Transition from main to yard track

I have finished laying the main lines and now I'm ready to start the yard tracks. I have a few questions, this is my first layout that will have any structures on it. I'm using the Woodland Scenics foam roadbed.

1. If I place the tracks on the same road bed as the mains will the structures need to be raised up to track level?

2. If I don't use roadbed under the tracks. What is good to put under them? I don't like putting them on the bare surface.

3.What is the best method to make the transition from mainline to yard if using something else?

My layout is listed at the layout depot under T&T Railroad.
layout depot

 

1. Sometimes looking at prototypical settings (the real thing) helps to give you guide lines for what you want to do. So for example, if you were modeling the street I live on; some houses are above street level, and some are below. If you modeled my street with all the houses at the same height it would be wrong.

To have your structures all at the same height would work, whether below or above track level, but your layout will be more interesting in having a variety of heights.

Go look at track and industry in your area to answer your question.


2. The woodland scenics road bed will work just fine. I know that many believe you must have something under your track, and not have it on bare plywood or foam. But I know a couple of gents who have done just that; the track looks great and it isn't noisy as you might have heard.

3. If you are laying road bed for the yard, you can get wider pieces of road bed from Woodland Scenics. Or you can buy large pieces of cork from an arts store, instead of road bed cork and use it, and use it in your yard.

4. I looked at your layout in layout depot and I would suggest you play around with different shapes the table can be. I would also recommend highly, you get the book by John Armstrong called Track Planning for Realistic Operations and look at various shapes suggested in the book. Also you might get some ideas as to how to utilize your space better.

Your local model railroad store should have this book, if not they can order it in, or you can get it off the net. I think it is around $20 and will be one of your best investments in layout design.

 

Thanks for the information. I have started to to do the yard traks. I sanded the foam and made a wedge shaped piece to get me down to the plywood level. I don't much care for the tracks being on the bare plywood, so I'm going to cut some roofing felt into strips and place this under the tracks. This my help eliminate what noise there is coming from the track or maybe it is a waste of time. I have arranged and rearranged the yard tracks and can't get anything to make it look or work better. I am very happy with the mains and the passing tracks, I will take a look at the book Layout Planning for Realistic Operation. Maybe I will find something That will make the yard section work better

 

Make sure your transition is at least as long as your longest piece or rolling stock. If it's any shorter you my have trouble keeping cars coupled together through the transition.

In HO 1/4" high main 1/8" high siding and 0" high yard/industry works pretty good. Noise is not usually a problem as you aren't typically highballing the yard or industrial trackage.

Buildings that have loading docks need be be at the same level as the track they are serving to keep the loading dock at the correct height.

 

TC, I am useing a 1/16 thick sheet of polyurethane foam (closed-cell) under all my roundhouse and yard tracks. (Get it at arts and craft or package wrapping stores.) It glues with Elmer's wood glue very well. Then I paint the foam whatever color ballast I want, and glue the track. After sprinkling ballast and clean up, it works well even on main line areas. I do not use track nails, and only use spikes at turnouts. It works well with styrene builber's foam blue or pink, beaded insulating foam, and plywood. I get onlt the clickety clack, no rumble.

 

Road bed or not to rode bed ? HHmm Well you know that's a good question. I my self have found that on my main line I used road bed of the cork verity. For the branch line, yards and sidings I did not use any road bed. I used nice clean ballest on the main line and a coal and cinder ballest on the branch line. When you look at the mainline and the branch line you can see a difference. Most railroads spend less to maintain sidings, yards and branch lines then they do on the main lines. Lack of maintance can also make a visible difference between a class one railroad writ of way and a smaller classed railroad.

here is a pic of my MRR. You can see the difference between the main lines, with well carded for ballest.

http://www.eznetbbs.tzo.com/ns/temp/woo woo woo.jpg

Here you can see a Conrail M of W train on the branch line. See the contrast between the branch line and the main line?



Here is yet another way to handle it. The yard tracks here are less maintained then that of the passenger tracks that the Amtrak trains are on. Because of the amount of use the Amtrak station sees, there tracks are better maintained then that of the yard. Also note that the yards and branch line shown here have no roadbed bed under them, were as the mains and heavily used sidings do.

 

Pictures look great, your definitely ahead of me. I am just starting to lay track. I noticed you used particle board. I have read posts from people who did and didn't like it. What has your experience been like? Has it been through an entire year (all the seasons)?

 

Well I have been using particle board for a long time. Sense my model railroad is portable I tend to use lighter material. As far as sound, it's a bit more nosier then if I had used ¾" plywood. But it works ok. Can you imagine picking up a 4x4 module that used ¾" plywood on it ? Yes its been threw one hole year so far. In the room its in, it gose from HOT HOT in the summer to COLD COLD in the winter.

 

Sean, you're pictures aren't showing up for me...

 

Well now, I'm sorry a bought the pics not showing up. Lets see if I can do this right this time? AAAA? Here is the Conrail M of W U-boate. on the yard lead track, next to the mainline.


Here is a shot of the same corner of the MRR. and in this one you can see the yard and the main
come together.

http://www.phantom.150m.com/ns/temp/woo woo woo.jpg

Here is yet a yard shot. It shows the dif. betwean the yad traks and the mainline with the Amtrak on it.



But I guess as of yet we have not really answered your question. Where the yard tracks leave the Maine line, I make a long gradual decline from the height of the mainline to the level table top. The ballast is a light mixture of what I normally use on the main and what I use as yard ballast ? in my case cinders. The length of the down grade from main to yard is determined via the height of your roadbed and what kind of cars will be using it. For me I used about 14 ? to 12 ? seems to be just a bought right. Here is a shot of the best example I could find on my layout. Its hard to show because the other end of the yard the down grade is hidden between to road crossings



This last shot shows 2 trains passing on the main and the yard lead on the inside.

 

HHmmm, seems that the last 2 pics got lost in cyber space. Take 2 ?






I hope that worked better.

 

I am sure Phantom you have already taken then next suggestion into consideration, but for some reason or other decided not to do it. If you added a background, I think it would take your layout to a new level. There are now some excellent photo backdrops you can use which would add to the atmosphere of railroading.

 

Gee RSN48, that?s a great idea! O darn that?s not quite as easy as it may first appear. See My layout is a portable modular layout that goes to shows once a month. I thought a bought back drops but considering how the layout is and modules coming and going all the time. See other club members add there modules to mine and the layout grows at the shows. Then it gets smaller when I bring it home. Its always changing. But the big no no that I did was there is an Inland that stretches from one side of the layout threw the middle to the other side. Makes it hard to put up backdrops, covers up the inland. Bad move on my part !?!?!

Got ot my home page for a better idea of what I mean, but for now here is a track plan of the model railroad, maybe you?ll see what I mean. But thanks for the idea. It is great to have others comment and help out! Comments are always welcome! The more ideas the better it can be Thanks!


Edit to fix image link - yankinoz

[ 30 December 2001: Message edited by: yankinoz ]