Why create an interchange?

Model Railroader Layouts and layout building
1

I have seen many layouts with an interchange as short as a few inches. There is no room for any sort of operation in that small space so, why is it there?

Is it possibly an excuse to run other roads rolling stock on the layout?

Is it an excuse to use that interlocking tower you built years ago?

Should I plan for one on my new point to point layout?

2

Well, suit yourself as to whether your new layout should have one, but my response would be either “yes” or “don’t rule it out out of hand.” An interchange track can be a good opportunity to introduce “fresh” cars onto the layout (or remove “stale” cars) without them having to come from or go to staging yards. You don’t have to model the other railroad’s trains – just assume that the interchange cars are left there between operating sessions. I find that introducing fresh cars onto the layout and removing stale ones helps make each operating session seem different.

It can also give your local freight another thing to do, and the variety of cars can be broader than what your modeled industries would produce or call for – broader also than what a team track might call for. A simple spur, no building necessary, unless perhaps some shed or whatever in the “other” railroad’s standard structure colors.

If you have the room, actually modeling the interchange trains can break the monotony of locomotive paint schemes. And if you have the room, an active interchange can be the most simple type of staging there is.

Note that not all interchanges involve crossings. Some are parallel lines, or nearly so.

Dave Nelson

3

Thanks Dave. That clears it up.

4

Hi!

Obviously, the vast majority of RRs are hooked in with others - meaning very, very few RRs are “stand alone”. I suggest most of those are logging or mining situations.

So, “realistically”, one’s model RR should have some sort of trackage that leads to or is a part of a foreign road. In my case, the trackage that disappears into the hillside is such a track (actually, it works its way down to the staging tracks below the main level.

Of course the call to have or not have an interchange track is yours.

5

Bruce,

If you are looking for encouragement to include an interchange on your layout, then by all means include one. It adds one more element of interest and, as you suggest, gives you a reason to add an interlocking tower.

I say go for it.

Rich

6

Let’s look at the prototype.

Just about every railroad has interchange arrangements - but they vary in size, type and importance.

Some aren’t obvious:

  • The plant railway interchanges with its Class I connection - the plant’s owners chartered their in-plant switching operation as a railway to gain favorable shipping rates.
  • The railroads using the terminal railroad tracks do so with their own locomotives. In computer terms, the terminal railroad is `transparent.’

Some are:

  • The short line interchanges with the Class I at The Junction - and then takes off up a side valley.
  • The four track ABC crosses the double track XYZ, with miniature yards at all four angles of the crossing.
  • The PNY ends where the SPU begins - at a monster yard with engine termini at each end. On the tracks at each end of the yard, only one road’s engines are seen on mainline trains.

On any given model, a visible interchange may be cosmetic, working or a key to he entire operatiion:

  • Cosmetic - a track that runs from a turnout to (and over) the fascia, too short to hold a car.
  • Working - a spur that appears to connect to another railroad, long enough to hold several (or many) cars. Might even be multi-track, or in-and-out with something on the other side of the backdrop.
  • Key. The TTT interchanges with the JNR at Tomikawa - closed cars, empty open tops in for coal, out with loads, even complete unit trains (short, like all Japanese freights - not Powder River monsters.) Every aspect of the interchange traffic is modeled, even the passenger schedules which mesh to allow folks from the mountain coal towns to shop at the seaside metropolis of Minamijima.

Also on any given model, there may not be a visible interchange. Earlier iterations of my TTT had the mountain towns, but Tomikawa was the hidden staging yard. Even then, waybills were made out

7

For my point to point shortline I won’t have staging tracks, but I will have interchange tracks at each end - 2 sets at each end. They will have major roles in my operating scheme.

Enjoy

Paul

8

Are you talking about an interchange where cars are exchanged or a railroad crossing at grade where two railroad lines cross each other at an interlocking?

They are two different things. You can have an interchange without a crossing and a crossing without an interchange.

If its an interchange the idea is a point where cars can be brought on or off the layout, it is a location for a local to work. If its a crossing/interlocking then it can be an “operating” feature that the trains have to get clearance or signals to cross. It can also be just a scenic feature or an LDE.

9

why not? in my case it was an interlocking on a bridge. there is a photo in john taibis book, when railroads went to the beach. there is also an interesting velociped pic as well.

10

An interchange track is another place to switch cars. Plus it helps with realism of the layout, linking your railroad to the rest of the rail network in “beyond the basement” fashion. You don’t need a lot of space. I have a 90 degree crossing with an interlocking tower and a single setout track. Both curve out of sight behind a hill.

11

This interchange, even though the through track runs off into the facia, the turnout intrchanges between divisions of the club layout.

12

An interchange is a place where cars are exchanged (interchanged) between railroads.

An interchange could be a single track in an industrial area or connection between two mainlines, or a large yard. Sometimes interchange of cars happens with a larger yard, when one railroad has “running rights” on another and delivers entire trains of cars directly to the first railroad’s yard.

A diamond crossing is not an interchange, although there may be one located near the crossing.

Some crossings may have running connections where a train can go from one railroad to the other. Such a running track is not technically an interchange. An interchange track is where cars are set off by one railroad and picked up by another.

For an isolated port terminal railroad, interchange could also be by car float connection to another railroad.

Almost every railroad, unless completely isolated, has some form of interchange with one or more other railways. In this way, a cargo can be shipped from New York to Los Angeles without ever being unloaded and reloaded from one railway car to another as it is handled by multiple railroads. The car itself is transferred to the other railroad to continue its journey.

If you want to do any sort of realistic operation, some sort of “staging” or interchange is pretty much a requirement to represent your railroad’s connection to the rest of the world.