Train Length

[kelticsylk]

Your yard tracks shouldn't be the determining factor, your passing sidings and staging tracks will be more important. 

Lee,
My main yard is more of a sceniced staging yard / classification yard. Even so, the tracks that would serve as receiving and departure tracks need to be able to handle the full length of a typical train.

Sidings are not a consideration on the layout. There are only two towns and the mainline has four tracks.

[conrail98]

My main yard is more of a sceniced staging yard / classification yard. Even so, the tracks that would serve as receiving and departure tracks need to be able to handle the full length of a typical train.

Yes and no. You can always double trains if needed. What you really need to look at is what are your ops. Are you doing any switching/blocking/etc? If you are, then the amount of cars being moved on/off trains and where the rest of the train sits will determine how long of trains you could be because that might be left on a siding/AD set of tracks or one main-line track within interlocking sets. Also, one thing to keep in mind, a 10 car passenger train may be the same length as as a 20 car freight train, particularly with 40' cars, so you have to keep in mind how that will look on the layout when one is passing the other,

Phil

[Rossford Yard]

On my old layout, my inbound/outbound yard tracks were 9.5 feet (about 27 modern cars) while my staging were closer to 11 since I accounted for loco length there, while figuring I could attach/detach locos on the arrival/departures.

I always felt staging track length (no fancy moves on hidden trackage) was the real train length controller.  Passing sidings second.  Inbound tracks third.

[conrail98]

I always felt staging track length (no fancy moves on hidden trackage) was the real train length controller.  Passing sidings second.  Inbound tracks third.

While that is true for train length, passing siding length dictates number of trains able to be moved during an ops session,

Phil

[fredmoehrle]

My longest on my home layout is 56 cars IIRC.
Three old Atlas GP-35's pulling.
The layout is an old Atlas HO-35 converted to N scale, so it's got 19" radii and2% grade.
Mix of MT, Accumate & McHenry couplers
There was about a foot of distance between the front engine and caboose.

I supose if Kiz' ever comes north with his 8 dozen orecars, We could see a larger car count!

[robert3985]

Bob, great photos, and great modeling. I don't understand the math though; my 35 car train, with hill power and caboose is substantially longer that 9.625".... Are you just referring to the length of 35 car cut of 40' cars only?
Regards, Otto

Otto, What I meant to say was 30 cars!