Beginner topic: What is a yard lead?

[SpaceMouse]

This one is pretty straight forward, but often misunderstood.

http://www.chipengelmann.com/trains/Beginner/YardLead.html

[NS2591]

I would add in, put in something that Drill track is the same thing as a lead. It took me the longest time to figure out what a Drill track is.

[marknewton]

Yard leads, drill tracks - in Australia they're known as a shunting neck. I presume that term is still used in the UK as well, where it originated. Good use of graphics to explain things, Chip.

Cheers,

Mark.

[Anonymous]

Chip, these are really great. What made you think of doing this?

[Anonymous]

Beg to differ with you NS2591 but there is a signigicant difference between a drill track and a yard lead. A yard lead is a track that branches from the main track and gives access to a yard; a yard lead is the alternative to a runaround track which I addressed in a previous topic; a drill track, on the other hand, is a track, almost always stub ended upon which a switcher works while sorting the yard. Note: a yard lead can be used as a drill track but, if being utilized as such, will require a train wishing to enter the yard to stop and (and this depends on the length of the yard lead) foul the mainline. Some yards had yard leads miles long - others only a couple of hundred yards.

I remember Bill Schopp (the RMC "Layout Doctor" of many years past used to address this issue in almost every issue of RMC in which he had a published trackplan). Because of space limitations on model pikes we very frequently use yard leads as drill tracks but, on the prototype, they are two definite entities.