Talk to me about staging

[steinjr]

Hi Ralph.
Right now that is the way I have my track plan. But would I have enough industries to handle three trains? I have 9 industries planned.

Loren

Nothing preventing you from having trains that just run through your layout without doing any switching on the visible part of the layout.

Or to have trains that stop on the way across the layout to drop off a small block of cars on a siding or pick up a small block of cars from a siding before continuing. And then those cars will be picked up by another train or by a local switcher later.

Tony Koester has a good book on starting operations called "Realistic Model Railroad Operations", which gives some examples of how you can set up train traffic through a small town. His town (named "Wingate, Indiana") has just four small industries - a small town coal dealer, a local fertilizer dealer, a team track and an elevator, plus a small passenger depot.

But he sets up an operating scheme which sees westbound local no 45 switching the town, clearing the main to let eastbound through train no 42 past, then later having westbound through train no 41 and eastbound through train no 48 pass through town, along with doodlebug passenger trains no 9 and 10. That's 6 trains through this one little town in one operating session


Smile,
Stein