of the tracks, but there's one mainline freight that runs 30-40 cars that terminates. It will almost always tie up two tracks on arrival, doubling over what doesn't fit in the first track.
Yes. Doubling works in a practical sense. Tripling or quadrupling would also work, but each extra step would require extra tracks to hold the third-train or the quarter-train.
Robert
LINK to SNSR Blog
Doughless But the yard lead does not have to be as long as your longest train. It has to be only as long as the longest cut of cars you will switch. Each person has a tolerance for how many moves they want to make when breaking down or making up a train.
But the yard lead does not have to be as long as your longest train. It has to be only as long as the longest cut of cars you will switch. Each person has a tolerance for how many moves they want to make when breaking down or making up a train.
I agree. I figure the storage tracks, classification tracks, arrival/departure tracks, and the yard lead only need to be a half-train in length. Maybe a bit longer to allow a little breathing room.
gregc does any track become available for other purposes?
does any track become available for other purposes?
Constantly.
Once the local leaves, the empty track is free for re-assignment. A spot for the next day's local cars might not be needed for a few hours yet.
At some point the local (or it's opposite direction counterpart) will arrive in the yard, filling up a track with its cars that require sorting. Eventually the yard switcher will pull and sort the cars from that track into other tracks based on their destinations and that now empty track again becomes available.
And so on and so on.
At the club layout we have a whiteboard + dry erase markers to keep track of each track's current assignment and # cars in the track. It's in constant motion.
gregc cv_acr gregc if there's no room to spot a car at an industry, wouldn't it simply be left on the track for that local? If you know in advance that the local won't be able to handle the car "today", you might want to just send it to a "hold" track instead of actually putting it on the local. does any track become available for other purposes? the local goes out and the next train has trains for the local that now need to be sorted onto the "local" track that will go out either later in the day if there's a 2nd local or the next day.
cv_acr gregc if there's no room to spot a car at an industry, wouldn't it simply be left on the track for that local? If you know in advance that the local won't be able to handle the car "today", you might want to just send it to a "hold" track instead of actually putting it on the local.
gregc if there's no room to spot a car at an industry, wouldn't it simply be left on the track for that local?
If you know in advance that the local won't be able to handle the car "today", you might want to just send it to a "hold" track instead of actually putting it on the local.
the local goes out and the next train has trains for the local that now need to be sorted onto the "local" track that will go out either later in the day if there's a 2nd local or the next day.
Why not? That what the yardmater does, he tells the crews where the cars are, and where they need to go.
Not sure where you got all these rigid ideas about this, but I know my share of real railroaders, including my own son who is an Engineer, and each railroad, each yard master, figures out what works in each situation.
The details of operating schemes are designed for each situation, not taken from some rigid play book, model or prototype.
My yard is small, since I model a shortline. It will probably be two or three tracks.
But I think the big concepts still hold true. If you're going to operate the yard, making up and breaking down trains, then you'll want yard 'holding" tracks long enough to accomodate your longest train.
Also, I have switched trains on what I would call excessively long yard tracks or sidings. It takes a long time to run down the length of track, switch the turnout, then run up the other length of track, especially if you're just switching a short cut of cars. So having a lead that requires cutting your longest train in half helps to save space when you are switching a shorter cut and the lead doesn't need to be that long, and it doesn't necessarily hurt you in terms of time or moves.
gregc so if you're using some card system for routing cars, is there a destination for MTs on a yard track?
so if you're using some card system for routing cars, is there a destination for MTs on a yard track?
Some examples and details:
- On our club layout we have certain hoppers that have their "home point" at the main on-layout yard. As the empties return, they'll be stored until needed in the yard. For sessions a certain number of new waybills to be assigned to cars will be pulled. The yardmaster takes the stack of these waybills and part of his duties in the session will be to assign them to cars in the storage track, have the switch crew pull them and then classify them per usual based on destination.
- Similarly there is a pool of newsprint/paper service boxcars that have waybills sending them to the yard to "Hold for loading" to provide a supply of empty cars to service three different paper mills supplied by the yard. Similar to above, the YM will have a collection of orders (new waybills) to assign to these empty cars in a storage track and send them out on trains to the mills.
- On my own layout (still in the planning stages but I've been playing with the operating concepts since it will be specifically designed and built with ops in mind) there is a lot of log and lumber traffic, and also iron ore. Empty hoppers for the ore processsing plant will flow back to one yard as a "home point" and be assigned for loading from there, and empty flats and gondolas will collect in the central yard in order to be sent out for lumber and pulpwood loading. (These are all "home road" cars on a smaller regional railway. So empties will collect back in the yard.)
