Consider entering the yard's arrival/departure tracks on the drill track further down on the right. This turns the drill track into a true drill track for working the yard. Also don't see what advantage the left track that you have labeled as a drill track. You can't work yard tracks off of it and it doesn't go to any place that seems to have a need for it. As I have it drawn above it could be a drill track for the three sidings down on the right where I rearranged the tracks to avoid all of the switchbacks but you could also use the other track going up the left side as the drill track for that. Sumner
My thought being if I need to move things around and keep the mainline clear/ running track. The run around serves as a bypass also. It does not need to be there by any means. It was just a thought and something I didn't have in original yard. The track on the right under the drill was put there for easy access to the engine house connecting the stub to the main without fouling up the staging area. The stub is not meant for staging.
Sumner, thanks for all the help. When in doubt go to the proffesionals.: ) When I get home tonight I will try to correct the things you have pointed out.
Yards and switching puzzles should not be confused with each other... I get it if you want some challenges for using your yard, but if you really want to use your yard for assembling and breaking up trains, it should be as efficient as possible. Switching puzzles are intentionally made as inefficient as possible, as a challenge. Both have their (separate!) places on a model railroad.
Absolutely Andy, this is why I brought my problem to the thread. I was creating more problems with every change I was trying to make for efficiency. I am not an operator by any means, the only thing I know about yards is what I have read in Freight Yards by Andy Sperandeo and a handful of YouTube videos. I have never sat in on any operating sessions. This is my first real go at my own yard, so yes, many hiccups with the process, but this is how we learn.
Sumner, if I understand you correctly the new changes to the yard should basically cover what you were saying. If I am wrong please feel free to correct me, it would be much appreciated.
That incorporates what I was suggesting. One thing I'm still not crazy about and I didn't cover is if you are working those bottom tracks in the yard and need to run around a car it is a long ways to the current run-around. If you could bring the yard down one more track I might see a fix for that. A couple other minor things I might change if it was mine. We have company for the weekend are showing them canyons and mountains so might not be able to get back to this until Monday. Maybe others will chip in also. Sumner
Thanks for sharing your time, Sumner. I do not think I can stretch the yard further; this was always the biggest hurdle (space). If I remove the top spur from the industrial yard, I may be able extend the staging area. I am in no rush, I am not ready to build the yard on the board at this point, that will be a few weeks out. Enjoy your weekend.
Great improvements on the A/D yard complex! Now for the industrial park at the bottom... While some industrial districts grew topsy-turvy over time, others were planned ahead of time. For a model railroad with limited space, I prefer a planned approach. Yours looks like the "wildflower" approach. I would remove the right crossover at the bottom. With the feeding switch in the vertical track at right, you really do not need it. This gives you more room for what's next... Including the team track, you have 7 industries, and 5 of them are buried on the hardest track to access. Simplify the industrial park to two, back-back ladders running lower right to upper left, connected at top and bottom. Use a ladder angle of 30 degrees (rather than std 15 deg) to increase track vertical spacing and reduce overall horizontal span, so you have more room for the industries. The back-back ladders, connected top & bottom, double as another run-around without having to use the mainline. Place 3 industry spurs on one side, and 4 on the other side of the ladder. Adjust spacing of ladder spurs to suit each industry. You could also stagger spurs so industries are not stacked up on top of each other. Leave an open, working track off the top-left end of the double ladder, for a lead to work the right side of the ladder.
I was laying down some roadbed this evening with my grandkids. They are with us for the weekend, and it was a rather enjoyable evening. On a different note: I wanted to mention that I have always known that tru-color rail brown was a bit on the red side, but after looking at my track color after removing it from the board I was a bit taken aback by how red it really looked. I will definitely be taking my airbrush to the track and correcting the color. I wonder if anyone has reached out to tru-color about the rail brown. A SHORT VIDEO WOKING WITH THE GRANDKIDS.
Andy, I am not quite sure I am seeing what you are envisioning clearly. I was messing around with the idea, but I was making a mess.
