Big Yard small yard ???

I have a quagmire. In the past I have stuffed to much railroad in to what little space I have. This was back in my HO days. I’m now molding G scale and have a new basement to work with. My layout has 2 levels ( Only the fist level is built at this time. ) But I’m stuck at what to do with the last yard. The bottom Yard is 29 Inc. wide and the last yard that will be 26 Inch’s above it. The question of the day is should the upper yard we not as wide as the bottom yard ? If the top yard is the same with as the bottom yard then I have a real good track plan for it. If The top yard should be not as wide as the bottom yard the top yards track plan will be much simpler. If the Top Yard is not as wide and its track pla is simpler, it offers a more open view of the lower yard. However the top yard will then be very simple. Even if the top yard is the same with of the bottom yard, the height of the top yard being 26 inch above the bottom yard allows you to see most if not all of the bottom yard when standing in the ilse. However some bending may be required to reach the last track, when no bending would be required if the top yard was not as wide as the bottom yard. Any ideas?

 

The latest fad for some is no yard as HemiAdda suggested. I can still remember reading a recommendation of John Armstrong's not to do anything twice on your railroad; he specifically mentioned two yards - I won't go into the reasons why but its in his design book.

On my layout there will be two areas of switching. The first is an elongated stretched out yard that is designed more for switching than train building. I let the prototypical Vancouver Wharves be my inspiration, even though my stretch out yard is no where near water.

The second yard area is developed for a small prairie town, again with more switching in and around the yard.

Most guys say they prefer to work the "yard;" always a popular request at an operating session. But I think the movement is away from large yards, but instead have lots of switching along the way.

Why not consider a stretched out yard, or a small town with lots of switching, let your staging serve as your service yard putting new trains into circulation.

 

No practical experience to offer, but I was thinking about reasons why something would be a certain way.

If the layout is a point to point I would think that trains would arrive at one yard from an interchange of some sort or a transfer run from another railroad. This traffic would then go down the line to industries and possibly on through to the other yard.

Your second yard is it a terminal with connections to other lines or is it the end of the line? I would think the end of the line would not be as big as the point of origin.

 

I would ask a couple of questions here:

First, what is the operational purpose of having two yards on your G (Good God that's BIG!) scale layout? Are they at two separate towns?

Second, are you interested in operations, running trains, or both? If operations, how does the second yard fit into the plan? If running, does the second yard just hold rolling stock not being run?

Third, do you have a "hidden" staging yard on the layout? Perhaps this could be used for yard capacity, eliminating the need for the second visible yard.

I would suggest, based on what you've said, that the lower yard needs to be wider, but reachable from the aisle without chancing knocking things over (or catching loose clothing on rolling stock and pulling it to the floor...) Having another yard directly above this one will prove somewhat difficult to work with, due to the depth of the lower yard.

I'd look at ways to move or eliminate the upper yard. Unless you have just a HUGE space, I can't imagine why you'd want to have more yard, and less mainline run. It could just be an interchange yard (1-2 tracks), but I don't think I'd go more than that.

Good luck!
Adam

 

More info.

I would like to thank all those who responded to my question. I got some ideas that I had never consider before. I guess I have always had a yard on my railroad. Something to think a bought.

Adam asked some good question, Information I left out. My layout closely fallows a local short line and is point to point. Seems hard to do in G scale bit I have a 36’ foot by 18 foot basement. The mainline originally would have had just 200 foot of track. After some thought we found a way to squeeze another 60 foot of main line in.

Being a point to point railroad we need a yard at each end where trains either start from or terminate at. Both plans have a turn table and a round house at each end of the yard. The layout is for detailed scenery with a large empathis on prototypical running a steam railroad in the 40’s /50’s. There are 3 major passing sidings on the main line, the smallest being of 20’ foot long. ( That’s a bought 8 passenger or 11 freight cars. ) . The layout is DCC by MRC Prodigy Advanced and almost all the structures are scratch built.

One of my friends had said some time back that the layouts with many levels should have the upper next level be just a bit more narrower then the previous.

So the first yard is 20’ foot long and 24” inches wide. The next yard will be 26” inches above that. So When I stand next to the edge of the yard I can conferrable see the last track in the lower yard.

In the past ( Before I saw the light ) I had molded HO scale for some 20 years. I had always mange to pack way to much stuff into the available space. Something I’m being careful of this time.

The track plan starts at the lower yard “Dunkirk” and winds its way threw the basement to Fredonia The next town, then after Fredonia it will either climb via a helix or a stretched out Nolex to gain the 26 “ Inch to 24 “ inch elevation for the next level. The grade her is planed to be a whopping 1” to ¾ “ rise per foot. This is going to be a real steep graded. This is planed to case the mainline crews to work to gather with the helper crew to get the trains over the hill. In real life the real railroad I’m modeling has a steep graded between Fredonia NY and Cassadaga NY and helpers where often used on trains more then 20 cars. Then the main line stays level between Cassadaga and Falconer JCT. Just as the real railroad. Then the grade not any where as bad as the one between Fredonia and Cassadaga to get to the last level. At this point the track is a bought 15 “ inch or so from the sealing and runs on a narrow shelf for 60 feet and then starts down grade in to Warren PA. Where the real DAV&P terminated.

The question is should the last yard ( Warren ) be a narrow 3 track yard over the main or should it be just as wide as the lower yard. This would allow more car storage and possibly another yard crew.

See Track plans below.