making an economical and functional yard

Started by Kris Everett, June 24, 2010, 12:25:11 PM

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Kris Everett

are their any good plans out floating around of economical and functional yards

??? 8)

richg

Sounds like you are stuck at home so go to the below link. You should find interesting variations on the subject.
Store the links you like in Favorites.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=model+railroad+yard+design&aq=0&aqi=g4&aql=&oq=model+railroad+yard&gs_rfai=

Rich

Doneldon

Kris -

I'm not sure if you mean economy of cost or area; however, this will give you some great basic information about yards:

http://www.housatonicrr.com/yard_des.html

I also refer you to John Armstrong's fabulous book, Track Planning for Realistic Operation.  It's a classic and still in print.  It may be in your local library.  Plus, modelrailroader.com has tons of layouts, many of which have yards.  I believe this is available whether or not you subscribe to MR.

I have two strong suggestions: First, be sure you have a runaround track, that is, parallel tracks with a turnout at each end so you can change which end of a car your loco is at.  Without this you won't be able to effectively work your yard.  Second, have a yard lead long enough for any arriving or departing train.  This will allow you to break down and build up trains without rendering your main lines unusable.

As for economy, yard tracks with turnouts on only one end will save both cash and space.  However, working the yard will be more of a challenge than if you have turnouts on both ends.  If you have turnouts on both ends, curving your mainline around the yard and having a somewhat diamond shaped yard will give you longer yard tracks than will a yard ladder which has ever shorter tracks as you go along.  Don't hesitate to curve your yard if that will give you greater capacity.  Both of these ideas may allow you to use fewer turnouts to fewer tracks without sacrificing capacity.

If you plan to install a turntable, be sure it is long enough for your longest locomotive.  Then, have the narrowest possible angle (10o?) between turntable tracks and plan to put your roundhouse as close to the table as you can.  This will minimize the space your engine terminal requires which will save acreage but not much cash.  Also, remember that your turntable lead can enter the turntable from any direction including from right next to or even between roundhouse or garden tracks.  (Garden tracks are those which are fed by the turntable but are not in the roundhouse.)  This is another space saver but not much of a money saver,  if at all.  Of course you may not want a turntable.  You'll still likely want/need an engine house.  Use a three-way switch to access this and save one switch cost, plus some area.

Depending on what you're planning for a layout, staging tracks can take the place of on layout yards.  These can be hidden on the same level as the layout or placed below it.  Above isn't practical.  Staging can save a lot of space but not much money, if any.
                                                                                                              -- D

Kris Everett

Quote from: Doneldon on June 25, 2010, 12:19:19 AM
Use a three-way switch to access this and save one switch cost, plus some area.

where can i get one of those?


thank for all the info

Doneldon

Kris -
I don't think Bachmann makes an EZ Track three-way but you can find them at Walthers.com or your LHS.  Use regular rail joiners and ballast which resembles the EZ Track ballast, or ballast everything and no one will know you have a different brand of track.
                                                                                         -- D


buzz

Well if you want economical.
arrival road 1 departure road 1 team track 1 loco stow road 1 freight shed track
A three track double ended shunting grid one track off to the examiners shed from one end of the grid.
from the other up the neck swing off the yard to the left and into the
industrial and inter modal sidings.
Yard tower and office building is opposite the loco stow road.
no loco facilities they are fifteen minutes away in town and caboose track not bothered with as thats so full of junk and you could not get a caboose in there even if you wanted to.
yard entries are at the east end center of the yard center access allows direct access to the arr & dep tracks as well as the neck so oil trains can go to the Shell BP and Caltex Depots other things down in the industrial area Saddler's transport, Hampton transport, a small cement plant the old stock yards.
Between the main yard and industrial sidings is an untidy area which has
a per way material dump the water board pipeline, scrubby vegetation and a couple of dirt access tracks so that yard crews, shunter's and examiners  can drive their light trucks to where they are needed to work.

While maybe not quite what you want it does give a good rough description
of a yard that would work reasonably well in model railway terms
regards John
A model railway can be completed but its never finished

jward

#6
i looked through the links posted in the original reply. those are all good for planning an ideal yard but.......

the key word in the original post is economical.

for economical yards look at what shortlines and other poor railroads have done in limited space with little money.

arrival & departure tracks? not needed if you only run a couple of trains a day. the same goes with a yard lead. if you're the only train on the line there is nobody's way to get into. runaround track. nice to have but if you have a short enough train, your yard it will fit into the longest yard track and your switcher can come out behind it and pull the cars away from the engine.

dedicated engine service tracks? a short siding with a sand tower and fuel pump will suffice. caboose track? use your shortest yard track for this.....

here is the original plan of the yard on my current layout.
Jeffery S Ward Sr
Pittsburgh, PA

CNE Runner

Kris - I cannot recommend Peco track, and track accessories, more highly. Having said that, their Electrofrog (electrically live frog) is definitely the way to go...especially if you plan on running shorter locomotives.

