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The yard engine will always be working from the ladder end (the left, in this case). The only reson for crossovers is for the road engine to escape, and you don't need them on all tracks.

As I said, the crossovers in the right of the yard won't fit as shown. But why do you need crossovers between all yard tracks? It'll require the curved crossing you mention (not commercially available) and a double-slip. Worse, only three of the four yard tracks are easily accessible from the...

Aside from those radii being really tight for passenger cars, I'm still not sure it would work. My question remains how much capacity can be fitted in the yard.

Exactly. Your curves may work, because they're drawn to scale, but your turnouts won't. The frog angles are too sharp, and you also haven't allowed room beyond the ends of the crossovers in the yard. I also think the "pinch point" in the aisle is probably too narrow. I'm not sure if this...

The RS-2 and RS-3 had 1500 and 1600 horsepower respectively, same as the H-15-44 and H-16-44. The GP7 and GP9 had 1500 and 1750. "Road switcher" is kind of an old term. Originally they were bought for local freight, then for all freight as cab unit production wound down. Some were fitted with...

A while back, on this site, someone posted a photo of a model FT in Warbonnet, which I thought was a fantasy unit at the time. A couple months later, I found out the real history. For your 50s layout, Warbonnet FTs would be inappropriate.

Was there one Cotton Belt Daylight F? None on SP proper, definitely.

As far as I know, the first FTs retired were Santa Fe's starting in '57. However, they lasted into the 60s on all roads that used them (except maybe MP). The last I know of were NP's last A-B set, which just made it to the BN merger in 1970. That excludes an ex-NP A-B set that made it to Mexico...

This is why auxiliary tenders are usually disconnected to turn a loco.

Ah. That first one is the one I remember. Note that they list several classes as eliminated in '57. However, steam often remains on a railroad's official roster after its last run.

That's tough. Atlas Snap-Switches have a continuous 18" curve. At least some #4s have a minimum 15" radius, but are straight beyond that. I doubt any American company makes a turnout with a continuous 15" diverging route. Some European manufacturers probably do.

Because the 1960s-designed computer system for keeping track of equipment only accepts 4-letter (or less) reporting marks.

At first I was thinking "You can't turn a N&W J into a Royal Hudson... one's a 4-8-4 and the other's a 4-6-4!" Then I noticed that it's a NYC J3 Hudson in N&W colors. Oh, Con-Cor... The next one is more like that. You have a 2-10-2 and want a 2-10-4. Where are you planning on taking the...

At least that means the L&A won't have to deal with the derailment problem.

Ouch... I had saved a link to just such a list, now where did I put it?

That's subjective. I personally like the look of mismatched locomotives like that. And yes, railroads did that often (I love the Rio Grande's mixing of F-units with PA/PBs), though I'm not sure if Erie A/E6B ever happened. As for whether the shells of an Erie-Built and an E6 can be swapped...

I think the Uintah 2-6-6-2s, once converted to tender engines by the Sumpter Valley, were slightly larger - the largest North American 3' power. I do recall reading that the line the Mexican 2-6-6-2s were built for was regauged in the early 50s. I'm not sure of their fate after that.

First, consider the time frame. C&O last ran steam in '56 (some sources say '57). Though they only switched from ordering steam to diesels in '49, they dieselized very quickly. There were no regular steam passenger trains by 1953. I've heard that finding photos of C&O in that era is hard, and...

You've hit on my preferred configuration for medium to large layouts.

In the 90s, I was interested in then-current (and just-vanished) railroads. As time went by, I realized that that wasn't because they were current. The last interesting era for major railroads is the time right before the last big round of mergers.