Hello –
I'm also working on a layout based on a prototype yard. Here are
some things I've learned and am still learning as I work on the
design:
Duplicate the function of the yard, rather than every track. Learn
how the railway used the yard and how trains and cars worked their
way through the yard. At first, I wanted to duplicate every track in
my prototype's yard but found I simply don't have the room. By
studying the track plan, I started to identify what basic functions
the yard served – passing siding, storage of cars for local
industries, a team track, a crane track, a scale track, local
industry sidings – and worked to include those FUNCTIONS in my
design, rather than each specific track. For an example of how to
adapt a the function of a prototype's track arrangement in a model,
check out the article in the recent Model Railroader about 5-by-9
layouts with shelves in bedrooms. Look at the sidebar item on how to
simulate a prototype's wye-interchange with linear track on a
layout. This is the sort of technique you need to consider when
adapting a complex prototype plan to a very small space – model the
FUNCTION rather than the actual alignment.
Get as much information as you can about the "context" of the yard.
Go to the library and see if you can find local maps – old fire
insurance maps are particularly useful – and see if you can determine
what was around the yard. For example, what sorts of industries were
around the yard? Did public streets cut through the yard? (A street
cuts through the yard I'm modelling, and it adds an unique
operational consideration.) What did the trains have to travel
through to get in to and out of the yard? This sort of research can
help you plan operations, scenery, structures, track arrangements and
so on.
Visit the site if you can. Even if the track iteself is gone,
visiting the area can help to give you a sense of the space occupied
by the prototype and how things were aligned and arranged in the real
world.
Understanding how the real yard was built and what functions it
served can really help you decide what to represent in your model.
As for actually designing it: you can try working with some track
planning software, but you may find it useful to be able to sketch
things ACCURATELY by hand first. I've found manual doodling to be
faster than drawing on a computer for the first rough drafts. After
the first sketches, I turn to the computer for more accurate layout
and fiddling (I use Corel Draw for my layout work).
When drawing by hand (or on a computer), it is very important to draw
turnouts and curves ACCURATELY. When sketching by hand, I think we
all tend to be overly optimistic about the size of turnouts and
curves – we draw them a lot smaller than they really are. This is
particularly frustrating when you have a very small layout space
available – you're sure to disappoint yourself with grand plans that,
when you start to buy track and turnouts and lay them out, just won't
fit.
Take some time to make your own track templates, or buy a template
from your hobby shop. John Armstrong describes how to make simple
cardboard curve and turnout templates in _Trackplanning for Realistic
Operation_. Make accurate templates and use them – you will be
surprised just how large turnouts actually are!
As for Nelson Yard – your ASCII art suggests that the general
arrangement already is U-shaped, so I think it would not be too
difficult to wrap the yard around the "long" dimension of your room.
When I first designed my yard layout, a friend reviewed the plan and
noted that a yard on a small layout is not going to offer a lot in
the way of operation, so he suggested I focus on the industries
around and just off of the yard. I think I would suggest the same
thing for Nelson – you might want to represent the yard tracks with
just a main route and two yard tracks and focus on representing the
freight house, fuel dealers and warehouses. All depends, of course,
on the sort of operation you're looking for.
Would you be able to scan a copy of your track diagram for Nelson
Yard so we can post it in the list's Files area?
If you'd like to see the layout I'm working on, check out
the "Modelling Brantford: Brantford Yard in a Bedroom" article at the
Toronto Hamilton & Buffalo Railway Historical Society website at –
I think I've captured the overall look and function of the yard (at
least as much as I can in the space available), but I'm not certain
how I'm going to support the "on stage" area shown in the plan. I
need to reconsider how to stage trains and deal with them at either
end of the layout.
Hope all this is helpful.
Thanks –
Jon Piasecki
jonp@...
From: b-freemantle@...
Date: Tue Mar 13, 2001 11:46pm
Subject: Re: : April MR
<edit>
I am
trying to figure out how to get CPR's Nelson yard, or at least a
representation, into a room 8'10" x 9'4".
<edit>
LAKE
various warehouses
mostly on south (town) side
___________ East
_-
_-
| diesel shop about here> _ -
| ladder starts about here> _ -
| West _ -
-_ _ -
-_ _ - <the longest straight part
-________ -
\ ^ladder
\______ coach yard, two track freight house, team track,
\_____ coal dealer, 3 fuel oil dealers
& 1 propane (LP gas) dealer
<edit>