The following would eliminate the ability to store a few cars but in my mind well worth it as it would allow one to move a car from the tracks on one side at the bottom over to the other side by being able to run around the car/cars. Sumner
Sumner, I was able to address the points you listed, the only issue I am having is extending the drill track as it seems to congest the area. Everything else looks good and functional. I added an exit to the yard from the Industrial area. I was trying to address the points that Andy had pointed out without heavily modifying the area. My space is limited and eating up real estate kills my industrial town area. I was planning on removing the upper spur and pulling the buildings down creating more space for roads and a few buildings, but as Andy pointed out moving around in the industrial yard is more of a challenge than need be. I do not have enough length to run the trains in that area the way I would like.
Looks good to me. The extra two lengths of track on the drill track will only be needed if you were working the two arrival and departure tracks and didn't want to go out onto the main working a train that was the entire length of them. Maybe don't need that extra length, only rarely and then you could pull onto the main for a second. Your choice remember this is your railroad so I'm just putting suggestions out there nothing more. Sumner
I painted the train board; it is still a bit wet. I will let it dry overnight and perhaps if I can find some time during the week, I will give it another coat. It truly is not necessary to paint the board, but I do it due to aesthetics. I like the board to look like something other than pink foam while I progress. It's just a personal preference. Once the second coat goes down and dries, I can lay the mainline back in place and start wiring the first block to run trains. So, this should be the town and industrial layout. It may change slightly as I begin to model things (I will have to see how it all fits), but this is the general idea.
I think this addresses the majority of the operational issues I raised. You've got a crossover that misses the left end of the main "industry alley" with 6(?) industries. I would flip that crossover and move it to come off the curve to the right of the first (left-most) resident of industry alley. That gives you a longer run-around to handle cars to/from industry alley. The two tracks above the concrete(?) plant track at lower left don't seem to have a purpose. Tracks with no further purpose usually have at least the rails stripped for scrap or reuse. Such a salvage operation could be a nice scene to model. The left crossover on the bottom tracks should be slid left of the switch to the concrete plant.
Hi Andy, thanks for the suggestions. My last post shows the updates to the industrial yard. I have added a spur in front of the 3 top center buildings (not shown above) and I have eliminated track I deemed not necessary. I will do as you suggest and make that run around longer, as that makes a lot of sense.
Happy Sunday, all. I spent the afternoon correcting the color of my mainline track. I originally sprayed the track with tru-color rail brown, but it should be labeled rail red. I have used this stuff before for small sections and never noticed how red it truly gets. I broke out the airbrush and started spraying the track an actual brown (Microlux - Rail tie brown). I have run this stuff through my airbrush on a few occasions just for quick small work and I found it performed very well for small applications. This time around I have a lot of tracks to paint, so the Microlux was given a good test. At first all went well, just like I expected, but the longer the process took the more I began to notice clogging and eventually gobs of paint gumming up in the bottom of my cup. It became quite a headache, as I had to do a complete breakdown of my gun and clean all the gunk out. I suppose I could just use small quantities and shoot quickly to prevent the clogging. In any case, I did get some track done. I did do a little research on the Microlux product, and it appears Vallejo makes the paint for them. So, that explains a lot IMO. I have many problems shooting Vallejo as well. I find I get way too much tip dry with that paint. Others love it, but me - not so much. The Microlux and a bit of info on this paint. Superior Quality Acrylic Hobby Airbrush Paint in Popular Modeling Colors. Top 10 colors in economy-size 2-ounce bottles. Blended by expert acrylic paint formulators Acrylicos Vallejo to Micro-Mark specifications. Color matched to PollyScale paint samples. Labeled with PollyScale color names for easy cross-reference. Water-based for safety and easy clean-up. Airbrushes onto any surface straight from the bottle (no thinning necessary). Finely-ground pigments for smooth application and superior coverage with a thin coat. Extraordinary adhesion to all surfaces, including plastic, resin, steel and white metal. State-of-the-art acrylic resin for durable finish. Plastic squeeze bottle with dropper-style tip for easy dispensing. Practically no odor Flat finish
