Operations question

[emt49]

I have a 11 'x 14' HO layout and i am going to run a coal train to a dpm power plant i have on the layout . I now have the chance to get the Apalachin flood loader for the layout heres were the problem starts .

The flood loader will have to be put were i had planed for the power plant because thats were i have the room for it. And for the sideings to be as long as the coaltrian (20 to24 100 ton hoppers not counting the motive power ) .

I would be moving the power plant to my industral switching part of my layout .
The problem is i dont have the room for a train that big there .this is how i was thinking of making it work

Now here is the question .
Will it work and would the real thing split a unit train to deliver it's load ?
I would pick up the unit train at the flood loader (20 to24 cars).Then bring it to my class yard and brake it up into a smaller train . Deliver one part of the load (10 cars) to the power plant . In a day or two thay would call and say it's time to bring us the next shipment. At that time the local crew would bring the next set to the plant (the last 10 or so) drop them and bring the emptys back to the yard. Were thay would be put into a unit train and shiped to the loader . I would have 2 unit coal trains running so there is coal ready in the yard when its called for. I would just be staging part of a train in my class yard for when it's needed.

Is that to much work for a railroad or would thay do this if space is a problem?
i have 2 A/D tracks and 4 class tracks in my yard so i dont think space will be a problem there

 

[brakie]

First unit trains of coal acts like a conveyor belt between mine and power plant so,there will be no need to yard a unit train.However there are other ways..

First a question..
Can you use your flood loader and power plant as a loads in empties out setup?

 

[tillsbury]

It's not likely the RR would want coal hanging around in the yard. The yard's supposed to be empty, so that the RR can sort cars in it. It's not a 'storage facility' for the RR's customers. If the power plant tracks can't handle it then I would suspect the full unit train would be dragged over and half left in a siding for immediate delivery. If the power plant's coal storage bin can't handle the full unit train then the unit train wouldn't have set off in the first place...

Charles

 

[GeorgeHO]

Given that model railroading is selective compression (unless your layout is measured in acres) and that we are always compressing buildings, mountains, and distances between cities, why can't you selectively compress your unit trains into blocks of 8 or 12 so that you can easily handle them on your layout?

Is that against the prototype law or something?

That's what I'd do, make up my own rules, and if anyone else doesn't like it, they can go run their own railroad their own way.

 

[tillsbury]

Sorry George, I didn't mean to tell anyone what they had to do on their model railroad. Far be it from me to do such a thing... The poster asked "would the real thing split a unit train" and I answered that question -- very unlikely.

Obviously most of us need selective compression to fit stuff in, and so our unit trains are rarely 100 cars long, and neither are our industries capable of taking them. A unit train might be 8 or 12 or 20 or whatever you can fit sensibly. I was only saying that splitting whatever you start with is unprototypical, not illegal! It's quite common for new model railroaders to think that the yard is a storage area, and it's only when you start simulating operations you realise that it's not!!

On the other hand, let's think what would actually happen here. We've got a big self-important coal supplier who won't get out of bed to supply less than 24 cars at a time. We've got a small-time power station (or user) who doesn't have enough real estate to handle this. So perhaps we'd double up the line and make two 12-car sidings -- one to store and one to load. The mainline would dump off all 24 cars at the power station (in two blocks), and the power station would have its own second-hand switcher to swap the cars about as needed. This is more likely than convincing the railroad to permanently 'loan' the power station part of their yard, unless the railroad was in desperate financial trouble and had far more yard space than it could sensibly use...

If you don't like rules, then just ignore them of course! Personally, I love the fun and imitiation reality that this sort of problem causes, and trying to work out what might happen in my particular virtual reality... it's most of the interest of operations in my mind. If you allow yourself to do anything anytime a lot of the challenge disappears...

 

[brakie]

This problem has a easy answer..Of course this problem would be non-existent if proper layout design came into play but,sadly we all fail that test many times-you know that old tried and true saying hind sight is always 20/20? :cry:

So,by adding a simple view block and placing the flood loader on one side and the power plant on the other side with some space in between one now has a loads in/empties out operation..Problem solved.

 

[emt49]

thanks all for the help


brakie sadlya viwe block will not work

and this was my kinda frist shot at any kinda big layout and i didn't discover this board till after the bench work was done. but i have lerned alot and the next layout will be even better for it :thumb: