These are my lofty ideas for my proposed yard plan.

- Operations.  That's why I am having such a time with the yard design, if it were just ornamental I could plop down a pretty arrangement of track, turnouts, and structures and be happy.  I want to have a working yard where trains can be built and dispatched from while other trains could arrive from afar.

- Store rolling stock and locomotives for trains - I hope to have separate hidden staging off layout for additional storage and to give my trains a remote destination and point of origin.  I'm hoping to have access to staging at two ends of the layout, giving me more options for travel to distant points.

- Service and repair of rolling stock and locomotives.

What else can I do with it?  I don't know yet.  Once I've got what I think is a good plan I'll come looking for ideas and advice.

BTW Charlie, I'm using a space saver wye where my mainline junctions with one line going into staging.  I have your article to thank for that design innovation. Thanks!

Kevin,

I think you'll quickly find that using a yard to 'store' rolling stock (except for tracks dedicated as engine service or MOW storage) will quickly 'clog' that yard and make it less than satisfactory. One of the enemies of layout operation is too much equipment on it! If your (operational) yards are frequently more than half full it's nearly impossible to use them to sort cars or to build trains - everything will just get in the way. Leads to the question of "Workin yard, or yardly working?"

I believe that's why having separate areas (yards) dedicated as 'staging' or 'storage' are a good idea (and if there's not enough space for them perhaps a set of shelves/drawers where temporarily 'excess' equipment can be moved may be a workible solution).

An engine service facility can be simple or huge. Same for rolling stock service. If you've got the space or really like these layout elements then go for it! But given that our scale locos and cars don't actually get repaired there keeping these to a smaller size might be a good idea. Since you seem interested in learning about prototype operation I'd guess an engine terminal just large enough to hold the 'off duty' locos might a good compromise. But there are definitely folks that love engine service facitilies and build exquisite models of them for their own sakes.

If you haven't already done so, one more piece of reading material for you to check out is the (so called) 10 Commandments of Yard Design by Craig Bisgeier. This is aimed more at the challenges faced by busy model yards but it makes an interesting read in addition to Track Planning for Realistic Operation and Andy Sperandeo's book on Yards. And it's free on the web in a couple of places:

The Ten Commandments of Model Railroad Yard Design  on Craig's web site (which is a pretty fascinating site to check out as Craig is modeling an 1895 railroad - talk about the need for scratch building!).

Ten tips to designing better yards on the ldsig.net website.

Regards,

Charlie

Charlie, thanks for your comments and advice!

I have thought about the yard storage issue and do intend to store unused rolling stock off layout on shelves or in hidden staging.  I'll have to keep the amount of stored rolling stock in my yard to a minimum because of it's small size.

My loco service facility will not be full blown.  I would skip the turntable alltogether but my son want's one so badly and I can't say no to him.  The roundhouse will be pretty much as you describe it, a place to store off duty loco's.  Probably one rip track and maybe a small car shop if there is space?

I have read Craigs 10 commandments and refer back to them periodically.  Andy's book on Freight yards also has a list of fundamentals at the beginning that I keep going back to...I just came from reading that in fact.  Trying to ensure that my drill track is not blocked by arrivals and departures.

Thanks for the link to the LDSIG's tips for designing a better yard.  I had not seen that one before.

I really appreciate all the help I'm getting here at MRH!  Thanks very much.

Now I'm off to read some more. :o)

My yard is for potential.  The more track, the more potential my railroad has.

Potential do do what? More turnouts, therefore more derailment potential?

Potential is one of those words that doesn't say anything without qualfiers to say WHAT.

The potential to do AYTHING.

My trains can only go where there is track.  So if there is less track, there are fewer places they can go.

The more places I can go, the more things I can do.

The more things I can do, the greater my potential.

So if you have a yard, then you have a greater capacity for potential then if you did not have a yard.

Mind you, I am not saying anything about the nature of the yard - it can be hidden or part of the scene; it can be stub or double ended. 

As per the other thread, Stub yards add Variety [volume], double ended yards add capacity.

Now you are right, the more track you have, the more potential you have to screw something up while you are building it.  I have never seen that stop anybody though.

Disclaimer: I am NOT a yard expert, haven't [yet] read any of the yard-topic books that have been recommended - so what you're about to read is probably worth no more than what you're paying for it!

My 2 'visible' yards serve as a temporary place to park and/or sort cars.  [Isn't that really what all yards are for?]  When I have an op session, the yardmaster's main goal is to get each car positioned and sent off to its intended destination as quickly as time and schedule permit, so there'll be enough clear tracks to handle the cars from the next incoming train.

I have what I call a 'marshalling' yard, used mainly to dissect incoming trains and assemble outgoing trains.  Inbound freight cars are sent over to the steel mill yard by the CSX switching crew, from which the mill switching crew will pluck them out and bring them to their intended unloading/loading spurs inside the mill.  And vice-versa - the mill crew brings back outgoing empties or coil loads to the mill yard, where they are blocked into groups depending on if they're headed either north or south.  The CSX yard crew then pulls the string of cars out to the marshalling yard, from where they will be coupled to the next passing train headed in their intended direction [north or south].  Or sometimes there will be enough cars to originate an entire new train.  Coal is always delivered in a dedicated unit train, and the hoppers are handled separately from the other freight car types.  [I also have a 'reserved' track for cars serving other local industries not related to the steel mill - it functions pretty much the same way as the mill yard.] 

In the op sessions, I try to schedule the trains so that there will not be any gridlock at the yards.  I know the 'real world' doesn't work that way, but then again they have more tracks and switcher crews to work with than I do!  I'm still experimenting, trying to come up with the optimum schedule - one that keeps all the guest crews occupied without delaying anybody.

Ken, i think they try to do the same thing.

And they have 1:1 stub yards too built specifically for storing large numebs of rolling stock.   I saw a picture of a modern one here not too long ago that was simply amazing.  It looked like twenty tracks or so or more, each a couple miles long.  Imagine what our model takes up,space wise, and then imagine the 1:1!!

East and West haulers will set out cars for the yard.

The switcher sort the cars and make up the local/peddler for delivery to the customers.

The local will return and the switcher will break it down to East and West bound trains.

East and West bound hualer will pick up cars from the yard for all points beyond.

I receieved great input from Cuyama who made me think, the above mentioned refferances for facts and KnuT who talked me into flipping my yard forbetter use of space.

Steve

In a 10by15 space for an HO layout, I am planning two "yards," each consisting of a run-around track so locomotives can escape and fully or partially assemble/disassemble trains for cars located on nearby industrial sidings.  Nevertheless, there are two turntables planned.  One for reversing  locomotives at a branchline terminus and one on the mainline for helper engines as well as to reverse locomotives for the next operating session.  All storage will consist of complete trains in staging except for privately-owned cars stored at the company's plant.