Set-up: I’m modeling the Northwestern Pacific Railroad in the year 1917. At that time, it ran from a ferry in Sausalito to Trinidad Head about 20 miles north of Eureka. I’m modeling a section in middle from Willits to Fort Sewart, with a branch line, the California Western that passed through the redwoods to Fort Bragg.
Under the layout, is the San Francisco Staging Yard to which southbound traffic from Willits heads. Also, from Fort Bragg, shipments were sent north to a point where ships could be loaded via cable from the bluffs, so as it is convenient and to permit continuous running, I can send traffic from Fort Bragg to the San Francisco Staging Yard.
North of Willits, are 3 towns and a mining operations ending at Fort Sewart. From Fort Stewart I had planned to put, in a 12-foot long, 14-inch wide book case, the Eureka Staging Yard.
So, the question for discussion:
Since Eureka is for all practical purposes, the north end of the line for both freight and passengers, does it matter for purposes of operation whether Eureka is a staging yard or terminal classification/ passenger yard/freight destination? Why or why not?
ok , i’ll show off my ignorance … what’s the difference between a staging yard and a terminal yard for operational or construction purposes ?
it seems that eureka yard is going to be the north end of the modeled section of your railroad , and that cars (and trains?) headed further north will end up there , and cars (and trains?) going south will start there .
will you lay the tracks out differently for staging or terminal ?
Yes, for staging, I would have mostly parallel tracks with the intention that I would use the 0-5-0 switcher regularly. There would be no landscaping or structures.
With a terminal yard there would be a passenger terminal, a round house, service facilities, industries and classification yard.
Mouse, if you intend to have those maintenance facilities ‘somewhere’ on your layout, you have really answered your own question…n’est-ce pas? The way I see it, you will have them or not. If yes, then place them and call it a terminal. If not (necessarily), then it doesn’t matter…do as you see fit. In fact, and without knowing what Eureka was in real life from a RR point of view, why not have it two ways? A Terminal, and Staging as needed to make things work.
I have engine facilities at Fort Bragg (Union Lumber actually since they owned the CW aond it is located in Ft Bragg) and more in Willits, which is a small interchange yard of sorts. I don’t “need” that type of operation. It just seems to be there for the taking.
ok , got it .
given the 14" depth of this area i think a hint of scenery to suggest the terminal facilties might work . maybe a depot and a water tower cut in half and placed up against the back wall
A staging yard represents the “rest of the world” or at least a place where something is going on.
If there is a lot of industry where cars will be loaded/unloaded N of your visible layout or a bunch of interchanges then you might want Eureka to be a staging yard (actually a fiddle yard).
If there is relatively little going on from an industry perspective, then you might want to make it a live yard.
If you have a lot of trains that originate out of Eureka, a crew runs their train into Eureka and then the crew “ties up” for rest, and the crew and engine don’t come back out for another day (next running session) then you might want to make it a staging yard.
If you run mostly turns, the trains run to Eureka and then the same crew, the same day comes back with the same engine and a different set of cars, then you will want Eureka to be live.
Where will the lumber from Scotia be shipped? Will it be picked up by a mixed freight? Then it will have to be switched at either end, eh? Loads of fun either way and it gives both continuity and purpose to your line. Enjoy and when you are up and running please post pictures.
From a Scotia point of view, it makes more sense that Eureka be a staging yard. Because the major traffic from the Eureka area is lumber–many operations far larger than the Union Lumber Company I am modeling. It makes sense to make up through freights from Scotia to San Francisco, as well as mixed freight that might supply the smaller towns north of Willits- although, I was planning on the Union Lumber Co supplying most of them.
I’ll have to dig for some schedules, but I can’t imagine more than a through freight/day. And add to that a local freight/passenger. Eureka in these terms seems small potatoes as far as passenger and classification yards go. Lumber was everything and needed a lot of motive power. Engine service was probably the major part of operations in Eureka. Just speculating, I have some good books to work through on the subject.
Thanks. I should have responded earlier, but I have been thinking about what you said all day. I have no want for industry or operations and it would be more of a layover type turnaround.
Fiddle yard it is. If I run out of things to do I can convert it anytime. As far I can figure, though, there’s no rule that says your staging yard can’t look like a calssification yard.
I have planned on my proposed layout a terminal yard, mostly freight houses.
its practical and visible.
Another side is I will use the Walthers Car Float as my “visible” hidden yard. heh.
I can actually grab and move the float to another dock and there ya go, operation.
The staging yard represents the areas you don’t model, the world outside your line.
it might be just one or 2 tracks to setup a train.
I’ve read this, but most staging yards are hidden so landscaping, etc. are superfluous. But if a staging yard is visible, why not make it part of the operations?
“Visible staging” certainly benefits from decoration. From what I have seen, the NWP tracks in Eureka ran near the waterfront, in between shipping docks and downtown Eureka, with the mountains in the background. Even with a 14" deep shelf, it seems like it would be pretty easy to mount some building flats to represent the various warehouses, fleabag hotels and other heavy-on-charm structures of Eureka’s waterfront area. Whether you want to add distant mountains to the backdrop in between buildings is up to you–you can’t really see them too well from the waterfront, but since Eureka was backed up by mountains after a short coastal valley they wouldn’t be out of place.
So, that being said, by throwing down some ballast, plopping up a backdrop and some building flats, and splattering on some lovely local detail (seagulls, rogue dogs, hobos and assorted Humboldt County character actors, sailor bars, fleabag hotels, trolley lines, maybe a small boat having its barnacles scrubbed off by the waterfront) you could have a nice-looking portion of the layout. Even today, Eureka’s waterfront area is dripping with the sort of urban detail that I love–it’s scruffy and scrappy and just a bit run-down, dying to be modeled by someone who loves to overdo weathering.