06-26-2010, 10:08 PM
Did a little more research on the LAJ... I happen to have the 1996 MR with an article about it.
The LAJ has three yards, "A", "B", and "C". After the class 1 drops off a cut of cars at the "A" or "C" yard, the LAJ does sort them onto the various yard tracks based on their destination within the LAJ. So, this does give me the possibility of doing the same. For example, cars could be sorted at the SF yard based on whether they are going to Ind Area 1, 2, or 3. Then a train could take them and switch that particualr area. This actually sounds pretty good.
My original thinking had been to pick up cars at the SF yard, and make a trip all the way to the other end of the layout, dropping cars at industries and picking up only cars headed for the SP. The trip would end at the SP yard, dropping off any outbound cars. Then we would pick up cars from SP and then reverse the trip, again dropping off cars at the industries amd picking up cars bound for the SF. The turn would end once we made our way back to the SF.
Either of the above seem to work good. If the workload was light, the second sceanrio would go, but if the workload was heavy, or if I had a couple more operators, the first scenarion may be the ticket.
Now, concerning the LAJ "B" yard. Seems they used the B yard to sort cars based on which class 1 they were going to. My layout doesn't seemingly fit that scheme, so the Middle Yard on my layout will be used for ATG and GERN car storage. If I can come up with a design for the Gulf branch, then we could use the middle yard for building that train.
Thanks to Big Blue for letting me throw these ideas around. And thanks to all for the advice and discussion.
The LAJ has three yards, "A", "B", and "C". After the class 1 drops off a cut of cars at the "A" or "C" yard, the LAJ does sort them onto the various yard tracks based on their destination within the LAJ. So, this does give me the possibility of doing the same. For example, cars could be sorted at the SF yard based on whether they are going to Ind Area 1, 2, or 3. Then a train could take them and switch that particualr area. This actually sounds pretty good.
My original thinking had been to pick up cars at the SF yard, and make a trip all the way to the other end of the layout, dropping cars at industries and picking up only cars headed for the SP. The trip would end at the SP yard, dropping off any outbound cars. Then we would pick up cars from SP and then reverse the trip, again dropping off cars at the industries amd picking up cars bound for the SF. The turn would end once we made our way back to the SF.
Either of the above seem to work good. If the workload was light, the second sceanrio would go, but if the workload was heavy, or if I had a couple more operators, the first scenarion may be the ticket.
Now, concerning the LAJ "B" yard. Seems they used the B yard to sort cars based on which class 1 they were going to. My layout doesn't seemingly fit that scheme, so the Middle Yard on my layout will be used for ATG and GERN car storage. If I can come up with a design for the Gulf branch, then we could use the middle yard for building that train.
Thanks to Big Blue for letting me throw these ideas around. And thanks to all for the advice and discussion.
Three Foot Rule In Effect At All Times