10-05-2014, 10:32 PM
There havent been a lot of posts here in a while, so I thought I'd post my operations planning.
![[Image: OR4AhWI.gif]](http://i.imgur.com/OR4AhWI.gif)
this is my layout that I've been running for several years, In just 30" x 54" (2.5 ft vs 4.5 ft). It has yard switching, a continuous running loop with two pathways, and industrial switching in that space without looking at all crowded!
the yard is the quintessential British puzzle: inglenook sidings. the 3 sidings each can hold 3, 3, and 5 40-foot cars. The yard lead holds 3 cars and a short engine (an 0-6-0, SW600/900/1200/1500, RS-1/RS-3, or similar sized switcher. inside the peanut shaped mainline, there are 4 industries, plus an additional industry outside the runaround track, and an interchange.
13 cars and one switcher engine handle this urban layout. The yard has 8 cars, plus one at each of the 5 industries. I generally suggest 2 Reefers, 3 Covered Hoppers, 4 Tankers, and 5 Boxcars, but any combination will do. All 5 industries are generic enough to take each kind of car (though admittedly a tanker at ACME might be Rocket Fuel, while at the Food Plant it might be Milk, and Gasoline at the town track, just as an example).
Operations proceed this way: of the 8 cars at the yard, 5 are chosen by rolling an 8-sided die, rerolling any repeats, in addition, a 6-sided die is rolled for location (rerolling 6s). with the consist to be in the order rolled - eg the first car chosen must be the first after the engine, then the 2nd car, etc.
After the 5 car train is assembled, at least one full circuit is made. Then the cars currently spotted at the industries are reassembled into train that is parked on the interchange while the original train's cars are spotted at each industry. Once all cars are spotted, the train at the interchange is picked up. Again one full circuit is made and the 5 cars are parked at the yard, the engine is moved to the end of the yard lead/engine service area, and the game is setup for another run.
thoughts? hve I discovered a perfect railroad?
this is my layout that I've been running for several years, In just 30" x 54" (2.5 ft vs 4.5 ft). It has yard switching, a continuous running loop with two pathways, and industrial switching in that space without looking at all crowded!
the yard is the quintessential British puzzle: inglenook sidings. the 3 sidings each can hold 3, 3, and 5 40-foot cars. The yard lead holds 3 cars and a short engine (an 0-6-0, SW600/900/1200/1500, RS-1/RS-3, or similar sized switcher. inside the peanut shaped mainline, there are 4 industries, plus an additional industry outside the runaround track, and an interchange.
13 cars and one switcher engine handle this urban layout. The yard has 8 cars, plus one at each of the 5 industries. I generally suggest 2 Reefers, 3 Covered Hoppers, 4 Tankers, and 5 Boxcars, but any combination will do. All 5 industries are generic enough to take each kind of car (though admittedly a tanker at ACME might be Rocket Fuel, while at the Food Plant it might be Milk, and Gasoline at the town track, just as an example).
Operations proceed this way: of the 8 cars at the yard, 5 are chosen by rolling an 8-sided die, rerolling any repeats, in addition, a 6-sided die is rolled for location (rerolling 6s). with the consist to be in the order rolled - eg the first car chosen must be the first after the engine, then the 2nd car, etc.
After the 5 car train is assembled, at least one full circuit is made. Then the cars currently spotted at the industries are reassembled into train that is parked on the interchange while the original train's cars are spotted at each industry. Once all cars are spotted, the train at the interchange is picked up. Again one full circuit is made and the 5 cars are parked at the yard, the engine is moved to the end of the yard lead/engine service area, and the game is setup for another run.
thoughts? hve I discovered a perfect railroad?
When I hear the iron horse make the hills echo with his snort like thunder, shaking the earth with his feet, and breathing fire and smoke from his nostrils, it seems as if the earth had got a race now worthy to inhabit it.
-- Henry David Thoreau
-- Henry David Thoreau