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pnrailway
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Posted: Tue Aug 29th, 2006 07:02 pm |
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Lesson #1 - Yard Design
This is the first in a series of posts that will I hope, help all of us to improve our route building skills by providing information about the little details that make any route more prototypical in nature, be it items dealing directly with the railroad and it's tracks, or just the little details that help set the route we are working on a step above what normally is found.
There are many first class routes out there, be they freeware or payware, that while well detailed and realistic in other facets, fall flat on their face when it comes to having realistic trackwork in one place or another.
This is an example of how realistic trackwork can be in MSTS
Yet here, on the same route, the route builder has laid out the yard tracks in a way the prototype would never do.
This first lesson will deal with the yard, the place where most trains begin or end their life. One of the most often modeled in a route, and most misunderstood places is the yard. Nearly every route has at least one, usually more than one and there are in reality a number of different types of yards that should be included when we design our routes. Most of us are familiar with the classification yard, that is the type most often depicted on our routes at one place or another, but there are also interchange yards and a handy little item that is seldom included, the road yard, (more about this later). Even when we consider the classification yard, there are different types as well, and depending upon the type of railroad our route is depicting, one or more of these could, or even should be shown. There is the flat switching yard of course, but then there is also the hump yard, where gravity is used to sort the cars into trains. The main problem with depicting a hump yard in MSTS has to do with the inability, at least that I am aware of, to have it operate the way it would on the prototype. These yards operated by having a switcher push the cars over the hump and then letting a car roll off the crest of a hump, down the throat and then be directed from the switch tower onto any number of different destination tracks. This just will not work in MSTS that I know of, please correct me if I am wrong, as I am not aware of the ability to write an activity that would allow for a truly operational hump yard, so I am afraid we are stuck with the traditional flat yard as the only type we can use.
So, let's begin by looking at the proper design of a flat yard. Many yards in even the best of routes are not laid out to allow for proper working, the assembling of a train, if our activity starts with us having a list of cars to make up into a train before leaving the yard. Also the way tracks are laid out as the route is developed many times is not the way the prototype would do it. Many times, as you observe a train or cars traversing tracks laid out like this they resemble a snake wiggling along the ground and it provides undo stress on both couplers, car bodies and trucks.
Now, the proper way these should ba laid out are as seen in this shot of the track layout of Randy Dyer's now under construction Rattlesnake Pass.
As can be seen, each yard track springs off the latter by using the curved leg of the switch, not the the straight leg, as shown in the previous example. Even so, none of these examples are laid out as a prototype yard should be. That is what we will go over in this lesson, how to lay out a yard properly.
Below is an example of the proper way a yard should be laid out to allow for unhindered break-up and building of trains while allowing for AI traffic on the main and arrival and departure of trains. This diagram is the basis of what I intend to write about, breaking it down into each of it's parts and the reason for each.
And here is a double track yard layout
So, let us look at the "Rules of Yard Building"
Rule one: Do not foul the main.
Many people consider the main line as a part of the yard, but in reality it is the most important track in it, or around it, depending upon the layout. The main line can be likened to the artery that carries the life blood of the railroad, both passengers and freight. If that artery becomes obstructed for some reason it can quickly cause problems throughout the entire system. Prototype railroads go to great lengths to keep the main clear and so should we. When we begin to design and lay out our yards, and it is good to sketch it out on a piece of paper first and not design as you go about laying track, we need to take inconsideration this first rule before doing anything else. Ideally the main should have only two switches leading to the yard, one at each end. They will ONLY be used after a train is made up and is leaving the yard or one is entering from the main.
There is of course an exception here, as there seems to be to any rule, and that is when planning a yard for either a branch line or a lightly used secondary main, or a small stub-end terminal yard. In these locations it isn't always necessary to keep the main clear, especially if you are at the far end of a branch. If the branch only supports one or two, or a few more trains a day, or if when planning our activities we use the requirements of Rule 93 which states: "Movements within yard limits - all trains must proceed at restricted speed, [usually this is around 10 mph.], ready to stop for any obstruction." If this is the case then there is no problem with following the main, even if we use it as a lead track, (See Rule #2)
Rule two: Provide a dedicated lead track.
If you can't, or at least shouldn't use the main line for switching cars in the yard, what can we use? The answer, plain and simple is that we need to give the yard switcher it's own dedicated track to work from,. The switcher and it's crew (you) need to be able to go about it's work while AI trains are coming and going per the dictates of the activity. There fore it is also imperative that this track, (switching lead), be kept clear at all times for switcher use. It needs to be, at a minimum, at least as long as the longest track in the yard. Also, while you are designing, and then laying out the yard, try and avoid placing crossovers or other track arrangements that would interfere with the yard lead.
