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Thinking Outside the Box - Yard Design Dream and design
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Regular poster 266 posts rblundon Regular poster 266 posts
rblundon

I titled this: Thinking Outside the Box - Yard Design because I think most people think that a yard needs to be straight (because that's how 95% of the prototype yards are).  I know that's how I've been thinking.  I've been trying to squeeze a yard in to a 30" x 19' area.  (I say trying because I am trying to have a 12' Arrival/Departure track because that's the length train I'd like to run and I have to account for curves on each end.)  I had a good plan, then I realized to get the engine to the turntable, I'd have to zig-zag it through the yard, and honestly, I think it would get old fast...

In addition to this area, I have a 6.5' x 14' peninsula that could hold the yard and engine facilities...  This would add almost 10' of length to the yard area (14' x 2), but the yard would be a "U" shape.  I would plan on putting a backdrop down the middle of the peninsula (there is a deck above that needs support).

I throw this out to people that have more experience than I.  Is it a good idea or a bad idea?  The room is 18' x 19', so as much as an "L" shaped yard may be a better option, it really isn't possible with a peninsula.

Looking forward to your thoughts.

Ryan

 

HO 
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seanm Regular poster 121 posts
seanm

The only drawback to a curved

I think the issues with a U would be similar to any curved yard.  You need to be sure the radius allows for no difficulty in coupling and uncoupling.   I find it to not be much of a problem.  My yard is not a U but an L.  .  I like the way it looks and it operates fine for me.
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Greg Amer gregamer Regular poster 496 posts
Greg Amer gregamer

I prefer to have long

I prefer to have long Arrival/Departure tracks and not worry of they are curved. They only hold trains. For classification I use shorter straight tracks because it's easier to couple cars on straight track. 

 
Greg Amer The Industrial Lead

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steinjr Regular poster 151 posts
steinjr

Standard advice is that if

Standard advice is that if you want to be able to have cars couple automatically on the curve with normal self centering couplers, you ought to have a curve radius of at least 5 times the length of the longest piece of rolling stock.

 Or to put it this way : H0 scale 60 foot cars are about 8.2" long. For easy automatic coupling on the curve - plan on curve radius being 40+".

 If you are using Sergent couplers (which are not self centering), you can couple on sharper curves.

 If you just need a train or a cut of cars to go around the curve, but has no coupling on the curve, the normal minimum radius of 2.5 - 3 time the length of the longest rolling stock applies. For 60 foot cars, that would be around 22-24" radius minimum, preferably more.

 Smile,
 Stein

 
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