Hmmmmmm....
Now I am MORE confused than ever. LOL!
Okay, you guys have seen my track design, and you probably know that the actual size of it is 75' x 25'. With this information, you know I will have A LOT of real estate to cover.
I have determined that the layout will be able to handle 25-car trains (my scale to 50-100 car trains). Had my scale been Nscale, I think I would have been able to manage the 50-100 car trains. Twenty-five car trains should not put the caboose in front of the engine, at least not in a layout that is 75 feet long.
The hump yard is curved, but stretched out (straightened) it would exceed 40 feet in length. We used the space to our advantage when designing the hump yard. In fact, when one takes a look at it, you should be able to tell that it was designed FIRST and the rest of the layout around it. So, that is what I meant by being 'massive'.
The hump yard is handled by BN switchers and road switchers, and I have plenty of those. No danger in NOT having enough of those. The interchange yards are also handled by BN, and so is the storage yard. The Intermodal facility is also handled by BN. Amtrak handles its own yard, and I have a couple road switchers for them in the Amtrak scheme.
The branch-line engine facilities are handled by ROCK units, and that was where I was going to need the two switchers at. However, ROCK, BN, ATSF, MOPAC and others all get their diesels serviced at the BN Diamond Yard shops. This facility is so massive, I have 5 buildings plus a paintshop to handle it all. In addition to the shops, there is a turntable with engine storage behind the shop area. There are also separate MOW facilities near the shops. The fuel pad for Diamond Yard is 4 tracks wide, and can handle nearly 40 locomotives at one time.
Anyhow, I was just interested in determining the main roads' rolling stock first, then worrying about the secondary roads (staging trains) and private shippers, lease cars, and any rolling stock that could have been bought, traded or inherited from other railroads.
I rank my roads by the following:
BN-#1
RI-#2
ATSF-#3
BNSF-#4
CB&Q-#5
MOPAC-#6
AMTRAK-#7
What I was trying to determine, was the percentage FIRST of total rolling stock, and then the percentage of types of rolling stock NEXT for each road.
Example:
BN-50% of all rolling stock
that amount breaks down further to add up to 100% of that 50%
the 100% breaks down to:
-35% boxcars/reefers
-30% hoppers/gondolas
-20% flat cars
-10% intermodal cars
-5% tank cars
These are not actual numbers, just using them as an example.
George,
I will worry about building consists after I have the motive power and rolling stock figured out. It would seem to me that would be a part of operations. Building a consist would be handled in the yard, depending on what cars and types of cars that particular train is handling at that time.
However, determining what types of motive power to get, based on HP, that is a different story. If one engine had more pull than the other, obviously you would want to get a few more of that model than the other. I will cross that bridge when I come to it. For now I am just trying to get numbers for each road in what to buy and what types to buy. Thanks for the help though. I do appreciate it.
Also, I have determined that to look somewhat realistic, these 25 car trains, with the exception of the coal unit trains, are going to need 3-4 motive power consists. Amtrak will have a two-engine consist for both passenger trains, and a 2-3 engine consist for its freight and autotrain. Coal unit trains should have a consist of 3-4 units with a helper on the end. Other unit trains not carrying bulk weight items such as coal, follow the 3-4 motive power consists. MOW trains will have ONE engine for each train. Intermodal will have 2-3 engine consists and ALL end with EOT or FRED devices. I will have mixed FRED/Caboose trains on the class-1 freights and unit trains, with the exception of coal unit trains. MOW trains will have a caboose, and Amtrak an EOT device.
I thought someone mentioned before on how to figure out what percentages of what rolling stock a multi-road layout would get, and also what percentages of rolling stock types each road would get.
Anyhow, I am still stuck guys. Thanks so much.