09-10-2010, 01:17 PM
By the mid 1990's "Cotton Belt" loco's would have been common all over the S.P. I don't think I would try to model an intermodal yard in your space, unless you really want to have some of the ancillary equipment used in intermodal yards. It is difficult to model an intermodal yard with only 2 tracks since all of the ones I've seen are as big as full sized classification yards. The only place that I know of with a two track intermodal yards is a shipping terminal in Long Beach where containers are taken off ships and put directly onto intermodal trains while containers off the trains are put directly onto the ship. For an inland layout, I think I would make the intermodal trains run through from staging to staging. In your space, I think I would dispense with intermodal operations entirely.