Due to certain changes in land use policies, my railroad has been forced to relinquish portions of it’s right of way. Or in simpler terms, the staging yard lost out to wife’s sewing room. In the available space I have left, I can either fit in a cassette staging or a small junction. In either case, the track will be just long enough to handle the maximum train length I can run around in my town siding.
Since my railroad is intended to model a branchline from junction with the Southern to a cotton mill town, putting in a two track junction as visible staging fits within the theme. Ops would require the train to run daily from town to the junction, drop off outbounds and pick up inbounds. So, from that perspective, it fits my model theme. The cons to this would be the loss of about half of the available mainline.
Using a cassette for staging, operations would run from the staging, out the branch and return, as if the staging represented a main yard elsewhere. The pros from this are a longer main line while the con is giving up the visual and operational appeal of a distinct interchange yard at the junction.
I am leaning toward the visible yard, but my question is, is it worth giving up about six feet of mainline out of 12 total to gain the operations of exchanging cars in the yard or is six more fee of mainline a better visual alternative? Thoughts??
I’m dealing with an almost identical situation in terms of “land use” issues, and I’ve pretty much decided that having the chance to almost double my ops with a functional yard trumps the cassette concept. In your case as in mine, the amount of “mainline” is so pitiful in terms of length that we loose more from giving up yard ops than we gain in switching or mainline running once we clear the yard. And short trains rule for us.
Lou
(Edit) Just thought of another way. I remember reading in the late Carl Arendts website about using a cassette as a “car ferry/float”. One of the switching challenges there would be to “balance” the load of empties and loads so as to keep the ferry stable, just like they would have had to in the real world. Once that’s done you could “sail” the ferry away to storage and dock a fresh one with new loads. Maybe not compatible with your scheme though…
I have been operating my, ‘end of the railroad,’ module with cassettes - every inbound comes out of a cassette, every outbound goes to a cassette.
Advantage - several different trains, ranging from a (mini) coal unit train to a four-wheel diesel rail bus, are pre-staged, ready to run on schedule.
Disadvantage - having to handle a cassette for every train movement is a royal PITA!
I can hardly wait for the day when that module will take its rightful place - on top of five levels of hidden track on the slowly-evolving main layout (16x20 double garage filler.) The main layout has LOTS of hard-rail staging, with more to come.
I also use cassettes as overflow storage, moving complete trains from staging to cassette - but only when necessary. That’s convenient, but I’m still looking forward to eliminating the need when staging is built in a currently undeveloped area. Then the cassettes will only be used to fiddle loads in/on open-top cars or to move rolling stock to the workbench for maintenance.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with cassettes)
My casette is a carfloat. The float is mounted to a foam base with Masonite fascia. Here, it’s seen before I added Envirotex for the water.
The entire unit is removeable, and sits on a plywood shelf.
This is an awkward, tight spot in my trainroom, and I built the shelf to hinge down out of the way when the carfloat is “out of port.” I have another unbuilt carfloat kit to add to the fleet.
A carfloat is both visually and operationally interesting. Mine (the Walthers model) holds 15 40-foot cars so you can put a decent-sized train on it, or use it for small groups of cars for switching. This is the full-sized model, but you can build it shorter if the full model is too big for your space.
I don’t know what your track plan looks like, but so far as I know there is no rule that states a cassette has to butt up against a layout from an end. Is there some way you can angle a track off the front of your layout?
If I can figure out how, I will try to post a track plan. It is basically very similar to the San Jacinto plan, except the staging was located where the town of Perris was on that plan. Houses here don’t have basements so we’ve converted what was the unused formal dining room into the hobby room. She gets half for sewing and crafts and I get the other two walls. Tried the concept of putting the railroad along shelves on “her” walls with the sewing below, but the staging yard became staging for cloth, scraps, and assorted stuff. Basically just another shelf.
I am a big fan of the car ferry as staging concept, beginning with the KR&D years ago. I’ve often considered modeling a lake port just for the ferry operation, but right now am modeling the southeast instead. But yep, that concept is still floating around out there, perhaps for the next layout.
