Open-top operation idea - does anyone do this?

[Triplex]

I was trying to draw a double-deck layout, and I realized a problem. I was struggling to figure how to handle open-top traffic. I didn't want to force producers and consumers to be located on the same deck. Ideally, mines would be located on the upper deck, reflecting how they're often in hilly/mountain regions in reality. Consumers would be on the lower deck. No way to arrange a LI/EO setup. It would also be ideal to not require on-layout destinations for all loads. Storing complete loaded or empty trains in staging wasn't a new idea, but it took a major step to realize that I could do something similar at industries. That is, hidden tracks at a mine, as in a LI/EO setup, that go nowhere. They have enough space to store the empties switched into the "loader" and the pre-stocked loaded cars. Only problem is the re-stocking of cars between sessions, but I don't know why that's so essential to avoid that I never seriously considered the idea until recently.

Now that I think about it, I have seen this concept used, though I don't remember it with large quantities of open-tops. It's basically the same idea as a hidden interchange track.

I'm not sure what to ask, except - Have any of you seen (or built) a layout that uses this technique for loads and empties? (It doesn't have to be double-deck; that's just the circumstance that led me to realize this.)

[doctorwayne]

Well, I'm still waiting for the layout-building elves to finish the second level of my layout, but I'll be doing essentially the same thing. Trains of loaded coal hoppers will enter the layout from a staging track (it represents an interchange with another railroad) and will traverse the layout (with a change of locos and direction at about the mid-point of the journey) and will proceed to the staging yard at the end of the upper level. I'm modelling neither the mine nor the power plant, and since both are represented by staging, "loading" and "unloading" will occur, essentially "off layout". Since I'm usually the sole operator, there'll usually be, at most, only one move of the coal train during an operating session, either a loaded train northbound or empties southbound. I use "live" loads, which will be added/removed between sessions. Since there's only one staging track at the south end, the empty hoppers there will be removed when they arrive. Coal trains are scheduled only three times per week, so the track space needs to be free for other trains.

Even for single open cars, the loads are usually added or removed between operating sessions. The time to load or unload adds a time factor to operations and also gives you an excuse to add to your roster of freight cars - after all, you can't keep your customers waiting just because you don't have enough cars to run your railroad.

Wayne

[Mr Fixit]

I am wondering if a train elevator may provide a solution to your loads in loads out problem.
It would unfortunately add to the complexity of the upper bench work in that the penetration area would require additional reinforcement and longitudinal framing, but nothing that couldnt be solved with a bit of nous and lateral thinking. Let me know if you like the idea and require any application of building brain power.
Mark

[doctorwayne]

Thanks for the suggestion, Mark, but there's little room for an elevator and dumping out the loose coal into a bucket or re-loading a dozen hoppers with a paper cup is hardly onerous enough to rate such construction.
The origin of the coal train is the lower siding in the photo below, with, surprisingly, a train of loaded hoppers ready to go. Slightly above that is a pair of tracks (there are three reefers sitting just to the right of the support post) which represents an unmodelled industrial district of the town at the south end of the layout (the town is just beyond the backdrop at the extreme right.
Above that is the south staging yard - northbound trains enter the same town as those two industrial tracks, on a slightly higher level of course. Above that, and yet to be built, will be the north staging yard, with tracks entering from the left (from across the aisle) and dead-ending at the backdrop at far right. As you can see, car storage is on shelves below the staging, so there's already quite a lot packed into a relatively small space.


Wayne

[Russ Bellinis]

In the Mar-April 2010 issue of Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine, Charlie Comstock has an article on a one evening project titled "HOPPER LOADS Scenery Scene:One Evening Project". Instead of live loads, he uses a filler block made of pink foam cut to fit his hopper cars. The coal is glued to the top of the foam, and a steel washer is glued to the bottom of the foam with silicone. He then unloads the hoppers with a magnet, puts them in a container and carries them to the other end of the layout for reloading when the empties get back.

[nkp_174]

My trackplans are based around using a helix to connect multiple decks and staging. That way, I can have loaded pineapple cars or coal cars (dependent upon OR&L or DSP&P) move in one direction around the layout and empties in the other. Thanks to the helix, the staging yards is the same for traffic going in either direction. Such a design makes the setup in between operating sessions to be far easier for cars with visible loads...and allows for continuous (display) running to have the loads or empties going in the proper direction. The same could be accomplished with a simple oval. The helix adds flexibility. To quote one of my engineering professors, the difference between a good plant (layout) and a bad plant is the addition of a few extra pipes (tracks) to provide the operator with flexibility.

Michael