After reading Andy Sperandeo’s column in feb '11 MR, regarding how the car float serves as the staging Alice Stree track plan, I’d like some help to better understand staging?
Based on this comment, is it true that any tracks reaching the end of the layout could serve as staging or interchange?
Taking this a bit further, I’d like to suggest that it is desirable that a point-to-point layout have passing sidings near each end, with track reaching the end of the layout past the sidings. While the passing siding would allow the locomotive to change ends when reversing direction, wouldn’t such a siding/station be an ideal area to exchange cars with where ever the track leaving the layout goes?
Staging tracks can be as few as one, or as many as you have room for. Staging tracks are places that complete trains can be staged (stored), ready to come on the layout at the prescribed time during the operating schedule. Staging tracks usually are laid out in the form of a simple yard. In a nut shell, that is what staging is. Staging tracks are not the same as interchange tracks, although both can have the same purpose.
An interchange is where one railroad interchanges (swaps) cars with another railroad. Only cars are exchanged, not complete trains. The car float can be an interchange, but is not generally used for staging.
The type of staging depends on the type of layout you have or plan to build, and how you plan to operate it.
If you have a large area, you can have two single ended staging tracks, one at each end of the main line. One end can be city A and the other city B. A train from A can come on your layouts mainline and run to B. In between, you can switch cars, or drop and pick up blocks of cars from a main yard on your layout, then continue on to B or both, depending on how you decide to operate the staged trains. Trains can also come from B and proceed to A. This is point to point operation.
If your layout is in the form of a loop, you could have one staging yard in the middle somewhere, possibly hidden, or not. This staging yard would usually be double ended so trains could come and go from either end or either direction. this type of staging yard could also be used as an interchange.
This latter way is how my layout is set up, with visible staging. My mainline is in the form of a loop that goes around the room twice. At one end I have a very simple three track double ended yard that can be used for staging or as an interchange. Half way around the layout I have a division point yard and engine facilities. Local trains begin and end
There are different types of staging used. On my three deck Santa Fe I have several staging yards. For example, on the top deck is hidden staging yards that continue into the modeled portion of Flynn Yard at Oklahoma City. There are 8 tracks that can hold trains visibly but will also hold more trains in the mole hole area. The mainline continues around the top deck ending at Guthrie OK where the mainline goes out of sight and also has staging for Arkansas City KS in the mole hole area. Doesn’t hold as many trains, but the mole hole operator is building trains manually and taking trains off that have arrived. There are only three tracks for Arkansas City and trains are shuffled on and off these tracks.
The other track out of Guthrie is the Enid district which enters the helix and runs to the middle deck and around twice before reaching Enid OK. There is limited staging at Enid for BN and UP trains. The Santa Fe Enid district then continues down to the bottom deck, arrives in Cherokee OK where there is staging for a freelance railroad, the Oklahoma Northern Again, these trains are pre staged before a session. The line continues down to Kiowa Ks and then to Waynoka, which is stub ended staging for traffic going west.
Then there is the BN Avard line which comes out of hidden staging (mole hole again) for Tulsa, enters the layout on the middle deck and runs to Enid and then down to bottom deck to Avard OK which is staging and into Waynoka.
If you kept count, most staging is (1) hidden, (2) worked by an operator in an area called the mole hole, (3) many of the cars are worked off and on the staging areas.
This is a quick explanation, but the point is I have used all sorts of staging tricks to support the railroad, but visually only Flynn yard staging area is seen by visitors.
My partially-built layout is meant to operate as a point-to-point-to-point road, with all three end points having some staging capacity. In addition, there’ll be a modelled interchange (more staging) and a hidden industrial area that will receive and ship cars (more staging).
Most of the staging can be seen in the photo below. On the lowest level is a single staging track, representing an interchange with another road. It enters the visible part of the layout by crossing the aisle, in the foreground. That part of the layout (Port Maitland) is one of the three points mentioned previously.
Just above that are two hidden industrial tracks (three reefers are sitting on the closer track (to the right of the post). This represents an unmodelled industrial area meant to generate traffic without tying up a lot of space and without requiring a lot of money for structures. The tracks are dead-ended and enter the layout after passing through the backdrop (out of sight to the right). The visible layout there (Dunnville) is a modelled industrial area, and both areas are worked as one.
keep in mind most model railroaders are using a “ante-session” . Before they start operating, just as with any party you have to prepare, trains are made up earlier. This might be done by hand (fiddling) or by pushing back a consist and rearrange it on the tracks. So do not need a runaround or engine terminal as part of your staging area. Most modellers keep their staging area as small as possible since it takes valuable space.
Fiddling makes it possible to have fresh cars on your layout. If you do not like to touch them by hand, some modellers are using cassettes. Its easy to change cassettes, a ferry could be considered a cassette also.
An interchange can be handled the very same way, with or without an engine; I agree mostly without.
On small layouts dedicating track to staging is often a waste of space, fiddling cars or cassettes from and onto the layout makes it possible to start operating with a “new” set of cars.