Best Of Yard Layouts

[cv_acr]

The problem is not the door itself... it's the stuff that has to move in and out of it.  Besides, those accordion looking doors are ugly, and  for the record, I've ruled out hanging love beads, a zebra pelt, or plastic sheeting over the opening too. :

F. Lloyd Wright

Amurcan flag

Why on earth would you want anything like - especially in the layout room!

/starts running really REALLY fast

[DKS]

I've got RTS... I think Ed's Mac-tarded...  You can send me the file.  I really appreciate the thought and time you've put into it.  Next time you're back east, let me know... I'll let you hostle engines or something!

Back east? I live in New Joisey...

Anyhow, if anyone wants to mess with the file, here it is:

http://whiteriverandnorthern.net/video/LEE_YARD.ZIP

[John]

So, about that closet .. get some of them plastic tubs, put all the crap in there, and then put the roundhouse in the closet

[wm3798]

I'll put a roundhouse in YOUR closet... GET OUTTA HERE!

Moe

[davefoxx]

David,

That looks awesome.  Any idea what the capacity of the class and A/D tracks are?  As I had hoped, drawing the plan to scale would show that a double-ended yard just might fit after all.  Hopefully, those tracks are long enough for Lee and he can still get access to the closet.

Dave Foxx

EDIT: Hmm, somehow, my post in reponse to David's post has jumped up a spot.  So this is a response to the immediately-following post.

[DKS]

Good morning. Made some revisions. With Ed crying for more classification tracks, I was able to squeeze one more into the plan, for a total of seven. I also tightened up the arrangement of turnouts near the roundhouse so that hopefully they will not impinge upon the tectonic plate there. That said, I went and crammed a car shop and other niceties into that space, as it seemed the perfect spot.



As a consequence, the materials list has been revised as well.

number   Article no.   Description   per ($)   Total ($)
63   000   flex track   4.00   252.00
9   At-2050   #5 Left Turnout   9.95   89.55
15   At-2051   #5 Right Turnout   9.95   149.25
5   At-2052   #7 Left Turnout   9.95   49.75
5   At-2053   #7 Right Turnout   9.95   49.75
7   At-2054   #10 Left Turnout   13.95   97.65
5   At-2055   #10 Right Turnout   13.95   69.75

The RAL file (link in previous post) has been replaced with this version.

Dave, I have no idea of the capacities. The grid lines are 12", so it should be reliatively easy to calculate.

[wm3798]

The flip thing is very intriguing...  However, I'll have to think about that as the "real" thing had the engine terminal at the east end... plus the west throat (in the original view) creates a busier piece of track work that will be more difficult to work out on the removable section.  Plus, most of the traffic will be headed west toward the layout, and I think the original plan facilitates that better.  I think instead of the car shop, I would want to build the YD yard office, which sits at the wye at the main line on the real thing...


A very distinctive building, which along with the big round house will unmistakably identify the location.

Could not a two-3 track stub end be added on the aisle side of the class bowl?

Like so...


That gives me a couple of tracks for building locals, and storage for returning empties.

Lee

[wm3798]

Of course, now I'm reading Tony the K's LDE book... (from the Dave Foxx Wing of the Railwire Library) and now I'm thinking that instead of building Cumberland with it's wonderful brewery and station, if I shouldn't take the more proto approach, and use that corner to build the junction at Cherry Run.  There's a ton of B&O traffic (hundreds of millions of tons, actually) that used that junction, and with the added capacity at Hagerstown, I can easily work it into the yard work.  This would also be a much more legitimate application of the B&O power I've been accumulating.  As such, it would be useful to include this important spot. 

It would also allow Maryland Junction to resume its rightful place railroad east of Cumberland without reworking the rest of the layout in any substantial manner.  Instead of eliminating the yards at Cumberland but trying to model the city, I would be eliminating the whole thing west of the MY Tower....  Since most of the Connellsville Sub is just trains running through scenery, it's easy to squish it out of the way.

That being said, I wanted to include Cumberland because the scenic railroad has made the station area a very familiar scene, again, one that is immediately identifiable with the WM.  Operationally, though, it serves little purpose, and other than the brewery, I had to fudge in some industries to make it a more interesting scene to switch.  I also really like urban scenery, and Cumberland would be a fun place to scratch that itch...  Maybe that becomes a One Track module...

Decisions decisions.
Lee

[DKS]

The flip thing is very intriguing...  However, I'll have to think about that as the "real" thing had the engine terminal at the east end... plus the west throat (in the original view) creates a busier piece of track work that will be more difficult to work out on the removable section.  Plus, most of the traffic will be headed west toward the layout, and I think the original plan facilitates that better.

Yeah, I've kind of dropped the whole fip idea. The original arrangement is more logical.

Could not a two-3 track stub end be added on the aisle side of the class bowl?

Absolutely. Give me a couple of shakes...

P.S. Any car shops anywhere in Hagerstown? Seems like kind of an obvious thing to omit.

[wm3798]

Yes,  There was actually a considerable back shop complex to the left of the roundhouse.


This is the model at the Hagerstown Roundhouse Museum.  There was a transfer table and a couple of good sized buildings, as well as numerous support buildings.  If you look at my original track plan on the web site (also page 1 here) you can see that I attempted to include this in the layout.

This is where the majority of the car shopping was done, although hoppers and cabooses were usually worked on in Elkins.

I would say that a  modest representation would be adequate, as I think the function of the yard outweighs the need for a largely non-contributing scenery element.  (this pains me, because I was hoping to do more with it... but alas, ops is the priority)

Lee

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I think a RIP track is important, but a larger car shop is really either only scenery or an industry, not so much an important operational part of the layout.

I'm really digging this so far. And yes, those stub tracks WILL be handy, since classed cars really do fall into two categories, and that'll make building up those little three to four car blocks (which happen) a lot easier, AND will provide a good track for "hold" or "reclass" cars that the east crew doesn't really need access to.

[DKS]

RAL file updated as well.

number   Article no.   Description   per ($)   Total ($)
64   000   flex track   4.00   256.00
10   At-2050   #5 Left Turnout   9.95   99.50
16   At-2051   #5 Right Turnout   9.95   159.20
1   At-2052   #7 Left Turnout   9.95   9.95
7   At-2053   #7 Right Turnout   9.95   69.65
6   At-2054   #10 Left Turnout   13.95   83.70
6   At-2055   #10 Right Turnout   13.95   83.70

[DKS]

Yes,  There was actually a considerable back shop complex to the left of the roundhouse.

This is the model at the Hagerstown Roundhouse Museum.  There was a transfer table and a couple of good sized buildings, as well as numerous support buildings.  If you look at my original track plan on the web site (also page 1 here) you can see that I attempted to include this in the layout.

This is where the majority of the car shopping was done, although hoppers and cabooses were usually worked on in Elkins.

I would say that a  modest representation would be adequate, as I think the function of the yard outweighs the need for a largely non-contributing scenery element.  (this pains me, because I was hoping to do more with it... but alas, ops is the priority)

Could always put a great big car shop in the...

no, I won't go there.

[Bob Bufkin]

If you do Cumberland, you could alway do a section of the Kelly/Springfield Tire Co. which didn't shut down until 1987.  Wouldn't have to do the whole plant just enough to justify a siding where you could add another industry to switch.

[wm3798]

KS was served by the B&O... it was across the river...

Lee