Thanks for all the advice so far from forum members. I’m afraid I will be posting lots of little requests in the next little while. I’m hoping some of you guys who like to get in and tinker with layout design won’t mind giving me their [2c] worth in the next few weeks.
Anyway, nothing is carved in stone for me at this point. As shown below, I am thinking of making as large a yard as possible between the mainlines running north and south. But the #6 and #8 turnouts have me running out of space to reconnect with the mainline at the south end…yet I want to have these yards as long as possible. Shown here in one foot grid using HO Code 83.
Now, I am open to all design suggestions. Should I shorten up and redesign the yards so I can re-enter the mainline, or is there a good design option that will have the yards come to a dead end and some sort of other switching elsewhere that will allow me to make up long trains and get them easily out onto the mainline with locos coming down from the north (the loco repair and maintenance area).
For now ignore every other aspect of this plan. Although it shows sectional track I will be using flex track and the curve radii and location are not true yet. Thanks to anyone for their tips.
(hope to get some layout books from the library today as mine have not come from Amazon yet.)
Do NOT use #8’s in the yard. it makes switching take forever.
You can have a compound lead, a RH switch then another RH switch. It introduces curves in you yard tracks and doesn’t look as smooth as a regular lead, but takes up less space.
This may be hard to draw in a drawing, but you might experiment with laying out turnouts.
I would suggest starting your yard ladder IN the end curve, using the curve side of the turn out to flow from the curve, like the bottom end of Santa Fe freight yard and Port RR yard at lower left corner of this plan I am building.
It may look like there are curved turnouts, but no, there are not. This makes the end curve take slightly mor length and width, but reduces the length required overall to fit in a given number of yhard tracks.
YEP, at the end where the curve of the dogbone is ,looks like a pinwheel would work w/#6s ,just know that you may have to reverse the switch bars on some brands (atlas #6 custom I think) and it makes a good size radius . you could make some paper copys of the turnouts you what to use ,then just tape em together or thumb tackem to ply ,if you dont have track software to get the fit &radius. …Jerry
You say to ignore all other aspects of your layout besides what is shown, but it makes a difference in how I comment. If only one train is running, it doesn’t need a yard lead.
All we can see is the yard. If you just have the yard and all you are doing to do is sort trains the what you have is okay. But I see no A/D track, not yard lead, no caboose track, no maintainance facilities, no fuel, etc.
What are you planning to do there? Where are cars coming from and where are they going to and why are you sorting them?
Thanks Space Mouse. Of course it would be helpful to see more of my prelim. plans even though I am not adept at using the software and I don’t know what an A/D track or caboose track is.
At any rate, below is the preliminary plan…kind of a double dog bone.
The east-west portion at the top is my existing layout (5 X 15). I am extending it in the only way possible, because of landscaped elevations on the outer curves, via a crossing under my trestle (set off to the side in this illustration.
Constraints of the room(s) yeild the basic shape shown.
The curve radii are not optimized as I am hopeless at trying to get RTS flex track to go where I want it so I am simply working with the max, 24" radius sectional pieces on the program for the time being.
In the southwest will be more spurs (not yet shown) to heavy industry to be determined.
Top layout includes stockyards, ice plant, townsite, bulk aggregate site, passenger terminal (which I wish to move somewhere to the south to bring in long length passenger cars on the large radii offered by the new expansion, and grain elevator.
Dogbone to the right is a long “tunnel” run in an empty portion that I do not wish to develop with any features since it is has limited access.