Rule three: Provide Arrival/Departure Tracks
Ok, so far I have said that you shouldn't, with exceptions, be used for anything but the movement of trains. So, we have provided a yard lead for the switching of cars, but what do we do with that arriving train, or where do we make up that train that needs to depart at 11AM? here is where the use of Arrival?Departure tracks come into play. If at all possible, it would be good to have a minimum of two, but have at least one. Here is where the switcher assembles that train from the cars it has picked off the yard body tracks and here two is where that arriving train off the main pulls in, the road power is pulled off and heads for servicing, and then the switcher starts breaking the train down. This is the reason to try and have a minimum of two Arrival/Departure tracks. What happens if you are working an activity, building a train per your work order on the A?D track and here comes that AI train that you were suppose to clear? If there are two tracks there is a place for the activity developer to have it come to rest without having a standoff because the A?D track is still in use. This now brings us to Rule #4.
Rule four: Provide at least as many Body Tracks as destinations or car types
When laying out the yard body tracks take into consideration the destinations that the cars eventually will have. If for instance the yard usually sends trains both east and west in the form of manifests and locals, then the yard should have a minimum of four body tracks, be they single or double ended. In that way an arriving train can be broken down into where the cars will go next. This is also something to take into consideration when developing activities after the route has been completed. Usually an activity will end when the train reaches it's destination or the road engine cuts off. Why not instead have the break-up and classification of the train, just as some activities also have the assembling of the train at the beginning of the activity. If you are developing a long route with several yards, say one at the west end and another about 2/3 the way east, why not write a series of activities that start at west yard and take the train to Midtown yard. There the train is broken up and reclassified and the activity ends. Activity 2 starts with taking the cars from the first activity classified for the east bound manifest and adds some additional and off the train goes continuing east to the end of the route. Or perhaps Activity 2 takes the local east cars from the first activity and other local east cars in the yard and after making up the train off the local goes, working the appropriate industries along the way.
Rule five: Have a caboose track
If you prefer the era where trains had cabooses or else your route has a branch that would require the train to back all the way up the branch, a caboose becomes a necessity. As such, what do you do with them once you get to the yard and break up or are making up your train. Answer, a dedicated caboose track as noted in the diagram above. They are best done as double ended sidings because the cabooses, just as with engines, need to be serviced and this is done on the caboose track. Therefore, with a double ended siding it is possible to place the caboose on the siding and as each consecutive caboose is added the first caboose works it's way forward till it is it's time to be used on an outgoing train.
Rule six: Provide a Run-around track
Somewhere on, or off the yard lead should be provided a short double ended siding or set facing crossovers to an adjacent track to allow the switcher to run around a car or two, especially the caboose. Without this it becomes rather difficult to place a caboose on a departing train and be on the proper end of the caboose or car. It is also important if you have trailing point industrial tracks with-in yard limits.
Rule seven: Provide Auxiliary tracks
In just about every yard there are also a need for additional tracks that serve a number of different purposes. There is the RIP (Repair In Place) track. It is a normal part of just about every yard and yet it is seldom modeled in MSTS. Here as many as several cars per day will have minor repairs such as damaged equipment, worn break shoes, damaged wheel bearings, or cracked air hoses repaired or replaced. There just about any type of car can be spotted, and usually are. Then there are tracks used to clean cars between loads, to clean out the debris that may have been left in the car from the last load, (usually in box cars and gons). There would also be a track for the wreck train to be parked until needed. These tracks as well as engine service tracks are usually located near the Arrival and Departure tracks.
As I mentioned in the beginning, another type of yard that is seldom modeled in a route would be the road yard. These are usually located at busier towns and cities along the line and they serve a number of purposes. This may be where the crew of a local reclassifies their train after some extensive switching down the line so that it is in the proper order for the rest of the trip. Trains are usually classified or blocked for each town and also for the industries in that town so that switching is more convenient. Also, since MSTS has the notorious front coupler bug, it is good to arrange that all sidings to be worked are trailing point sidings. So, at a road yard approximately half way in a turn's journey, the cars for what had been facing point sidings are dropped off to be picked up on the return to be delivered later. Speaking of being delivered later, there are times in real life when a crew will arrive at a siding with a delivery only to find that a car is already there. In this case the car to be delivered isn't hauled back to the yard, it is set out on another near by siding to be delivered when the space becomes available. Very seldom, except for on Wayne Campbell's L&PS with the Callboad program is this ever worked into an activity.
Well, that is about it for the first lesson. As I mentioned in another thread, if anyone has a particular topic they would like for me to cover, please send me a PM.
Last edited on Thu Aug 31st, 2006 04:00 pm by pnrailway
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Paul Precht
Lehigh & Northern Railway
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