Hello all and Joyeux Noel What are the key points for a yard ladder? I would like to build one (Kato Unitrack N scale with #6 turnouts) but nothing prototypical yet....just some tracks laid on a flat surface to play with Any existing design I could use as an example? Thanks
There's a great book Track Planning for Realistic Operation, that provides all kinds of information on yard design.
There are a couple types of yard ladders. There is a straight ladder, which is a row of the same switches all aligned the same. There is a compound ladder where the switches are arranged in pairs of the same hand switch. Lastly there are compound ladders where it is a mix of left and right hand ladders. You can have a yard with a single ladder or you can have a diamond ladder that breaks off both sides of the lead into it. The straight ladder is simplest, but takes the most linear room. The paired compound ladder allows more tracks in about a 1/3 less linear room, but the tracks will have a curve in them. The mixed compound ladder is more complicated to operate since you have to pay more attention to which switches are operates, but can generate more tracks in less linear space. A diamond ladder allows almost twice the tracks in the same linear space. It has two mirror image ladders of any type. My suggestion is to buy a left and right hand switch of the type you want to use and then scan or photo copy them. Then play around with the scanned copies to see how much space you are going to need. One caution is that with Unitrak, you are limited to what the KATO switch design and spacing is. With other makes of track, you can trim the switches in order to tighten up the spacing, not so much with Unitrak. Most Unitrak yard ladders I have seen take up waaaaaay more space than a conventional sectional track equivalent.
Good info from Dave. One important thing is the spacing of the tracks, which is dependant on the turnouts. With the old Atlas #4 turnouts, the track spacing was on 1.5 inch centers........but when I made my new yard, I used code 55 #7 turnouts, and they put the track on 1 inch centers, which was too close and I had to put 1.25 inch spacers between each turnout to get the tracks on 1.25 inch centers, which is still tighter than I'd like , but it did let me put in an extra track. Make sure you have enough space between the ladder tracks to be able to work with the cars.
If you choose to go with a straight ladder track try to have the turnout machines on the side nearest you for: Easier visibility. Easier reach. Even if you use remote control sometimes they get 'out of synch' with the controller. Make sure the yard is within easy reach as that is where: Many derailments take place. Many cars are manually placed on the layout. Have fun.
You might be OK with #6s, but another issue we ran into at the club (using #4s) was with a turnout with another turnout of the opposite direction immediately after, like in Dave's first example.......long cars don't like to have their trucks going 2 directions at the same time.
I've never had any problems with N Unitrack #6 switches and opposite-direction R28 curves/#6 switches on the diverging route. I have much less experience with their #4s, but they have also been flawless. The single crossovers are essentially two #4s with a common throwbar,. The double crossover is essentially 4 #6 switches, but the diverging routes never get to 15 degrees before meeting the crossing frogs (in order to complete the crossover in standard doubletrack spacing.)
I made my ladder using Peco code 83 HO turnouts, but here is how I approached it. I drew in all the centerlines of the year tracks first and then positioned the turnouts and eyeballed them so they were in a straight line but would each feed into the tracks of the yard. Once I had the turnouts positioned in relation to the centerlines, I knew where they would go and how to cut pieces to go between them in the straight line. I cut and spliced in pieces of flex to fit. I used curved turnouts (Peco code 83 #7 curved) at the other end to maximize the yard capacity. I had centerlines on one side and I knew the radius of the outside of the turnouts (60"R) and laid them by eye. The last turnout in the line is a Walthers Code 83 #8 with an outside radius of 36" which I fit in. It all feeds together at this end of the yard.
