03-18-2010, 12:27 AM
Not sure I totally grasp what you want to do with your yard.
On one hand you mention having staging space for trains ready to go. One factor here is whether you want to run trains of about the same train length, or a mix of long and short trains.
On the other hand you mention being able to switch the yard without fouling the main. That implies that there will be quite a bit of traffic on your main - and that you will have to make a decision on whether the yard lead also will have to fit into the 12-foot length - giving you a longest body track of 6 feet and a yard lead of 6 feet within that scene.
Just for illustration's sake - here are three very plain yards - none with a dedicated yard lead - if you want a yard lead within the 12 feet, your body tracks will be shorter:
![[Image: allegheny_yard01.jpg]](http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/pp124/steinjr_1965/forum3/allegheny_yard01.jpg)
Engine and cars shown is a GP40 and 40-foot cars - ie not particularily long equipment. Turnouts used are Peco mediums - you can use #4s, which will gain you a little more space, but not a huge amount of space.
The double ended pyramid style yard gives some longer tracks and some shorter tracks. The diamond shapes makes all tracks about the same length. The diamond style yard is more flexible for staging, since any track can take any train.
In contrast - if you compare the single ended yard with the double ended - you lose a lot of yard capacity by having a double ended yard. Question is - what is the gain for you by having a double ended yard?
You mention double ended simplifying things. Not sure I understand why. A double ended yard is very nice if you will be having two yard operators, so one works the yard from one side and the other from the other side - but the yard ladders eats a lot of length.
You can also play other games with the yard ladder - a #6 turnout on a #5 angle, a compound ladder, a pinwheel ladder coming off a curve and quite a few other things.
But the first thing you need to do is to figure out expected train lengths and number of trains handled at any time, whether you need to fit in a dedicated yard lead within the 12 feet of length (or whether that can run out of the scene to the right or left), whether you really need a double ended yard and so on and so forth.
And for tips and hints about those things, that downloadable PDF by John Armstrong is really great - because he shows you the options very clearly, letting you make your own choices about what to do.
Smile,
Stein
On one hand you mention having staging space for trains ready to go. One factor here is whether you want to run trains of about the same train length, or a mix of long and short trains.
On the other hand you mention being able to switch the yard without fouling the main. That implies that there will be quite a bit of traffic on your main - and that you will have to make a decision on whether the yard lead also will have to fit into the 12-foot length - giving you a longest body track of 6 feet and a yard lead of 6 feet within that scene.
Just for illustration's sake - here are three very plain yards - none with a dedicated yard lead - if you want a yard lead within the 12 feet, your body tracks will be shorter:
Engine and cars shown is a GP40 and 40-foot cars - ie not particularily long equipment. Turnouts used are Peco mediums - you can use #4s, which will gain you a little more space, but not a huge amount of space.
The double ended pyramid style yard gives some longer tracks and some shorter tracks. The diamond shapes makes all tracks about the same length. The diamond style yard is more flexible for staging, since any track can take any train.
In contrast - if you compare the single ended yard with the double ended - you lose a lot of yard capacity by having a double ended yard. Question is - what is the gain for you by having a double ended yard?
You mention double ended simplifying things. Not sure I understand why. A double ended yard is very nice if you will be having two yard operators, so one works the yard from one side and the other from the other side - but the yard ladders eats a lot of length.
You can also play other games with the yard ladder - a #6 turnout on a #5 angle, a compound ladder, a pinwheel ladder coming off a curve and quite a few other things.
But the first thing you need to do is to figure out expected train lengths and number of trains handled at any time, whether you need to fit in a dedicated yard lead within the 12 feet of length (or whether that can run out of the scene to the right or left), whether you really need a double ended yard and so on and so forth.
And for tips and hints about those things, that downloadable PDF by John Armstrong is really great - because he shows you the options very clearly, letting you make your own choices about what to do.
Smile,
Stein