On another thread, Fluid Dynamics wrote: There are a number of good resources. One of the very best is the yard section of John Armstrong's Kalmbach book "Track Planning for Realistic Operations". Another excellent printed resource is the Layout Design Special Interest Group's dedicated Layout Design Journal issue on Yard Design (LDJ-7, June 1992). Information on puchasing this back issue and also access to the LDSIG's on-line Layout Design Primer is at: http://ldsig.org/ Also on-line is Craig Bisgeier's "10 Commandments of Yard Design": http://www.housatonicrr.com/yard_des.html You may also find a couple of interesting bits of information on my own website at: http://www.modelrail.us/id19.html Hopefully others will have additional suggestions for yard design resources. Regards, Byron
Thank you! Mainline modelers like me tend to have trouble designing functional yards that will not give us regrets when we eventually learn how to operate them.
I should also mention the current Model Railroader magazine (Dec 2004), which inlcudes Andy Sperandeo's article on yard design and operation. Most of the information is similar to that found in the other references I mentioned. The MR article also promotes Andy's new book on the topic: "The Model Railroader's Guide to Freight yards" published by Kalmbach, which I have not seen. Regards, Byron
Thanks for the thread. I'm in the process of designing a new N, around the room, layout and had included a yard area. Your references are wonderful. They helped me to understand how the yard should relate to the railroad and vice versa. It will mean a major re-design, but in the end I should have something that works as a railroad and still be able to run my trains around the circle occassionally.