These are some rare examples of where a destination on a model RR waybill slip would actually be to the Yard. Note that the card/waybill system would only specify "Anna Yard", not specific track assignments since that's up to the yardmaster.
(One will note from these scenarios that this assumes that waybills are constantly being removed and reassigned to cars as they complete their final moves, and not rigidly have a single 4-move waybill permanently assigned to each car. While having a single waybill permanently matched to a car simplifies things because all you ever do is rotate the bills between sessions with no other action(s) required, by removing and replacing waybills when operating a CC&WB system a significant amount of flexibility is added to the system and it can be made to operate quite realistically.)
gregchow often and what are the desitnations for trains composed of MOW car?
Mostly the MOW equipment just sits there and becomes part of the "scenery", with work trains being made up on special occasions when the layout owner wants to stage some maintenace activity. There are some exceptions that can be worked into regular operations:
- a ballast pit that regularly loads MOW ballast cars and sends them around the system (some railroads sometimes used crushed slag for ballast as well, and to give another club layout example there is a spur for a slag loader related to the heavy smelting industrial activities served by the railroad that loads and sends out slag ballast)
- a tie treatment plant (could bring in untreated ties from a lumber mill and ship out treated ties to various points on the system)
gregcif there's no room to spot a car at an industry, wouldn't it simply be left on the track for that local?
If you know in advance that the local won't be able to handle the car "today", you might want to just send it to a "hold" track instead of actually putting it on the local. If you put it in the same track as the local's cars, then the local has to switch out the car(s) you don't want it taking instead of just pulling out of the yard with a properly built train.
On the flip side, ideally there will be some other siding or storage track nearer the industry where you can leave "off-spot" cars and get them out of the yard and park them until they can be spotted at the industry.
My freight yard is more of a clasification yard. Trains can arrive or depart from either side and since I have two sets of 'ladder' tracks, the yard has the ability for an engine to do a run around to pull or shove freight cars. I do have 4 tracks on the far right that can be used as arrival / departure tracks. The yardmaster can build his train, set the cars on s specific track and block the cars for a local run or just to head out. My 'staging' yard is on the lower level, 9 tracks and are anywhere from 24-32 feet in length.
gregc of course there are many other possible yard tracks: an arrival, run-around or escape tracks, caboose, rip, sand, coal, ash, ..., not to mention storage for locomotive that may return later in the day. cv_acr And yes, some yards may need some space for local storage (keeping a supply of empties on hand to cover industry loading, holding cars out "off-spot" that can't be delivered due to space at the industries, MOW cars, etc.) so if you're using some card system for routing cars, is there a destination for MTs on a yard track? how often and what are the desitnations for trains composed of MOW car? if there's no room to spot a car at an industry, wouldn't it simply be left on the track for that local? for operation, what are the most productive yard tracks to have if you have limited space?
of course there are many other possible yard tracks: an arrival, run-around or escape tracks, caboose, rip, sand, coal, ash, ..., not to mention storage for locomotive that may return later in the day.
cv_acr And yes, some yards may need some space for local storage (keeping a supply of empties on hand to cover industry loading, holding cars out "off-spot" that can't be delivered due to space at the industries, MOW cars, etc.)
so if you're using some card system for routing cars, is there a destination for MTs on a yard track? how often and what are the desitnations for trains composed of MOW car? if there's no room to spot a car at an industry, wouldn't it simply be left on the track for that local?
for operation, what are the most productive yard tracks to have if you have limited space?
All model yards are limited in space compared to the prototype.
Track usage need not be so rigid in assignment, it is the yardmasters job to know what is what.
I don't use card systems, me and my friends write up switch lists for local pickups and set outs. And train orders for mainline trains identify car blocks to be left at the yard or picked up from the yard. It is simpler and more flexible in my view then little card for 1000 freight cars.......
My main yard track that lines up with the leads is the arrival track for both directions, departure tracks are whatever track the train is made up on. The shortest tracks closer to the operator are the setouts/pickups to/from the local industries.
As part of the adjacent engine terminal there are caboose tracks, MOW tracks, etc.
cv_acrAnd yes, some yards may need some space for local storage (keeping a supply of empties on hand to cover industry loading, holding cars out "off-spot" that can't be delivered due to space at the industries, MOW cars, etc.)
gregc my understanding of yards is that there is a track for each train leaving the yard and any storage is only for overnight because a car came in after the train was scheduled to leave.
my understanding of yards is that there is a track for each train leaving the yard and any storage is only for overnight because a car came in after the train was scheduled to leave.
Eh, sort of, but also not exactly.
The main purpose of most yards is for sorting cars. So you need tracks for each destination/train/block you're sorting.
You also need some free tracks for arrivals and set offs (to be sorted). Depending on the size and volume of traffic of the yard, you might have at least one or more unsorted track for much of the day.
