hi
page 28 in Freight Yards by Andy Sperandeo and page 26 in Track Planning For Realistic Operation by John Armstrong.
http://www.housatonicrr.com/yard_des.html (Bisguier-yarddesign)
Paul
Paul
I do like that one. Gives you the double ended yard but then gives you the dead ends for storage like you said.
Do you by chance know what type of turnouts that are used in that so I could plug them into a design in AnyRail? If not I can print it out and try to copy it freehand. The yard I am working on is coming along nicely also. The extra 2’ is helping out. I am able to keep the curves at the end at 24*.
Brad
Here is my second version of the yard I started. I made it better to expand to 20’ instead of 18’.
hi brad
atlas #6
Paul
Looking good, Brad.
Keep us posted on your progress and include some photos.
Rich
Looks okay for staging. Leads too short for switching without fouling the main.
Stein
Brad ,looking good,hows that any rail worken for ya?
Stein; Im not trying to highjack,but you raise a question in me with “fouling the main” ,I do get the reason an importance ,but what if a major manufacfuer wanted to build a factory just north of Brads yard ,say where the backwall is . how does Brads railroad pick-up and deliver to this factory without “fouling the main” or atleast crossing it from the Yard ?.. this will help me Jerry
hi Jerry
you have to foul the main, the cross-over i added from the yard-lead to the main will help a lot speeding up things.
But classification is a continuous job, it would foul the main very often on a pike with lots of traffic, like most model railroads. An industry is often only served a couple a times a week. Also real yards are compromises. On busy (model)railroads the lead track prevents blocking the main for to long a time.
Paul
They would have to pull out on the main to serve industries along the back wall there. It is not necessarily a problem to use the main for switching -in situations where there isn’t a lot of traffic on the main.
You can e.g. do a yard like this:
This H0 scale plan segment is inspired by tracks in the small Texas town of Shiner in 1922, and cannot be switched without using the main.
But if traffic is low - e.g. if there is just one operator on the layout, or only a few operators, working different area of the layout, that is not necessarily a problem - then your local switching the town will just have to clear the main when a superior train is expected.
Also, having just a handful of tracks like this is more than enough to do meets, serve local industries, have passing trains drop of blocks of cars to be handled by another train (or even another railroad), and quite a few other things.
If, on the other hand, you will have six or seven people handling three trains and a switcher at the same time, with one train needing to pass the yard, one train arriving in the yard and one train departing from the yard at the same time as the last person is sorting cars for the next train, which will need to be ready for departure in one hour (15 minutes of real time on a 1:4 clock), then it becomes important to be able to con
Not only that - there are also several other good idea for making efficient switching yards shown on Paul’s track plan.
Paul pointed out the crossover that allows access from the switching lead to the main.
The other crossover up there at far top left makes it possible to have train arriving from or departing towards the left on the main without stopping classification, since that crossover allows trains from the main to come into or out of the A/D tracks without crossing over the switching lead.
One of the class tracks is double ended - so it can also function as a third A/D track or a runaround when necessary.
Only two changes I would have made are:
-
Longer lead on the left - as Paul pointed out. Allows switching longer cuts of cars without fouling the main.
-
Making a “mini lead” at the far right end of the yard - long enough to hold an engine consist plus maybe a caboose/shoving platform (if cabooses or shoving platforms are used on this layout), without fouling the main. Would allow engines consists to cut off and run around without interfering with the main.
Smile,
Stein
You guys are allright ,thanks lots a help…Jerry
Paul
So the turnouts in the curves are they curved turnouts or are they straight? I did take your advice and moved my turnouts into the yard on both ends down to allow more room for possible train building. But I didnt put crossovers from the #1 main line to the #2 main line. I didnt because I plan on using the #1 for any passing freight and that I could tie up the #2 main with any other trains.
Right now I have 18 turnouts in my yard and the pic you posted has 12. If I keep my yard I would have to order only 4 more turnouts and 2 of those are the curved turnouts so I wouldnt be out much $$ if I kept mine, but I may try to put your in AnyRail and see what happens.
Brad
AnyRail works great for me. I was hesitant to pay for it, but in the end I am glad I did that way I know what should work with my layout and bench work.
Brad
Brad –
It is your layout. If you so desire, you obviously can rush out and buy even more switches and proceed to lay track, without spend any more time and effort on understanding yard design.
Me, I would recommend perhaps spending a little more time and effort on actually reading and trying to understand/apply the advice you are given.
Paul’s drawing says, fairly clearly, “all switches are #6s”. He later specified Atlas #6. That, perhaps surprisingly , apparently was supposed to mean that all turnouts are straight, Atlas #6 turnouts. Not “some turnouts in this plan are curved”.
Is the thing you are not understanding how you can use straight turnouts to make a pinwheel ladder?
Like this:
The purpose of the crossovers from the main to the yard in Paul’s suggestion has been explained to you. You seemingly still have not quite understood the significance of what you have been told.
You keep talking about a #1 main and #2 main. But every sketch you have posted seemingly shows something else - one track (
Do yourself a favour: Plan it out! The worst thing anyone can do is approach a potential project with a gleam in their eye and nothing more. Asf yourself what is it you are trying to accomplish, what features you wold like, and then start drawing it out. Pencils and paper are a lot cheaper than man-hours and wasted materials.
EF-3 Yellowjacket
Thanks for the kind words… Much appreciated.
I am doing myself a favor and planning it out on paper and in AnyRail. I have my version that I posted and I am implementing the one Paul posted. I will probably go with the one Paul has posted and just add a couple more of storage track.
Thanks for everyone’s input.
Brad
I do think that the OP is doing his homework in one regard, and that is using track software to plan his layout. But, like many of us, BDP may be struggling with terminology and the very nature of yard planning. For example, in my eariler diagram, I referred to one track as my switching lead when, in fact, it is probably an arrival/departure track, although in the past I have also been told that it is not even a true A/D track.
If, like me, one has never worked in a classification or staging yard, it is difficult to understand the logistics of separate tracks, and connecting tracks, for operational purposes.
Try as I may, the purpose of a drill track, switching lead, approach and departure track, and the interaction of these tracks with the staging and classification tracks is hard to grasp and remember.
This link that Paul posted
http://www.housatonicrr.com/yard_des.html (Bisguier-yarddesign)
is very helpful, and so is the Kalmbach book on freight yards, but reading about it and putting it into actual operation on a layout are two very different things.
Rich
Rich
Thanks, I dont think I could say it any better. I have never worked or even known anyone to work in a switching yard and my railroad terminology is not very good, so trying to implement some of the things that are said just goes over my head.
As far as the yard goes, I did get the diagram that Paul posted to work with 1 minor tweak and it looks good and I am going to implement it into my layout.
I have about 60% of my bench work completed, so I need to finish that. Then I need to paint it to help hold out the moisture to keep warping to a very minimum and then I will be laying out my track to make sure what I have in my AnyRail program will work in the Layout.
Thanks for all the info and sorry if I frustrated some along the way but sometimes things dont come as easy to one as they do for another.
Brad