Hey guys...I was not really sure what topic to throw this idea under but I thought it would fit here, because it's somewhat of a trick, if not a tip.

For those of you who have read my threads before, you know that I'm a "operational detail" fan. I like to add prototypical detail into model railroading. I would like to add, yet another, modeling tip and trick that is very easy to add to any layout. Forgive me if this topic has been discussed here before - I'm a rookie brakeman here at this forum - but this tip (trick) is very unique to the real railroads, but yet, I've never seen it modeled or mentioned in any scale.

The "Busy Railroad":

A great way to make your layout look realistic is to make it look "BUSY". Make your layout look like it's doing one "heck of a business". All that's needed to create this effect is....railcars! :o

Cram as many railcars into a yard or siding as you can. A great example to show this is a "feed" or "grain" siding. These rail customers always receive a influx of extra cars on or about harvest time. So, if your feed or grain siding can hold 4 cars, then, put 4 cars in there. It'll give your switch crews the unexpected headache when they encounter the extra moves associated with the extra cars.

Try it, it works for ANY siding! It's also a great excuse to pull up those extra cars from under the benchwork. Don't store them, show them!

The "Full Yard"

Do you have some railcars that are, well, let's say, not quite up to showpiece quality. We all do. They are the ones that are missing this or missing that. In the end, they ALL look like operational railcars, if they are hidden behind other "quality" cars in a yard. We always put our good stuff in viewing range - right? Well how about those yard tracks in the back? We all want to model a realistic yard. The most realistic yard, in my opinion, is a FULL yard. So, if your yard has 5 tracks, you can add those "not quite up to snuff" cars to the tracks not quite in view. To the "average" eye, you may get a "wow, that looks great" response.

However, from a rivet counter, you may get a "did you know that 4th car is missing a handbrake wheel" response.

Either way, fill out those tracks and make your layout look "busy".

That's my tip of the day. Now, if I can only publish these ideas into a book, I could make some money to buy some timetables.

Now that's an interesting slant on things ...

... but it somehow flies in the face of so many things that are considered tenets of model railroading in this day and age of "operation."
Back when I first got into HO scale, everyone I knew cramed every car they had on their 4'x8' "platform" and made up a train of whatever cars seemed easy to couple together with those old X-2F "horn-hook" couplers (or the old dummies if that's all you had - maybe you had a car that had a dummy on one end and an X-2F on the other so you could use all your cars - and then you set the rheostat on half-power and watched the train go around and around as it went from "Philadelphia" to "New York," or wherever they went where you lived, and then you backed the train into the yard's several (two or three) tracks and that was an evening of model railroading.

The concept that so many "Brass Hats" (if I can resurrect that old term) embrace today is that of moving some sort of freight from here to there, wherever those two places are. Sure, there are still people who enjoy continuous running and that is just fine ... for them. And there are those who have one locomotive and a half-dozen freight cars and enjoy a half-hour of switching John Allen's TimeSaver, and that's fine, too ... for them.

If you like having your yard full of freight cars, even those that "are missing this or missing that," hey, you go for it! Personally, on my layout, if it doesn't conform to the NMRA weight or gauge RP's, or if the couplers don't slip easily onto and mate nicely with the Kadee Coupler Gauge, or if they derail often for some unknown reason, the car gets "B.O.ed," pulled from the layout and placed on the "Bad Order" track on the work bench, with a "Bad Order Form," filled out, describing the problem needing attention, and that's where it sits until the problem has been addressed ... or that's how it used to work when I lived in Pennsylvania and had a layout. And that's how it will be again when I get enough track hand-laid to the point where I can actually run some trains, the system will be the same.

I suppose my point is ... whatever fires your boiler! I like Camelback steam, Gary S. likes fairly modern diesels. Both are valid. I wouldn't berate him because his freight cars aren't 40- and 50-footers sporting boxcar red paint and pulled by something that boils water for power! And I won't berate you for wanting a full yard and full sidings ... I just chose to be able to justify the existance of everything on my layout, and insure that if it is called upon to move, it can do so without causing me to exercise my extensive military vocabulary of off-color words!

FedEx13 Wrote:A great way to make your layout look realistic is to make it look "BUSY".

Probably not necessary to point out, and certainly not a new and revolutionary insight by me, but still: it really depends on what you are modeling, and what you want to accomplish - good looks or not too aggravating switching.

For some places, some eras and some times of year, very, very busy is realistic looking. For other places, eras and other times of year, almost empty is realistic looking (and could be just as interesting to switch).

If you are not deliberately modeling a gridlock situation (and you are operating the yard, rather than using it as a photo subject), trying to keep classification yards less than 75-80% full is generally a good idea.

It all comes down to what you want to model. But adding or removing cars certainly is an easy way of changing the complexity and look of a layout without making track changes.

