Club marshalling yard design hints

[Richard Phillips]

In my local club some of the GL5 members have been promoting the activities of the GL5 (MLA) and as such there seems to be a general willingness to put in some sidings. On talking to the club chairman I was asked if I would like to submit a design outline.

Now, obviously the design will depend on the space available and I haven't measured it out, but a good amount of space is available, I estimate width for about 4 or five roads and over 7 coach lengths, probably more.

The line is a single line, dual gauge ground level 7.25", 5". What would be the ideal? Obviously dual track with a second yard would be desirable, but working on a start how should I/we go about this as it has the potential to open this track up to GL5 activities? A yard would need a head-shut/reception siding... but what else?

Note that the track is signalled with a mixture of semaphore and colour lights with pneumatic points and electronic detection.

[Ballan Baker]

Hi Richard, sounds good to me. Try to get a loop as well as a departure and arrival road. with the head shunt longer than the longest road if possible. By what you say, two yards ate possible,is that so/.
Regards Ballan

[Richard Phillips]

I never thought about a loop. I would think though, based on the limitations of the lever frame in the signal box we'd only be able to get one point off the main line, but that doesn't stop there being a loop in the yard. There's certainly enough room on site for a second yard somewhere, but I imagine any thoughts of that would be based on the success of this venture, which is why I think it's important to get right at the planning stage. Next step I imagine is to get out there with a tape measure!

The line is on a downhill section with a slight embankment, I think the yard will have a slight downhill roll (away from the buffers) but could be leveled, especially if the reception siding is taken further down where the embankment levels off. I would imagine one feature required would be a water tower of some sort and 'box to yard communication.

[Richard Phillips]

Anyone have any views on what the road spacing should be? Ideal turnout curvature? Buffer height I guess would be as-per GL5 standards if this is to be an exclusive 5" yard.

Also, does anyone have any idea how long a scale 14 coach train actually is? I suspect this will inform the ideal maximum length of siding?

[Eddyg]

Richard,

Spacing of sidings around 2'6". depending on how big your feet are for walking in between, but the dimensions and layout of the turnouts may ultimately dictate the spacing.

A 14 coach train of Mk 1s will be close to 80 feet in length but you need to consider the locomotive as well. A pacific will add nearly 7 feet and perhaps another 3 or 4 feet for a driving car, and you need to add for clearance from the next road i.e the train needs to be sufficiently far away from the turnout to allow another train to access the adjacent road, so you should allow for sidings of 95 to 100 feet.

For 5" gauge the recommended radius of track curvature is 35 feet (Martin Evans) although I know one track where it is less than 30 feet and 5" pacifics can just manage. Gauge widening helps to achieve this. For points you need to keep to as big a radius as possible. 45 feet gives a turnout about 6'6" long from the tip of the blades to the point of the frog.

Hope you have a big field.

Regards

Eddie

[David Hale]

Further to Richard's request for advice in designing a marshalling yard at our club site in Somerset, can anyone advise as to the best arrangement for sidings to ensure that operations can be carried out easily. For instance, rather than having sidings equally spaced, although not entirely prototypical, is there an advantage in having them in pairs, with a wider walkway in between the pairs.
Any advice, further to that already given would be gatefully appreciated.
The area we are developing has now been cleared, levelled, and an initial layer of coarse hardcore has been laid. Hopefully,more will be delivered during this coming week. Once this has been rolled, we propose allowing it to settle for a while before further development is carried out.

David Hale

[Dave Noble]

Regarding the spacing of sidings in pairs, I don't think it would be a good idea, what do you do if you want to couple a wagon on the next track but one, reach over a train of vans and struggle, or step over TWO rows of wagons and turn round. I think that idea is courting disaster.

As Ballan mentioned, try to get a loop as well as a headshunt. The loop wants to be off the main line, if you only have one lever available that's not a problem, you can operate both ends of the loop at the same time. This allows trains to enter and leave quickly without holding up other traffic.

Make sure you can run from the headshunt directly into the sidings without using the loop. That way, shunting is not interrupted by arrivals and departures as it is in Erimus Yard at Gilling. It's a nuisance when shunting to have to stop when the signalman decides that there may be a train arriving, and have to wait until it is in the loop before continuing with the shunting.

Good luck, and keep us posted.

Dave Noble

[David Hale]

Dave,

Many thanks for your input. I suspected that laying tracks in pairs might present a problem, and welcome your other advice.

If any member of GL5 is passing close by our site at the Bath and West showground en-route to the south west, and would be prepared to drop in to view our proposed yard, we would welcome suggestions regarding the the possible layout. A couple of us have drawn up a series of possibilities for consideration, but we are obviously keen to avoid making mistakes which others may have experienced when developing their own tracks.

Thanks once again.

David Hale.

[Richard Phillips]

Here are some shots of the yard area to give people some idea of the area we're talking about.

ESSMEE proposed yard area

essmeeyard1.JPG (112.82 KiB) Viewed 343 times

Yard area

essmeeyard2.JPG (129.79 KiB) Viewed 343 times