When planning a track layout, is the direction of travel a factor to be considered (clockwise or counterclockwise) and is the ability to go both ways desirable? How do you reverse the direction?
In a track plan running from point a to point B, how do you reverse the direction of travel at the end of the run if there is no loop or Y in in the plan?
Very simple, use the "five finger’ method or install a turntable on each end.
All railroads run in either direction.
The Pan Am Railway near me runs their diesels cab forward in one direction and hood forward in the other direction.
It’s your railroad.
Rich
1 - Push pull operation.
2 - Run the power around and put it on the other end of the train.
Think like a real railroader in a similar situation.
The Pan Am Railway near me usually pushes in one direction and pulls in the other direction if you don’t want to run around the rolling stock. There is limited operations on their tracks so not much traffic.
That might not be suitable on a layout so running around and always pulling is a better option.
Might be a little more difficult with steamers on a layout.
Rich
The Pan Am alwys pulls with the loco when pulling large hopper cars loaded with scrap iron or coal loads. plus whem they haul long tank cars.
Rich
When I look at prototype trains, I usually see two or more locomotives pulling them. The first and last locomotives face opposite directions, so all the crew has to do to switch front and back is walk from one end of the engine consist to the other. With steam, however, the engines would generally be turned unless the run was very short and could be worked in reverse.
[quote user=“MisterBeasley”]
When I look at prototype trains, I usually see two or more locomotives pulling them. The first and last locomotives face opposite directions, so all the crew has to do to switch front and back is walk from one end of the engine consist to the other. With steam, however, the engines would generally be turned unless the run was very short and could be worked in reverse.
Many of the trains headed out of Boston North are that way, coaches have 1/2 of the seats facing one way and the other 1/2 facing the other.
The seats in the coaches I rode in in the early 50’s the backs would flip over and you could face whichever direction you wanted. Later years, when we rode an excersion train that had them, you should have seen the young people’s faces when the little old ladies got up and flipped their seats, while the steam loco did a run around for the return trip. Priceless.
Have fun,
Richard
Just like the prototype…After the crew finishes the required work they run around the train and head home or if there is no runaround a simple reverse move is made with caboose lead.
During the steam era it was not uncommon to return off a stub end branch tender first or caboose lead.
Railroads wasn’t concern with turning a engine on stub end branch line,industrial leads or transfer runs since locomotives can operate equally well in either direction.
A few years ago in MR there was a discussion of a private line that had a interchang track witha main line.
The private line had many setout point, like a shelf layout. They had two locos, and a two amn train crew.
They hooked onto a cut of cars, did all the trailing moves, put that loco back, drove a pick-up to the other end of line (ten miloes?0, and used the other loco from the other end of cars to switch the new trailing moves.
Dave
Actually the use of DCC consisting should make that possible…
No, it does not matter.
run around, turn table, or hand.
One other possibility on a double mainline with a double crossover: the westbound loco can cross over and connect to the end of the eastbound and the eastbound can crossover and connect to the end of the westbound. Probably not prototypical but anything can happen on my RR.
Yes direction matters in terms of layout design, for such things as trailing point versus facing point turnouts at local industries. If you have facing point turnouts now you need a run around track, for example. On the Chicago & North Western line I grew up near, double track main line, all turnouts in both directions were trailing points, meaning the local switcher would always just easily back in to pick up a car or drop one off. Even the crossovers between the two tracks were arranged as trailing points because they were for local switching use only, not for mainline trains. It may be that trailing points permit higher train speeds on the prototype because the danger of misdirection is removed or reduced.
There are some double track railroads where the east bound main and west bound main (or north and south if that is how a railroad designates them) are physically separated so much that they are, or almost are, out of sight of each other – in order to give each line the most favorable grade. The Milwaukee Road did this west of Milwaukee, and I think the CP and CN do this in the Canadian Rockies. There are likely other examples.
Thus there would be a prototype for a single track line where all the traffic is virtually always one way and you would not have to invent strange reasons for turning trains at all.
Few of us get to this level of detail, except perhaps for O scalers who handlay track, but direction of traffic also has a role to play in how track is laid and how it looks. The supports that go under the rails and hold the ties in place are on just one side of the tie on single direction tracks. With CTC of course most tracks are now bi directional.
Dave Nelson
Or operate your local has a turn and switch the facing point industries on your return trip…We did that a lot even though a runaround may have been handy.Saves time and unnecessary moves.
Still need a runaround somewhere. Unless you started out with cars on both ends of the engine.
Or make the turn in your yard.
On my few loop layouts I operated my locals as a turn and made the turn in the yard(the same yard it left) but,the train entered from a different direction…After the turn I would head back to the home terminal and do the required work on my way.I would enter the home yard from the direction I left from when I started my run.
Like this.
I departed the home yard from the left side of the yard and enter the “other” yard(same yard of course) from the right…After doing the required work and making the turn I departed from the right side and entered the “home” yard from the left the same direction I left at the begining of my run.
I know you said you have no loops in the plan, however would it be possible to add a tight radius balloon track into the plan? My minimum radius is about 32" on the mainline, yet in the yard I have a balloon track that is very tight in radius and must be taken at dead slow to avoid problems with my 2-10-4, but it does the job.
Without seeing a plan or knowing more about your situation it is hard to come up with solutions. Would an easily detachable balloon track work? Something that can be removed when not running trains?
Still need a loop or a runaround somewhere to switch both facing point and trailing point unless you start with cars on each end of the engine. Full stop.
The runaround would be the yard.