06-25-2010, 06:19 PM
I think Gary's branch is not unlike the Los Angeles Junction Rwy here in So Cal. The class ones do not bother classifying cars for the LAJ before dropping them at one of the yards and the LAJ does not try to classify cars that they drop at Hobart on the BNSF or Washington Street Yard that they drop for UP. Classification is not an issue for the LAJ because a really long LAJ train will have maybe 10 cars. The typical LAJtrain that I have seen in operation has about 5-6 cars behind the locomotive. Since Gary is not modeling the mainline of any railroad, it isn't there to foul. LAJ doesn't worry about fouling a main line because they don't have one. The LAJ runs parallel to the BNSF main, and crosses the UP main.