Help with passengers station layout

rva1945 Jun 28, 2018

  1. rva1945

    rva1945 TrainBoard Member

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    Hi:

    I will add a section to my L-shaped H0 layout adding a 280cm x 60cm (112" x 24") with access to and exit from a passengers station.

    As it is impossible to turn given the room constraint, the locomotive must move from the front to the rear. Now I will have to turn it 180 degrees using a turntable unless I get one of those (mostly GP's) that could be driven backwards pulling the cars, in this case using the bypass parallel to the main track.

    I want it to be a D&RGW passengers service.

    Here are links to 3 possible layouts, please tell me if they are sound or not, and I will appreciate any ideas or suggestions.

    Robert

    https://drive.google.com/open?id=14uwlBiJ5fLaUALxxRKhJwgWAJXE77TH-

    https://drive.google.com/open?id=11961VRIZfiNMT8vBDa9bDDKTl3r3mxsf

    https://drive.google.com/open?id=1mdt1zu0Zol-2s66HFvNQCMiA-OUyVN2x
     

    Attached Files:

  2. Mr. Trainiac

    Mr. Trainiac TrainBoard Member

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    I think the first picture with the turntable in the middle is your best bet. The turntable at the end can work too, but the one very long yard track could be problematic. If you wanted a locomotive at the end of it, you would have to move everything else out of the way. The first plan might have room on the single yard track on the left for a repair shop or something. I am not sure if the DRGW had steam heater equipped GPs so an F unit or PA would be better. If you want an observation car at the end, you will need to turn it around too. Make sure your turntable is long enough if you want one. Overall, they all seem to be functional, so any of them would work.
     
  3. acptulsa

    acptulsa TrainBoard Member

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    Here in the U.S., stub stations accessed by a wye were once very common, and it wasn't at all unusual for trains to be backed into them. Some of the busiest stations in the nation were that way. Grand Central in New York, most of the Chicago stations, and Union Station in St. Louis were all stub stations on wye tracks. You are planning to access this station by a wye (tracks lead in from both above and below from the curved main line in all three of your proposals), so a stub station is realistic and requires nothing else to turn the whole train. If you need a turntable, or just want one (they are cool), then have one. But you don't need one just for that station. You can back trains in from either direction, and you can pull out going either direction. Done deal. And since few of us can stop with just one passenger train, you might prefer to use that space for more platform tracks.

    Ess curves (also called reverse curves, where right hand curves lead directly into left hand curves) are a very, very bad idea with passenger trains. They don't like esses, and if you insist on running long equipment through reverse curves, headaches will ensue. And they aren't that hard to avoid. For example--in your number two setup, a train pulling out of the station and going straight goes through a right hand switch, then curves back to the left, then curves back and forth again. That train will want to derail. And for what? So a train turning left and going "up" can go through the straight leg of the turnout before turning left? All three have an unnecessary reverse curve in that spot, though number two is the worst. Replace that right hand switch with a left hand switch. Trains turning left can then turn left, starting on the switch itself, and trains going straight out of the station can go straight. That will allow you to put down the naproxen, and you can make your platform track longer too (you're crowding the switch in before the left hand curve, when the switch can be the left hand curve).

    You seem to be inserting ess curves there because you don't want to align the station track with the main line. But there's a better way to accomplish that. Put about an inch of curved track off the straight part of the main line, then put in a right hand switch. The main line will curve through the curved leg of the switch, and the station track will lead off at a slight angle. Then gently curve the station lead back to the left. This won't produce a reverse curve, because passenger trains backing into the station will go through the straight leg of the switch between the little bit of right curve and the left curve. That is not a problem. Long cars don't mind turning both right and left, as long as they go over a straight section about as long as they are in between.

    You probably will have an ess curve or two, especially if you add a few more station tracks. Any time a train crosses over from one straight track to a parallel straight track right next to it, a reverse curve is impossible to avoid. You'd be wise to use the longest switch you can in those spots--I strongly recommend spending extra for #8 switches. Where there is no reverse curve involved, such extra long switches are not necessary. So, if you design a station with very few reverse curves, you'll save both space and money.
     
    Last edited: Jun 28, 2018
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  4. Yannis

    Yannis TrainBoard Member

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    Los Angeles Union Station is also a stub-ended on a wye example (i plan to model it on my future layout's extension). I do not think you need the TT after all for such a design. LAUPT had some escape tracks for locomotives on some of the tracks but not all. Then again LAUPT was a terminal station for most trains. I would just back the train out of the station without a TT, or just use escape tracks and/or AA, ABA consists etc... and have a run-around. Check your references for AA setups though because for example ATSF F A-units did not have steam generators, PA's did though and AA was feasible. I do not know what was the setup for D&RGW though.
     
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  5. acptulsa

    acptulsa TrainBoard Member

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    True, but that was an exception for passenger diesels, not the rule. I never heard of any other passenger diesels in the U.S. without boilers before the advent of electrical train heat (doodlebugs excepted). Also, the Santa Fe had a handful of late F-7B boosters which had huge, gargantuan 4000 lbs/hr. steam boilers. These were the highest numbered units of the 37A, 300A and 325A classes. They allowed the use of F-7 ABA sets, which were the last power for the Tulsan and San Diegan.
     
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  6. nd-rails

    nd-rails TrainBoard Member

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    Ignoring locomotives, as the question was the plans not what pulled trains- any smaller station (D&RGW) would likely have the runaround plus nearby (further along/ adjacent or opposite) a team track for locals use and LCL freight, if not a freighthouse itself.
    2. It's not IMHO realistic to have a tt on a shelf unless you really want to model that strongly.
    3. TT and roundhouse hardly ever seen right next to the main/ passenger stop.
    Good luck,
    dave
     
  7. VinceP

    VinceP TrainBoard Member

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    The DRGW had steam Generators made from old steam engine tenders, plus a couple of old PB's made into steam generators.

    One PB went thru franken loco rebuilding when it was rebuilt with EMD trucks then later to make it a real oddball they added a GE u boat fuel tank to it.

    Pics are at rr-fallenflags.org in the loco section about 200# series and under passenger section.

    Hope this helps for those units that didn't have steam boilers.
     

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