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7:29 pm
June 14, 2015
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Hi again guys. (and girls as well)
I have been thinking about staging and the implications of how much space it uses and the ultimate number of trains that can be run and store in a given. It seems to me that staging is never ever big enough.
On the other hand we have elements such as spirals that allow us to raise our trains from one level to another. Very useful, but the amount of space they take up is massive. Not only that when you pull a train into the bottom and (what seems like) hours latter the thing FINALLY emerges again at our new level but we have been left alone wondering all that time if the train was moving (at all) Very nerve racking and in my view frustrating.
But what if I combine these requirements. That is make sprials my staging. The negative of a train disappearing in LOTS of track now has a possibility become a positive and the large amount of space a spiral consumes is a least put to good use if it can be worked out how to do it in a smart efficient way.
But a single line spiral sure store lots of train but I think it is not all that practical as a staging yard.
So I figure what if I mad my spiral have multiple diameter parallel tracks! Lets go with three for the purpose of the discussion.
So we lay three tracks in our spiral and periodically we put cross overs that go from the outside track to the middle track and the middle track to the inside track. on the other side of our spiral we again have crossovers but this time our cross over go back the other way.
That is from the inside track to the middle track and the middle train to the outside track.
We have in effect an oval with switch work at 180 and 360 degrees.
If we always keep the middle track free of trains (other that access to and from staging) we can "rack and stack" our staged trains.
If needs be that we don't need our spiral to change height (non multi deck layout) then a reversing loop at either the top of bottom (which ever works for you) can be introduced.
So the concept of height is where we concentrate the increase in capacity of staging our trains.
By increasing the number of parallel tracks the increase in staging capacity could grow massively but at a cost of accessibility.
Now speaking of access I had thought that the whole in the middle sound like a good place to situate the dispatcher. He can oversee the operation of the staging by virtue of the fact that he is quite literally "in the middle of the action.
He is in the eye of the storm so to speak.
Anyway have a great day guys (and you girls too)
Mark .......over the other side of the world.
9:00 pm
June 14, 2015
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A point I forgot to put about stacked staging..........This "rack and stack" can be as high as required to fit as much staging as you need. Up to the roof if required. It is more than likely not using that space anyway.
Another consideration is how to physically get into the eye of the stack one would need to crouch down so there is a practical limit to how close you could run staging to the floor unless of course you had a set of stairs or something coming up from below.
But I wouldn't see that scenario being all that common. But taking the thing to the roof with a reversing loop attached to the roof could work quite well.
Another thing is that staging could incorporate levels at different heights with entry and exists where and when required. Multi level railroad could be serviced very well indead.
I could seen this like what we used to do mainframe tape backup libraries. Round and stored lots and lots of tapes. But in this case we store trains.....lots of em!
Mark
3:19 pm
May 11, 2015
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Hi Mark,
I would hate to have to do anything with the trains in that type of staging. You would have very little headroom between the trains and the base for the deck above it. Also, it would be almost impossible to see any of the cars on the middle or outside tracks in the helix (spiral).
Switches that are not very easy to see or get at can also be a real headache if they need maintenance somewhere down the road.
I have seen layouts where they put the dispatcher or other operator in the helix and it will work but if it hard to gain access to or if you're claustrophobic!! 😉
Anyways, it's always great to dream and you never know when you hit a real homerun!!
All this is said with my own experiences in mind. Yours and others can certainly differ!
Best, Andy K.
Best, Andy Keeney
Look out for #1 but don't step in #2!!
7:34 pm
June 14, 2015
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Andy.....Great points.....
I guess my thoughts are driven by a lack of space to put my staging. It so happens that in my circumstance my two "end" yards are to be one on top of the other in a "mushroom" That is one is accessed from one side of a wall at ground floor level and the other from a raised platform where my trains run over the head of those operating the bottom level.
It naturally lends itself to a Helix and by implication a staging yard. I had thought of limiting the number of parallel tracks to three but I see your point about maintenance of point work all too well.
Thanks for the input
M.
10:06 pm
May 11, 2015
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You're welcome, Mark.
I think the Mushroom design is a great way to go. Look forward to pics, down the road! Good luck finding some staging space. 
Best, Andy
Best, Andy Keeney
Look out for #1 but don't step in #2!!
10:26 pm
June 14, 2015
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Andy I did my mushroom about 15 years ago. I built in a first floor balcony and pushed a "railroad platform horizontal out into mid air. That way all of the floor space remained as "people room" and the model space was outside of that. Given that the length of the balcony was around 20' and another 16' L shape that meant I could have a shelf railway 36' long. Not bad for a balcony.
But then I divided the floor (5 1/2' wide) space in half using doors as the dividing wall and added a raised floor on the inside. Then the space over the head of anyone standing in the outside or lower level had a model railroad benchwork immediately above their head. So in effect I got double use out of the space.
So now I had 2 x 36' selves in a small balcony to build my empire. Well not quite. I stole a small bedroom to this space to get from the bottom to the top levels of my balcony RR.
So if I estimate another 20' in the bedroom I got a total of nearly 100' of linear separated visually space.
But not all that much for helix except at the dead end of the balcony so I figured....why not.
So I think I have a big space out of nothing, or next to nothing.
Mark
10:39 pm
June 14, 2015
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Oh! Re pics. Because of the inability to "get back" from anywhere in the rr balcony taking photos cannot show you how it is done. Though taking finished RR photos should be fine. panoramic pic are just not possible.
I could take a photo of twenty feet of Straight tunnel like rr room though (from the L corner)
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