Having said that, I decided to see what Peco has to offer in the 3-way turnout area. As far as I can tell Peco doesn't offer a 3-way unit in Code 83 (their North American 'line'). However in Code 100 and Code 75 (the code I use) they do [all prices are quoted from Bill's Train and Tracks website]:

SL-E99 (Code 100)...$41.39
SL-E199 (Code 75)...$46.22

Generally speaking the track code in yards and sidings is less than that of the main line; so the code 75 units would look great. Also, depending upon the era modeled, and whether or not you have a branchline or Class I road, the track code would probably be less than code 100 rail on the mainline as well (there are transition tracks available to go from code 100, or 83 to code 75).

In all the years I have been using Peco track (yeah, I know, it ain't cheap), I have had only one unit that was made incorrectly (a code 75 small crossing). I cannot say the same about a couple of other manufacturers.

Regards,
Ray
"Keeping my hand on the throttle...and my eyes on the rail"

Kris Everett

thanks for all the info on yards. im am going to definitely build no i just haven't decided where yet probably under the main line would be a good spot for it

ray,
what code is bachmann track?

jward,
dose it come with a key so i can follow what every thing is?

Doneldon
ill look in to them as well.
are they the same code a bachmann track?

Doneldon

Kris -

It depends on the brand but, as CNE said, it's easy to use adapter tracks to change rail code and lighter track in a yard is prototypical, even desirable on a model pike.
                                                                                                             -- D

ABC

Quote from: Kris Everett on June 26, 2010, 03:37:56 PMwhat code is Bachmann track?
(referring to turnouts from Walthers) are they the same code a Bachmann track?
Bachmann is code 100, Shinohara/Walthers is code 70 & 100 and , Peco is code 75, 83 & 100, BK Enterprises is codes 55, 70 & 83, Micro Engineering is code 55 & 70, Precision Scale Co.is code 70, 83 & 100 Details west makes parts for code 55 turnouts, Atlas is code 83 & 100, Model Power is code 83 & 100, MTH is code 83, Central Valley is code 83, Life-Like is code 100, Rocco is code 83 & 100.

jward

yes, the plan is colour coded as follows:

black: lower level mainline
gray: upper level mainline
yellow: upper level industrial area
brown: main yard

overall size of the yard, minus the lead track out to the mainline is 1'x 6.....

the two tracks reversed in direction from the main yard tracks are for locomotive service, and a storage track for carloads of fuel and sand.

the track nearest the bottom of the yard is kept clear enough to get a single locomotive into the service track, the rest of the track is for caboose storage. the remaining yard tracks have floating assignments, and any one of them can be used for a departure track. normally one of the two longest tracks will be used for arriving trains, with the yard switcher safely tucked out of the way on the ladder track. on a layout this small, trains are usually only a single locomotive 4 or 5 cars and a caboose.

the plan was drawn using atlas components, and all switches on the layout are #4 except the 3 in the wye. atlas 34's are actually a #4 1/2, which is very close to the handlaid #5's i have been building.

as built, laying my own switches allowed me to make a few refinements to the plan. i moved the entire yard throat back into the curve on the lead, the first switch has an 18" radius curved side, the "straight" side is about a 24" radius. this allowed me to connect the top two tracks  together on the opposite end of the yard, giving me a short runaround track. i was also able to squeeze a turntable on the resulting tail track, with the radial tracks off the turntable hidden under the upper level industrial area.  the storage track for sand and fuel cars was eliminated as well.....'
Jeffery S Ward Sr
Pittsburgh, PA

Kris Everett


JerryB

Quote from: Kris Everett on June 27, 2010, 09:01:45 AM
what do codes have to do with track?

"Code" in railroad modeling is the height of the rail in thousands of an inch:

Code 100 is 0.100" tall
Code 83 is 0.083" tall
Code 75 is 0.075" tall
Etc.

Prototype U.S. rail size is specified by the weight of a yard (36") of rail, where in modeling we use the height (or code) of the rail for specifying size.

Here is a link to some tables that show the height of various weights of prototype rail versus model rail height:

http://urbaneagle.com/data/RRrailsizes.html

The table shows that the very heaviest rail used in North America was 155 pounds / yard. In H0, that is equivalent to a rail height of 0.092", or somewhat less than the most commonly used code 100 rail!

Look down the linked page for comparisons in various scales.

Hope this helps.

Happy RRing,

Jerry
Sequoia Pacific RR in 1:20 / 70.6mm
Boonville Light & Power Co. in 1:20 / 45mm
Navarro Engineering & Construction Co. in 1:20 / 32mm
NMRA Life Member #3370
Member: Bay Area Electric Railway Association
Member: Society for the Preservation of Carter Railroad Resources

Kris Everett