And yes, some yards may need some space for local storage (keeping a supply of empties on hand to cover industry loading, holding cars out "off-spot" that can't be delivered due to space at the industries, MOW cars, etc.)
Depending on the yard and its needs, the number of destinations, storage tracks, and need to have some open tracks for arrivals, runarounds, etc. may mean you don't actually have enough tracks to permanently assign one track to every destination, so it would be common to "swing" the assignment of various tracks throughout the day. e.g. the only train to Anna runs in the morning, there are morning and afternoon trains to Bess, and only an evening train to Charlie. So you might build the Anna train overnight/early morning and hold Charlies along with other cars that need to get sorted/re-sorted yet and then after the Anna train clears out reassign that track to collecting all the Charlies. (And conversely, any Annas that don't make the track before that local leaves in the morning wouldn't really need to get dealt with until after the evening Charlie train leaves since the next Anna train isn't for ~24 hours.)
My visible yard will be four tracks, and ther longest track will be 4 feet long.
That is a very small yard by most standards.
Staging will be 9 tracks, double ended, hidden, and 18 feet long.
For however it may help, a few additional thoughts based on Dave Nelson's great comments:
In my case the yard leads are nearly as long as the yard, and they do double duty as being the belt line feeders to several industrial areas.
Also, the combined length of the yard leads and the yard provide an arrival track about twice the length of the yard. So just as Dave suggested, I can double longer departing trains outbound, and receive longer trains inbound with fewer problems breaking them up.
While the yard is designed for 30-35 car trains without doubling in or out, it will easily handle 50 to 60 car trains, which I do run.
So yes, I have about a 50' run of benchwork devoted to the yard, engine terminal, piggyback terminal and working yard leads. 50' to 70' is my typical mainline signal block (although I do have a few that will only be about 30'), so there is an interlocking at each end of the yard where it rejoins the main.
As mentioned earlier, most of my industries are fed via a belt line directly from the yard. So locals can work the industries without effecting mainline traffic at all in many cases.
I prefer not to handle equipment any more than necessary. Some of my equipment is today's high detail stuff, some is stuff I added a lot of detail too, and some is more "generic" and handling friendly.
So my staging is not done with fiddle yards. I will have a 12 track stub end staging yard connected to the main via a wye, and a series of small staging yards in series as the mainline makes a hidden "twice around" loop of the room. Operating sessions are set up to not require reworking trains that are staged. The layout will store about 30 trains.
Past issues of Model Railroad Planning magazine, and chapters in John Armstrong's book Track Planning for Realistic Operation (and his lesser known book, Creative Layout Design) all touch on this topic. I advise doing some reading about the planning involved.
I seem to usually be the yard guy at operating sessions, breaking down arriving trains, making up departing trains, and at layouts which have "active" staging, taking cars off the layout and adding cars to the layout.
From a design perspective the problem with really long yard tracks is that you need a long yard lead so that you can pull cars from the entire length of track without having to foul the main. Maybe you do not need a yard lead just as long as the longest yard track - no rule says the entire track has to be pulled at once even if the car you seek is at the farthest end -- but you still need a fairly long switch lead track. So with long yard tracks going one direction, you need a nice length of switch lead going the other direction to actually switch that yard.
Sheldon makes the good point about train length (arrivals and departures) having an important role in determining length of yard track. I'd say as a practical matter that it is somewhat easier and sometimes even prototypical to send out a departing train that actually has to make up its train from two shorter yard tracks than it is to deal with an arriving train which is too long for your longest yard track and needs to be broken into parts. Dealing with the power, having the switch engines near by -- those things tend to create more stomach churning moments for arrivals. But that itself might suggest that while one (or two) arrival track(s) need to be long, the entire yard might not need to be that long if space constraints dictate. Very specific arrival tracks are part of yard design.
Frankly the yards I enjoy operating the most are "fiddle" yards. That is, yards function as yards, typically staging but not necessarily, but you are not replicating yard activity - in the sense that you use your hands, not a locomotive to move cars. There is nothing sacred about keeping a car on the tracks in a fiddle yard -- if it saves time and effort to place a car on a desk or shelf or in a cabinet you do it. The Atlas re-railer and the Rix car railer are big parts of a fiddle yard! You are not replicating how a prototype yard would look, but you may be replicating the end result.
But here is the problem and it is a real and growing problem with fiddle yards especially busy and hectic ones.
My best friend has active staging which is a fiddle yard that serves as the extreme ends of both ends of his technically point to point layout (it can be run continuous for visitors). He has plenty of shelf and desk top space to hold cars - space is tight so the number of yard tracks is actually fairly low. He has two long yard tracks for his fixed consist coal empty and coal load trains, which are never switched or changed, so those are both arrival and departure tracks and are the longest tracks in his yard.
