Is staging really neccisary ? I like the idea and would like to include it on my new layout but there is little room for it. how many of you out there with small layouts use staging ? I am not going to have mainline operation but up to 5 trains will run in an operating session. Thanks in advance.
Alex the Rock Island kid[:)][:D][8D][:I][:p][;)][:o)][8)][^][?]
Staging is not something that is necessary on a layout, but it is always a nice thing to have on any size layout. It can be as simple as a single track behind a backdrop allowing you to remove and add trains outside of view and can prevent incidental scenery damage. Plus it just makes an operation session that much more enjoyable.
Warren
Don’t forget underneath your layout is a good place for staging, just don’t make it too deep into the layout or you will have trouble physically and visually accessing the trains.
Another possibility, a helix under your layout for seriel staging only.
Staging is for the modeller who considers his layout to be a pesentation, like a stage play. It may work for you if you like to set things up before operating sessions. Otherwise you can use visible yards for keeping cars that are not in active trains.
Staging makes it possible to run your layout like a real railroad. Doesn’t matter if you “operate” or not. Look at it this way: without staging, every single car in your 'world" has to fit on the layout and they can never leave to go to another city or town you haven’t modelled. That means you have to have an industry that serves every kind of car on the layout or there’s no reason for 'em to be there.
I have attached a small staging yard to a 4’x8’ with great success–the idea is, the trains arrive, the cars are set out, and then the rest of the train leaves. Another train may enter, pick up cars, drop some off, and then also leave.
Don’t discount the impact of a staging yard.
To Acl Fan,
Curious, In what way did you attach a staging yard to a 4x8 layout.
I really could use one too.
Mark in Texas
I vote with rns48. My staging is hidden on a lower level. Makes for great running possibilities. You might want to take a look at “The Best of Model Railroading magazines’s Track Plans” for an excellent discussion of lower level staging.
Staging is a nice thing to have if planned out well. Most people put it under the layout.
I’m using visible stageing yards. Two identical ones actually. One above the other in a shelving unit I’m planning to build.
Both of them will represent a city on either end of my layout.
If you have the room, build one. Even if it’s under your layout. It doesn’t have to be a large one. Three or four tracks is al you will probably need.
Just my 2 cents
Gordon
My planned staging yards will be visible–the prototype actually did have yards on either end of the belt line, so while they’ll be only minimally scenicked they will have some sort of background and a yard structure or three. On a 4x8 typically one would find staging yards along the “back end” with a backdrop down the middle of the layout, allowing full view of the front (the mainline/industrial area) with a yard in back that may or may not be viewable by visitors. This effectively splits a 4x8 into two discrete areas, not visible from each other, which increases that sense of distance between the two.
I added a 4 track double ended staging yard on the same level as my layout but behind the backdrop and accessed from the back. My railroad works as a point to point, but the ends are connected through the staging. This means that I can use any or all of the staging tracks for either end of the run. It also means that if I choose to simply show off some trains I cand do a continuous run if i choose. This is not my typical mode of operation, but it is nice when I have non-railroad guests who simply want to see some trains.
Ron