Hey how’s everyone been? Alot of progress here on the layout… FINALLY!!!
But have a quick question about my main line going through my big yard… now just imagine a east bound line & a westbound line. Just having a slight blockage of the brain. What would be better for more space & operation in the yard (4’ X 20) if the east & west were parallel next to each other going right down the middle of the yard or have the east on one side of the yard & the west on the other side… once I figure this out… it will be clear sailing for the main line…
thanks
Mike
hope everyone has been good… and all that train stuff…
John Armstrong would have advised you to do as seems best for your ideals. His book shows both arrangements. Personally I would not favour splitting the yard because crossing over for some purpose would mean impeding through traffic. It is just one more piece of work for an already busy dispatcher who would have to coordinate switching around two-wayhi-speed traffic right down the middle of the yard.
And then there’s the alternative of the main line tracks going on either side of the yard located in the middle. Easy access w/o a train from the main line track on the outside of the two fouling the other main while crossing over.
I would agree with this design. This would give you more yard use/track for the space allowed. If you have the length, the yard can be double ended, the ladders would be simpler. Only disadvantage I see would be possible congestion at the yard throat and the need for a crossover for the mainlines. Also may allow more of needed area for engine service facilities and misc industries within the yard.
Bob K.
Put both east and west mainlines on one side of the yard.
Unless you have LOTS of space, doing things this way will reduce the complexity and duplication you’ll need to really have what amounts to two complete sets of yard tracks. You’ll need an outside runaround on the side of the yard away from your mainlines, as well as two decent size yard leads directly between the mainlines and the yard proper.
If it’s a double-ended yard, you can send trains out of it in either direction. You’ll just need a decent set of crossovers past each end of the yard throats to send traffic in the proper direction, depending on what happens after passing the yard limits sign.
But if you really want to have two functional, but separate east and west yards, you’ll need to pretty much duplicate all that on the other side of the tracks, so to speak. Remember, it’s not just length, but width you’re dealing with here. Can you actually reach across to work on everything you have planned? This gets more difficult with a double-sided yard.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Why not single track past/through the yard. Are you going to have that many trains that will not be classified in some manner in the yard? It sounds like you have a fairly large layout if your yard is 4’x20’.
My layout (20’+x36’) has a single track on the North side of the yard, six arrival/arrival departure tracks South of the main, and a drill track with eight classification tracks south of the arrival/departure tracks and finally a run around track south of the classification tracks.
My yard is 30" deep by 26’ long including the approaches that have the required cross overs. You may not need all the arr/dep and classification tracks I have, but I would at a minimum configure the yard so the main is completely separate from the yard and the arrival/departure tracks are separate from the main and the drill track. The drill track should be the lead to the yard ladder for the classification tracks.
Most of my trains are classified at my division point yard. There are some unit trains that are not, and they hold the main to change crews and maybe power. The key to smooth operation for my layout is the six arrival/departure tracks. The only trains that do not use them are the locals. The crews for the locals are required to build their train from the East end of the yard (the yard is drilled from the West end). This allows the drill crew to work the classification tracks and the arrival/departure tracks without interference from the local crews. Transfer crews from the UP and two shortlines also work from the classification tracks (one track is for transfer cars) and not the arrival/departure tracks. Again this keeps the drill crew moving cars for the road trains.
I originally did not have the arrival/departure tracks. It was designed with a single track main and a separate drill track. I soon realized this was a mistake and redesigned it with the arrival/departure tracks. Now the yard drill crew can keep up with the volume of road trains in and out of
I would and did put the mains on one side of the yard so that they won’t interfere with switching movements. another thing i did was put in a long section of track where the two mains connect into the yard tracks at a double crossover (sort of like a drill track) so that while the main line trains are running, I can switch in the yard and pull out long sections of rolling stock out of the storage tracks without fouling the mains…chuck
Chuck,
Yard leads like yours are very important, especially during heavy operations on larger layouts.
I don’t know if I could work a yard efficiently without one.
Bob K.
The real railroads were often constrained by location and/or built one way but would maybe have prefered something different later.
You could build so that nothing gets in the way of anything else for what you are doing… this is fine if you just want to roll trains.
Then again, if you want to add interest, yard leads usually had speed restrictions AND could include bottlenecks.
A bottleneck means that moves have to be prioritised and juggled. can add a lot of fun.
Wherever your main runs… so long as he route is set for the main the train(s) can roll on it. things only need to change when you alter the route.
Well that all depends on you. If you have a switcher doing local service then I say break up the yard with two lines down the middle!
One side would be arrivals to be delivered to local industries by a small switcher. The other side would be departures heading back home. It keeps things cleaner when trying to seperate cars and doing way bills. This assumes the following:
You have no space/need for hump/storage/classification yard.
Your yard is for impending and immediate departures only and will be only used for building/breaking down larger trains into smaller ones.