The problem is, he has become a prototype modeler. The durable Athearn, MDC and Accurail freight cars have been banished from the layout. His freight cars now have very delicate detail and some cars, particularly tank cars but also some center beam flatcars, are so delicate (and expensive, and in this era of limited runs, irreplaceable) that they should not be touched or picked up except in a particular way that is inconsistent with the fiddle yardmaster being in a hurry. he has made freight car cassettes but they too are delicate and nerve wracking to handle.
And his Code 88 wheel widths are more of a challenge to re rail.
In short his yard and staging area was designed (whether he knew it or not) for a durable and forgiving kind of rolling stock and he has moved away from that rolling stock. And thus his yard is inadequate in ways it was not before.
I am a great believer in and advocate of fiddle yard staging but I recognize that to a certain extent that choice dictates some "good enough" modeling choices that are no longer so popular.
Dave Nelson
gregc my understanding of yards is that there is a track for each train leaving the yard and any storage is only for overnight because a car came in after the train was scheduled to leave. a train come in from some destination (i.e. staging). cars from that train are sorted onto the track for their destination, a local or train to some other distant destination (i.e. staging). empties (MT) are returned to their origination (at least owning RR). Not sure what happens to excess MTs Staging may represent several distant destinations. Yard tracks may be for trains to more than one distant destination represented by staging. Cars may come in on trains from staging and be sorted onto tracks for trains going back into staging. Tony Koester's layout demonstrates the concept. He has yards at each end of his layout but also staging just beyond each yard representing distant destinations. since trains typically have a limited size (to fit into sidings along a route) it's possible that if there are too many cars for a train, they need to remain in the yard over night for the next train to that destination. Therefore a yard track may need to be longer than a train. However it is possible to store those extra cars on some other yard track that doesn't need as much capacity such as for the local train.
a train come in from some destination (i.e. staging). cars from that train are sorted onto the track for their destination, a local or train to some other distant destination (i.e. staging).
empties (MT) are returned to their origination (at least owning RR). Not sure what happens to excess MTs
Staging may represent several distant destinations. Yard tracks may be for trains to more than one distant destination represented by staging. Cars may come in on trains from staging and be sorted onto tracks for trains going back into staging.
Tony Koester's layout demonstrates the concept. He has yards at each end of his layout but also staging just beyond each yard representing distant destinations.
since trains typically have a limited size (to fit into sidings along a route) it's possible that if there are too many cars for a train, they need to remain in the yard over night for the next train to that destination. Therefore a yard track may need to be longer than a train. However it is possible to store those extra cars on some other yard track that doesn't need as much capacity such as for the local train.
A few more thoughts:
Tony's layout is effectively three times the size of mine by virtue of three levels in a similar size room.
I've built and operated on multi deck layouts and it has lost its appeal for me.
With a mainline run as long as Tony has, single track and two yards works fine. On a smaller layout, not so much in my opinion.
My yard is 5 deep, 2'-3' long. Planning to run 10-12 modern era car trains, in a 25 x 30 room. It will function as both staging and a yard on a point to point. It also has two smaller two track industries in it. The layout will have another yard at the opposite end (tunnelin9h through a wall will give me another 12ft to work with)
(My Model Railroad, My Rules)
These are the opinions of an under 35 , from the east end of, and modeling, the same section of the Wheeling and Lake Erie railway. As well as a freelanced road (Austinville and Dynamite City railroad).
mrrdad Hello all, To start on with, I model in HO scale. While trying to design a track plan that fits within my available space (16x40), I'm having a hard time laying out the freight yard. I know it will be 7 tracks wide, but the length is what is getting me. I know yards take up a lot of real estate. How much space does your yard take up on your layout? Does it function how you'd like from an operations standpont? Ed
Hello all,
To start on with, I model in HO scale.
While trying to design a track plan that fits within my available space (16x40), I'm having a hard time laying out the freight yard. I know it will be 7 tracks wide, but the length is what is getting me. I know yards take up a lot of real estate.
How much space does your yard take up on your layout? Does it function how you'd like from an operations standpont?
This is a track plan in a somewhat smaller space (33x15) - yard is on the left.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
That is basically what I explained above. Unless a layout is VERY large, I see no point in modeling two yards. I have a pretty large space and I would never consider having two visable yards.
But that is also driven by the fact that I find 12-15 car mainline trains totally unacceptable for my era and class of railroad.
You mentioned siding length and that is an important consideration if you are modeling single track.
I choose to model double track as it provides more action and is more believeable with our compressed distances when modeling a Class I line.