12-23-2009, 03:01 PM
Tetters-
If I had them handy, I'd post a couple of carfloat pictures from New York Harbor with onl;y one or two cars on it, and sometimes, the second "car" was a locomotive! The terminal yards in Manhattan and the Bronx had to send the engines back to be repaired to New Jersey, so this is how they did it (and still do)! Actually, most people will tell you an old wives tale that switchers weren't allowed on a float bridge, let alone a carfloat, but a switcher is probably lighter than a loaded frieght cars, so don't believe it if you hear it!
Also, it is generally true that the longest yard track should hold one full carfloat's worth of cars, but that is in the real world yards. In our compressed worlds, we are lucky if we have three tracks (one for each carfloat track, so that would be about 4 to 5 cars a track, X 3 tracks) and one open run-around or thru track in our yards. Fat chance for most of us, but I almost have that capacity for my yard. ALMOST!
Oh, and I like that 1-to-3 car rule, too!
RAH
If I had them handy, I'd post a couple of carfloat pictures from New York Harbor with onl;y one or two cars on it, and sometimes, the second "car" was a locomotive! The terminal yards in Manhattan and the Bronx had to send the engines back to be repaired to New Jersey, so this is how they did it (and still do)! Actually, most people will tell you an old wives tale that switchers weren't allowed on a float bridge, let alone a carfloat, but a switcher is probably lighter than a loaded frieght cars, so don't believe it if you hear it!
Also, it is generally true that the longest yard track should hold one full carfloat's worth of cars, but that is in the real world yards. In our compressed worlds, we are lucky if we have three tracks (one for each carfloat track, so that would be about 4 to 5 cars a track, X 3 tracks) and one open run-around or thru track in our yards. Fat chance for most of us, but I almost have that capacity for my yard. ALMOST!
Oh, and I like that 1-to-3 car rule, too!
RAH