i am wondering how 2 make and design a yard. what are some of the basic things 2 know.and is it possible that it can be in modular form? how are rail cars classified in a yard? by #, by car size or type??? thx 4 replying zachary [ 02. February 2003, 04:12: Message edited by: UP&Santa Fe nut ]
For designing a classification yard, I highly recommend the book by John Armstrong, Realistic Layout Design. It's published by Kalmbach, and I think it's still available at your LHS. If not, try eBay. This book will tell you just about everything you need to know about how to design your model railroad just like the prototype. As far as how railroads classify freight cars, it's all based on where the cars need to go. Say you're the yardmaster in Vancouver, WA, and you've got cars going four different ways: south to Portland, OR; north to Seattle, WA; east to Pasco and Spokane, WA; and east and south to Bend, OR and California. Therefore, you need at least four tracks, one for each direction you will be sending trains. In reality, you might need even more tracks, such as one or two for local switching runs in Vancouver; another set aside for the run to Camas for the large paper mill there; say another for interchange with the Southern Pacific in Portland (grey and red never vanish, they just get covered in ugly yellow paint ); and so on and so forth. The prototype Vancouver yard probably has at least 15-20 tracks - you might need 6-8 at most. But you get my drift. Sort the cars based on where you need to send them, and nothing more. Pat
A great web site for yard design is Craig Bisgeire's Housatonnic RR: http://www.housatonicrr.com/yard_des.html John Armstrong's book "Track Planning for Realistic Operation" is the standard for Model Railroad Design. http://store.yahoo.net/kalmbachcatalog/12148.html