Smile,
Stein

I would love the luxury of long empty tracks. Especially long industry spurs winding over the private property. passing industry buildings with no loading docks at all and finally ending at another building with a loading dock and only one lonely car. It would be a dream to model that....

I agree with the concept, up to a point........

One of the busiest yards, close to home, is rarely ever "full". In fact, what makes it a busy yard, is that it fills, and empties, several times a day.
I might suggest that occasionally you empty the yard.
and.......after a suitable period of time, refill it, and mix up the cars. Anyone who comes over to see your layout...and even yourself...will see "change", and that "spells busy".

Standing freight cars are not earning cash. Railroads try very hard to "keep them moving" either to/from a customer, or back to the home road so they don't have to pay per diem. So, in a way, yes a full freight yard would imply a busy (or gridlocked) railroad... but the Yardmaster would trying his darndest to get those standing cars out of his yard and moving again.

Sorry guys, the "full yard" concept came to me after reading "Classic Trains" issue of "Railroads at War". Facinating magazine with great wartime railroad stories. There was a story in there about how busy it really was in 1 particular yard. It went something like this:

A crew was called to run a train out of the yard. They took their power and tied on to the train. After a reasonable delay, they got their orders and were underway. After spending almost 4 days on the road, tied up in siding after siding, allowing other trains to pass, they were given orders to runaround their train and return to the original yard. I think they only went a distance of 50 miles! Again, spending a few more days on the road, they finally arrived back at the initial yard with the SAME train they departed with. Confused, the conductor asked "what gives"?. He was told that "the yardmaster needed to clear a track for another train". "We needed a open track for another train to arrive".

They were so busy that they needed to move "non-revenue (empty)" cars to make room for the revenue (loaded) cars.

Of course, to model that type of activity would be, to say the least, unimaginable. But that story really put a good perspective on how busy the railroads really were during WWII. I suggested the "concept" of a "busy" railroad because I've never seen it nor heard of it ever being "modeled". Every picture of a yard showed that yard at "full capacity". Every siding was full and every available track had cars on them. I thought it would make a great modeling idea.


That issue had some great modeling ideas in it. If you can locate a copy, it makes for a great read.

I tend to agree with this concept. There is a local club located in a popular nearby park. The club has viewing windows, and during busy times at the park, the public can look in. Not all of the yard tracks are occupied, but for most visitors the layout is interesting and realistic because there are cars in the yard and at various sidings. People want to look at trains, not train tracks. On the other hand, I have seen people that have huge layouts, and not enough cars to fill the tracks. They may have a yard with 4 tracks and only 4 cars. Technically, from a "number of cars per scale mile of track" standpoint, this may be actually realistic. But, from a modeling perspective, where we recognize distances need to be compressed and the recognition we model trains and not tracks, having fuller tracks than what may be prototypical provides interest. Think of it from a railfan's perspective: Railfans usually hate it when they go out to watch trains and no trains come by, and there are not even many cars in the yard. A railfan is most interested when the yard is full of odd cars and there are plenty of trains moving around. Model railroaders (most of whom are railfans) will have more interest if their railroad represents similar situations.

It also depends on what kind of layout one has. If one has an industrial switching layout, having extra cars around is probably a bad idea. In the real life, those situations probably only ever see cars that are going to or from the local industries. If one has a layout that models portion of a mainline, a responsibility exists to portray the layout as part of a much larger railroad system. Extra cars and parked trains are common along busy mainlines, and could add realism to a layout that doesn't have enough human operators to justify their operational existence. They serve as background to set the illusion of a much larger railroad. But as previously mentioned, it's best to move them around every now and then.

After giving the subject some thoughtful consideration, I came to the conclusion that, should you be modeling the Second World War era, with lots of USRA steam and War Bonds banners on box cars, mid-thirties vehicles, period dress on the LPB's, etc., the concept described by FedEx13 might be an interesting "Scenario Card" to (last minute) slip onto the "Jobs Sign-up Board" for some unsuspecting engineer on your "Railroad Night with the Guys" operating crew! 8-)

I like the idea of a full yard mostly for photos. Yards with a lot of empty track are not nearly as interesting as ones with car after car. That is what I think got me interested in trains as a kid, when my uncle (worked as a postal clerk for T:&P) would take me to his jobsite in Ft Worth when the Texas & Pacific was still around. The yard was so cool when all the "big boys" were there. This shot I took yesterday near Belton, Tex kind of illustrates the point. The more cars the better. In real life, tho, I wouldn't want to have to deal with that many cars.

The yard nearest to me is more like a siding than a real yard, it is simply used to store hopper cars, most of the time it is empty but awhile ago I got lucky and found the yard to be full of hopper cars.