I originally posted this inthe General section but figure this may be a more appropriate forum… I’m open to any suggestions/thoughts that everyone has so please don’t hold back.
My new layout is going to be 12’x10’ with a planned area of 2’x8’ for the yard and engine facilities. Since I’m modeling in HO I know this doesn’t give me a ton of options space wise but since the theme of my layout is a backwoods B&M branch in the 70’s it doesn’t need to be enormous [:)].
In my part of my design testing I initially came up with a 3 track yard that was connected t the mainline via a switch back. The switch back was long enough to hold a 4axle loco, IE GP9, and 3 50’ box cars.I also had another track of the same length running parallel to the yard tracks as a location for trains to be assembled and taken down.
Here is a sketch, certainly not to scale, of the plan which I have layed out and tested so know it will fit. My question is, how prototypical would the switchback be for the yard?
Overall, there’s not much of a problem with it, however, you will need a runaround. And the A/D track which you are calling make-up break-up should connect with the main as well as the yard lead. You should be able to do that somewhere back on the layout.
You have a pretty close representation of my yard, which I have in about the same space you have.
If traffic arrives from left on the main, it will have no trouble pulling in and then backing or “Yarding” to one or more tracks.
The yard track ladder have fierce S curves, I would not want it like that. Just have the yard storage tracks come off the middle diagnonal. Basically add neighbors to the make/break up track.
You will need a run around really bad. Make it so that it runs around your make/break track and your ladders towards the top right. The caboose and misc storage track can then be used when needed.
Go ahead and disconnect your mainline switch to your engine facilities and connect to the yard access track which I will call your drill track. That will free up the mainline from being “Too switchy”
This yard can serve mainline trains from left to right in direction of travel. Should a train arrive from right side you are going to need to run around your train after backing into the drill track. If your train is too long, you will have to break it down and yard it off the main the hard way.
Long track going into the engine facilities can then have a switch inserted and a short “Switcher Pocket” created. And opposite that you can put a track there for company use or general team track style work.
The only thing I cannot do is think about how big of trains you can make or break because I dont see the drawing to scale or nearly so.
Thanks for all your tips, I’m going to take your suggestions and see what I can do to revise the current setup a bit. To answer a question that was asked, my average train length will be 5 cars plus loco/caboose. Once I finish the revised plan I will post it to get your thoughts/feedback.
I would stick with your original plan, you need an assembly track so a building train wont block the main. It doesnt have to be straight, it can be curved to fit your space limitations.
Of course, he needs a place to make up and break up trains. However, a train coming in from the main should not have to drive all the way up the yard lead to drop it off, nor should it foul the main waiting for the switcher to arrive.
I’m just saying connect that track to the main as well as the yard so the road engine can go on it’s merry way to service.
It’s taken me a while to post, but I figure I’ll give you all an update on my yard design. I’ve stuck with the same basic plan as shown in my first post but removed on yard track and extended the make up/break up track to rejoin the mainline to the left. The turnout for the loco area has also been removed from the main and now resides off the yard turnout as suggested.
Mainline radius is 24", all turnouts are Atlas custom line #6, except for the one on the curve, it is a Walthers curved #7, because I used Atlas RTS 7 to do the plan, a curved turnout wasn’t an option so I substituted a #6 in the diagram. All track is code 83.
Why don’t you try curving the yard tracks to follow your main line. As long as you give a little more space between the yard tracks (2.5 inches should be sufficient) you will be able to increase your yard capacity. If possible, you can even connect them back to the main yard to make the yard double ended.
After the yard tracks, there will be some sort of scene block and then behind that a planned interchange with the Maine Central. The current yard tracks are each long enough to hold 4 50’ cars and since I’m modeling a moderately used branch with trains of about 5 cars each, the current yard track seem to meet my requirements.
The mainline track to the lower left will have a double cross over with the left most tracks connecting to the MEC interchange in the upper corner and a 3 track staging yard in the lower corner.
Could be that you’ve already thought about these things, but fwiw: You will have trains arriving from both right (south) and left (north) ? And will want to have trains departing in both directions ? Or is the yard at the end of the layout and most of the traffic will arrive from the left (north) and depart towards the left (north) ?
Ideally, if you can have trains arriving from both directions and departing in both directions, the track you call “make and break up”, ie the Arrival/Departure track, should branch off from the mainline on both ends of the track, so both northbound trains and southbound trains can get directly off the main into the A/D track. Preferably no backing to get into the A/D track.
The Caboose tracks maybe should be on the same side of the yard ladder as the two classification tracks (to the left of the yard ladder). That way it is the same movement for a switcher to move a caboose to a third track as it is to move a car to one of the other two tracks - go down to the A/D, pull the caboose up the yard ladder and back it into a third classification/caboose/storage track.
Otherwise you would need a runaround to move a swicher from being to the right of cars being classified, but to the left of a caboose being stored
Your freight house track also doubles as the yard lead - should work fine.
I’ve followed some of the given advice and made some adjustments to the ladder. I replaced the #6 turnout in the ladder with a 3 way Walthers #6 giving me 3 classification tracks with the same length as the previous two. I’ve also inserted a cross over using #4 turnouts in the two lower tracks to allow my switcher (typically an RS3) to escape. I also realize that the track labeled as makeup/breakup should really be labeled as the A/D track, as that’s primarily what it does.
I haven’t updated the actual track diagram yet so unfortunately you’ll have to look at the one above and visualize it. [:)] Thanks again everyone for your help.
There is no way for a switch engine to get a caboose from an inbound train to the caboose track without going out on the main.
You have a freight house on your switch lead. If you spot more than a car or two at the freight house, you won’t have enough tail room on the lead to switch.
Any train arriving from the south or departing south will have to shove in or out of the recieving track.
Why not curve both yard tracks around the corner and connect them into the make/break track to give you 3 double ended track, much more flexible.
Why not swap the lead and the engine house and run the lead along the main. You could put a switch/crossover onto the lead just to the right of the depot and fix the south train problem.
It still has issues but is much better than the original design.
You need a runaround track somewhere nearby. If you have users who are not familiar with your switchback entrance, you will want 2 runarounds (because they will get lost) - one on the main, one along the switchback.
Thinking like the prototype: why do we need to buy such a deep plot of ground? Why not a long narrow one instead? The purchasing / authorization guys want to know!
I recommend to your attention The Model Railroader’s Guide to Freight Yards, which may help you plan out this area.
Note that with a standard schematic, you can actually lay out twisty track that looks neat and unusual but is still familiar to operate.
