i’m planning on have a switch(back) track, U, to reach a # of spots (A-E) on building flats against the back of an 11" deep section of bench. switch(backs) are reach using a “tail” that can hold a limited # of cars.
i think it would require fewer moves if the switch(back) turnout is on the mainline instead of the siding.
Otherwise, the operator would pull all the cars out and push them onto the siding, then move onto the mainline and sort them into the needed order and need to put those cars onto the siding.
The design feels a bit like an unrealistic switching puzzle. Would a real railroad create a situation where they would have to pull all five spots one or two at a time and have to temporarily stick them somewhere else to get a new car spotted at “A”? I have to believe they would try very hard to avoid that.
Having said that, I don’t think it matters where the turnout is located, in either case the train would need permission to occupy the mainline for some period of time.
I would be more concerned about reliably pushing a cut of cars through back-to-back turnouts at U.
In the real world of railroading - you do what you have to do with what you have to work with. If there are geographical or ownership constraints on the location you do what is necessary to accomplish the task.
Referring to the term ‘switch back’ harkens to the early railroad engineers engineering solution to surmounting grades with a series of inclined planes to climb the grade with a series of switch backs up the face of the grade.
Yes, Mindheim shows situations where railroads even today have to move a car out of the way from a spot so another spot can be filled. I think of it as railroads want to lay as little track and turnouts as possible, (or make do with what already exists) because its often very expensive to add track. Easier to move a few cars than to build more track, but 5 cars is a lot for one spur, IMO.
You probably won’t have all five spots filled at the same time, so that can help determine the number of cars needing to be pulled and how long the tail needs to be. (The map looks like they got way with a short tail because not all spots typically had cars on them at the same time. And I don’t think its actually 5 spots looking at how it curves.)
I would think of your switchback as a necessity for the railroad if there were space considerations to navigate, like existing private property/buildings or a natural barrier like a body of water. The map looks like the railroad needed to work its way back to the buildings…probably due to space constraints.
Also, the “siding” tracks in the map would likely be used as a yard to hold cars and provide a place to place cars out of the way when switching the spur. Its actually a small double ended yard, IMO.
I personally don’t care for any type of plan involving these switchback type track configurations. Regardless of what the prototype might have to do, in the model world I’ve found that it might be fun to do a couple times, but after that it is a royal pain.
Anyway, concerning the location of the off the main turnout, I think I might add a turnout (or 2) so that you can go from V to T without going to U. This will prevent blocking the main during the sorting process.
