Hello Trainboard, I would like to get input on my Yard Track plan. I am planning for a 4' x 7' n-scale layout. I will have access to all four sides as the layout will not be attached to the walls (purple lines). I want to be able to do some switching, but I mostly enjoy watching trains run. The plan is modified from the YT channel, the Chicago Crossing Model Railroad (Thanks, CCMR! And I hope that is okay. I could not figure out how to contact CCMR). I am modeling the 70s in a yet-to-be-determined location. The left and right sides of the main line (beyond the track plan) shown at the top in the attached image are not being modeled. The rolling stock shown on the tracks is for scale only, not mine. I would like to include a yard office to the right of the caboose track and an access road below the caboose track coming in from the left. I'd like to know if I am trying to cram too much into the available space. Is there room for the access road? Should I remove one of the Yard Tracks to make room below the caboose track? Perhaps the stub at the left end of the A/D track is not needed or useful. The red switch-looking things are glued track artifacts from AnyRail; please ignore them. The lower left corner has a track off to someplace else and is not meant to represent an industry track. Also, a river will be running below the three bridges in the center. The river would need to run beneath the yard, presumably in an aqueduct. Is this at all prototypical? Thanks for any suggestions. Michael
A typical 2 lane road in N scale is between 1.5 and 2 inches wide. If you have the room between the caboose and mainline tracks ballast...you are good to go. IMHO a river coming out of viaduct under the yard would add an interesting aspect !
It looks like it will work as is. You won't be able to turn an engine so CCW all the way. You labeled the top as main but the oval will be your real main. The top has a runaround and you have cars parked on both sides, but that won't work. If its just for parking then you don't need the upper left turnout.
Building a yard over a body of water would be very expensive, and I've never heard of a prototype doing it. There's plenty of room for a river two feet from the right hand edge, where two double track bridges would let it come and go. And that gives you room for industries by your sidings. On the long industrial lead that wanders through the middle, I'd run the first siding off the straight leg of the switch; this eliminates the double ess curve and makes the siding longer. I'd also straighten it out at the far (left) end because it's hard to uncouple on curves. You have to balance capacity against crowding yourself. Only you know how much sales resistance you have. Nth is right about turning locomotives. If that matters, you can sneak a crossover in between the long industrial lead and the main (locating the bridges elsewhere). That'll make a semi-camouflaged loop you can turn anything on. Mind the polarity in the middle of that crossover.
More important than turning an engine (you can solve that by running 2 loco sets) is turning an entire train. If a train comes out of the yard, it will be going clockwise........to get back into the yard it would need to be going counter-clockwise. Of course you can always back into the yard.......your call on that aspect. I don't see an easy fix without doing a major revision.
Thanks Nth! Yes, the positioning of rolling stock on the top track (and others as well) was just to gauge how many cars would fit between the turnouts. I do not have any rolling stock at this point. Thanks, Michael
You never said if you are going to run DC or DCC. So I am going to put this out there: IF you are running DC it would be best to have the 'operators' controls on the yard side. If the controls are on the bottom side of your track plan...running back and forth to the throttle while switching the yard...on the topside...would get frustrating pretty quick.. If running DCC....most tethered throttles have decent length cords and getting to the yard to operate it may be fine. Using a cordless throttle would even be better. Having the controls on the yard side and trains running around on the mains on the backside of the layout would be better IMHO. .
Hi mtn, I plan to use DCC++EX, with wireless controller, via phone. I will be the only operator. From some of the previous comments regarding having to back trains into the yard from others I am reworking the track plan to include a reverse loop. I will post a new picture when done. Thank you everyone. Thanks, Michael
Acptulsa and MRLdave, I reworked the plan to include a reverse loop. I lose one siding and the meandering branch. Not sure if there is room for a bridge on the upper track. Can you have a turnout on a bridge? I could probably move the yard over to the right to make room for a bridge on a straight piece of track. Any other solutions? Can the current upper most bridge be moved further to the left, under the crossover to allow more room between the branch curve and the bridge? Thanks for all the suggestions, Michael
The new track plan was not saved in my previous post. Here it is. Oh, maybe I should flip the crossover on the right for a quicker return to the yard. Michael
I would put a scenic divider/backdrop down the middle of the layout and not have the river cross the whole layout. With V2 you also have a spur crossing the "river", in addition to the yard. I would make the caboose track face the other direction so the switcher doesn't have to make a runaround move to get a caboose in or out of the caboose track.
Why not just double end the caboose track? Then you can just shuffle them in and out from either end.
It's rarely done. But it's not something most casual observers would even consider. And your railroad.
This looks like a fun plan, so far with a lot of good input. Build it and then run it until it is reliable, and you get the changes that will come up needing made all worked out. The 'fun' part of our track planning is actually putting the track down, then discovering the things that don't work out as well as the plan shows. Fixing those little things so that it all runs smooth is the easiest to do before too much scenery goes down. Now, the Glendive yard is not built over a body of water, however, it does have a handful of run off ditches under it that were all put in culverts. A few of those culverts leak now, and cause occasional issues for either the RR or the city. The culvert at the west end has a big fill over a 25-30 ft culvert! Fun stuff when we get a heavy rain or snow melt to see it fill up!
Thanks All, Here is another version. I ditched the river and added a double-ended caboose track, and flipped the right-side crossover for a quicker return to the yard. Any thoughts on the usefulness/necessity of the double crossover at the bottom. or the direction of the top crossover. Ignore the little switch on the track, that is an artifact (glue) from AnyRail. Thank you for all suggestions, Michael
HI Boxcab, I updated the plan with a double ended caboose track. Is what I did sufficient or still not good?