Operational I am most likely going to give up the bit of main for the yard ops which would be an operational gain over a cassette.
I’ll try to figure out how to post a track plan once my daughter gets done with her homework.
Are we talking about a removable stretch of track that one puts on the end of a layout so that train units can be driven on removed and replaced with other train units?
As Chuck mentions earlier, it can be a PITA to swap over.
On a previous layout I had several 5’ long cassettes. OK for lifting in and out of place, but to actually turn them…
My preferred option now would be to have the small junction, and just change the cars over as required, especially if you change them over on a non-running day, so when you want to run trains, then you are set up to.
Is your layout U shaped or L shaped? If it’s L shaped, do you have room where the cassette would go to put in a curved section instead? If so, put in a curved section that curves out to an angle. On the end of this put your yard that is made portable IE the yard is on wheels. When you operate move the yard in place. When done roll it out of the way: store it by your layout. I did this for my switching layout that is L shaped. When operating, I connect the yard. When done I move it along side the layout. Joe
Speaking for myself My layout is small so the ideaof having pre loaded cassettes would work. For now though I build a Loading dock consisting of a siding with a Rix railer on one end that hangs over my control panel and allows me to indivdually add or remove cars to a consist. I add cars with the railer and remove unwanted cars as the loco backs them up.
I’m thinking a slightly different approach to a solution. I don’t know whether you are having to move to a different room altogether or just share the same one. If you are in the same room or immediately adjoining rooms, I would think the following could be possible.
I expect most of your wife’s sewing is done seated at tables or a machine. If your layout is at 40" or more above the floor, it would be above most table tops and since it is against the wall, a several track shelf would not be a head bumper. Could you negotiate for a staging shelf above some of her space? Even if she has shelves above her tables, you might be able to negotiate for one.
One of the nice things I am seeing about shelf layouts is that they occupy otherwise unusable space above furniture such as couches, chairs and sideboards and are out of the way for normal use of the area.
Sorry folks, soccer and scouts the last few days have kept me off the computer. I do appreciate all the thoughts. My current thinking is much like Brakie. I really like the idea of picking the cars up at an interchange rather than appearing form staging. From the local crew’s perspective, that’s more like what they would see. Unless they happen to be around when the cars are dropped off, they could have arrived by transporter beam.
John, the reason I’m concerned about losing line is I have so little of it and enjoy the view of the train moving through the country to arrive somewhere. The change would leave me with about five feet from junction to town.
Richard, we had started with just what you suggest – a staging shelf above her sewing area. However instead of being railroad staging, it quickly became cloth and sewing stuff staging. I’d have to spend 20 minutes clearing her stuff off the tracks and cars before I could begin anything. I actually have to clear the line before running anything because she has a habit of just putting her stuff on the nearest flat surface.
Ok, trying to add track plans here. Not sure if it will work or I’ll blow the whole thing to pieces. Well, it looks like it made them micro small. Trying to figure out how to make them readable. [*-)]
First is the original design I wanted to build.
Next comes the design as it was until a couple weeks ago:
Have you considered putting a lid over the phase 2 staging? That way the spousal unit can pile up all her junque without obstructing operations. As for the rest of the railroad? Maybe a removable roll of concertina wire…
My layout may have what Brakie considers, “Excessive staging.” I’m not operating a bucolic little branch line that has interchange with an occasional local freight. My Nihon Kokutetsu secondary main runs 135 schedules a day (mostly passenger, but lots of freight as well) and I have to hide a variety of trains until the employee timetable decrees their presence. So I have LOTS of hidden staging - but I can access all of it by lifting lids of various kinds or opening fascia panels.
The keys to hidden track operation are:
Have a way to stop the train other than colliding with a bumper at the end of track. Using analog DC, I get away with a cheap diode. DCC might require something more exotic - like an SPST switch.
Hidden trackwork must be absolutely bulletproof. Derailments in the netherworld are NOT an option.
Just a couple of thoughts.
Chuck (Modeling the intense traffic of Central Japan in September, 1964 - TTTO, 24/30)
