Some freight cars to fill the yard

 A quick tally tells me I have room for about 120 freight cars in the yard and sidings around my smelter area.  Assuming the 2/3 full maximum people recommend I can accommodate roughly 80 cars comfortably before things get unmanageable.  Since I plan on running 20 car freights there is lots of traffic potential here.

Marc Simpson

50% full for yards

Not a "true" yard

Is the rule of thumb different for 1 industry yards or is a yard a yard?  There is no through traffic here as this is the end of the line, all cars there are only for the smelter.  Inbound cars get pulled from the near end (in the photo) and switched to the various sidings around the smelter.  Outbound cars get assembled into a train to be taken back to the main yard in The Pas by the same locomotives that brought the inbound cars. 

I am still dry running the various sidings to see if any track arrangements need tweaking.  Mentally it all looks good but actually doing some switching will likely reveal some unforeseen issues to deal with.

Marc Simpson

progress

Good news on the progress Marc. I suggest operating as soon as you can But it will work better with the track wired. I could almost hear my grass soaking up the rain. Keep posting on your progress.

yes, congrats Marc!

great progress...can I get dibs on the smelter job!  Looks like fun...

and looking forward to seeing you at the C&W session in a few days.

md

How long is it from the

How long is it from the throat of the yard, till were it  curves off to the left?

Regards Phil

yard length

From the throat to the curve is approximately 10 feet.  The curve is 30"/28"/26" radius for each track, plus another 4 feet or so on the other side of the curve.  The 3 yard tracks should each hold 24 x 50' cars.  The prototype had a curved yard along the lines of what I have on the layout.  

There are a few storage tracks for an additional 15 cars, plus the active sidings for the various areas around the smelter.  Mark, you have dibs on the smelter...

Marc

Great work

Great work Marc.  Looks like it's really coming together nicely.

Question:  Am I seeing pig flats in that yard, both on the layout and in the prototype photo on your wall?  Just curious where those fit in with smelter traffic.

Pig flats

Joe, they don't really fit the smelter but are serving a useful purpose there all the same.  I am using three of them to confirm that my track spacing is sufficient for my longest cars to pass each other without hitting each other.  Better safe than sorry.  Pig flats will be in trains traveling to Churchill (lower staging) as this was how the majority of consumables for the communities up there is transported. 

During my era there were a number of 89' TOFC cars with steam lines that were used at the head end of the steam heated passenger trains to haul trailers.  Prior to that there were 8 hatch reefers with steam lines in that service.  Regular freight service also saw TOFC traffic as well. There is still no road past Gillam so everything goes north by train.  Actually I think this is one of the last TOFC operations in Canada, elsewhere everything is hauled by container now.  The government keeps talking about building a road to Churchill but nothing has happened yet.   

As for the prototype shots, I don't see any pig flats in them.  Perhaps it is the gondolas with fiberglass tops you see?  Copper and zinc concentrates are usually shipped in gondolas with fiberglass tops to keep the contents from blowing out during transit.  I'll see if I can dig up the shot in question and post it.     

Marc Simpson

Pig flats

Thanks Marc.  No surprise that I'm just seeing things.   I copied your pic from the initial post and circled what I thought was a TOFC flat.  Probably just the power of suggestion after seeing those flats in your yard.

trailer

Hi Joe,

That is a trailer related to the smelter upgrade going on during one of my trips there.  Probably came in on the highway.  Large mine equipment comes in via flatcar, most trailers are driven up from Winnipeg. 

Marc Simpson

Last TOFC?

Ontario Northland also runs TOFC (and all sorts of other vehicles chocked and chained on regular wood deck flatcars) today between Cochrane and Moosonee, where there is no year round road at all. Very similar situation.

There's also express traffic in boxcars and reefers between the freight sheds in these two places.

Also CP has that "ExpressWay" trailer service east of Toronto. But otherwise, TOFC also does occasionally show up in intermodal trains on CN and CP, but not in very large amounts. Not like the UPS trailer trains in the States.

remote operations

This is why I model this area, remote regions are host to the last vestiges of the "old ways".  Plenty of trucks, boats, cars and equipment strapped to flatcars heading to Churchill, Manitoba Hydro sends a lot of equipment to the various dams on flats.  There are still quite a few of the early CN 52' enclosed "Car-Go-Rail" cars in regular service even today for vehicles heading north.  I think the old reefer traffic all goes TOFC in refrigerated trailers. 

Much of the TOFC and flat car traffic runs out of Thompson as it is the end of decent road.  In my world it will originate in The Pas to generate additional traffic for the layout. 

Marc Simpson

Photo in question

Joe, found the shot you were asking about. 

Definitely a work trailer.  What I really need is someone to come out with the CN gondolas, ideally with the fiberglass covers.  I am thinking of rolling my own covers and casting them in resin.  Future project.

Marc Simpson

Congratulations Marc

Way to go!  Beers are chillin'

It's amazing who shows up to run trains

I told my family I had completed the loop on the first level of the layout, so everyone came down to the layout room to take a train for a spin.  I posed what I thought was a rhetorical question to my wife ("Want to come run a train?")and to my surprise she said yes...

Two units and 41 cars (including my youngest son's caboose) made multiple trips around the layout with everyone taking a turn.  Fun was had by all.

 My youngest taking the train for a spin.

 Middle son not paying attention to the front end.

My daughter blowing the horn for the grade crossing.

My wife might start spending more time in the train room. 

Awesome

My wife doesn't try to understand. I'm glad she is simply allows me the time (and money I suppose). Of course when there is something she'd like me to fix ... I'm on it!

Both my kids encourage my hobby a lot and know what it means to me even if they don't have much interest either. It is awesome to see your family getting involved. Perhaps the older kids might like to build a shake the box kit?

Neil Erickson 

plans afoot

Plans are afoot for a small layout for the kids to run some trains on, the track and equipment is in hand, just need to get around to getting things set up. 

Marc Simpson

Must stay focused!

Hey Marc,

Maybe I should give you my kids' layout.  I'll ask, but I don't think they want it anymore, and it would enable you to stay focused on the main event.  However, now that there is a big layout, perhaps, like mine, they will prefer to play with that.

Rene'

Staying Focused

Sometimes, with kids, staying focused means doing something with the kids and or ensuring that the kids have something to do. Preferably something that connects them to what you are working on. Before my son was two and I was working on the modules, I had his Brio setup below the modules. By the time he was five and my daughter about two, I set up a small ovals in the garden for them to run their LBG and wooden trains. It was not a distraction, but something to keep them occupied while I worked on the larger layout.

At the Club / Museum we have the Flyer layout about fourteen inches off the floor so the kids (It is a Children's Museum) can see (at their eye level) and get access to at least one of the layouts. There are also several hands on layouts including a Brio set for them to play with.