Hi, I’m working on my yard and I have it built, but it don’t function as well for me as I like it to. Here are the pictures of the yard. The staging yard to me work great it the main yard the is giving me problem. Any one got any suggestion on how I should arange the yard?
http://www.freewebs.com/don_csx/Yards.htm
Good day. I am not a yard expert but I do not see a run around track or a switching lead in the yard. It looks like trains will arrive in your yard from both directions but your switcher needs to get to the arriving train so that it can be broken up. The same applies for making up trains for departure hence arrival and departure tracks. Try the link below it helped me with my yard.
Scott
don csx,
I’d have to agree with Scott. Tell you what, have you ever heard the old saying, “Rather then giving a man a fish, It’s better to teach him to fish”? OK, here’s a fishing lesson. I learned a ton from this site about layout design. This is just the yard design page, but if you click on the logo at the top it’ll take you to the home page. There’s tons of info there too.
http://www.vetmed.auburn.edu/~smithbf/BFSpages/LDSIGprimer/Yards.html
One thing that sticks out to me is that you really don’t have a separate Mainline coming thru the yard, and as scott said there is no place for the switcher to work. Try having the Main run thru at the top, close to the back drop and have the yard below it.
bill
Guys thanks a bunch for the help. Wish I know about this site before I started my yard. Its time to rip it up and start all over. Any one wnt to help plan the yard? Thanks again for the help.
Donald
don_csx, I like the sevice tracks and the length of your clasification tracks look longer than anything you may use for an arival/departure track. You Do need a drill track for workin the yard. think about when the yard guy is pulling cars at the same time a through train needs clearance? Also It is So much easier to uncouple cars in the classification tracks if they are closer to the front, and when a train rolls buy in the backgound you dont have to worry about reaching over it. All this will tear you up inside a bit but get a book or the websites above are great sources, and focus on the yard throught. But make a quick decision and get the trains running, my problem is I spend so much time planning and re-planning that I dont get to run trains[:(]
The first picture has been changed on my yard page. [urlhttp://www.freewebs.com/don_csx/Yards.htm[/url]
I reworked the yard this morning and put in a double slip switch. The main goes behind the yard along the backdrop. I have added a switching lead that will go around the back of the roundhouse.
Anyone else got any more suggestions, and thanks for posting that site. That has helped.
Donald
Unless you have a huge layout a "departure yard should not be needed. also u could put a small spur at the end of your yard so a train could pull straight in and the engines could “run around” the train to get back to the yard lead. although this does require to empty tracks. also when i worked for the railroad back in the 70s we used the mainline at times for switching moves. good luck!
The double slip was a good idea, but the yard switcher would still have to clear the main. This would slow the entire layout as the yard generally dictates the pace.
Donald do not feel bad we are on revision 12 of the yard design for this thing we are building and hope it works in real life like it does on the computer. Your revision pictures look good. Have you tried to use it yet? that will show you what is needed if anything.
Remember that the fun is in the building and design. You get to make what you design and build come to life. That is the neat part of this hobby and what keeps me going.
Enjoy.
I used my yard last night. It did pretty good. Better them I was thinking it would. I need to take a few more updated pictures of the yard now. The main track goes around next to the back drop. I ran a train and switched the yard at the same time pretty nice. Some of my yard tracks was shortened but some was extended but they are all stub track now. Not a problem. I does add a little more switching but that is the fun part.
Now that I have my yard lead done on to the rest of the yard. Mainly the car shop. As of now to get to the car shop you got down the yard lead, then back down a switch back then to the car shop. I like to get my yard kinda prototypical but this move to get to the shop doesn’t seam to handy. Any one have any suggestion on how I should have the tracks going to the car shop. Or should I leave it the way it is?
Donald