Pinwheel

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Pitchwife

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Apr 23, 2001
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N scale Pinwheel

I was looking through the new issue of Model Railroad Planning and was reading the article about eliminating "S"'s from your layout and got to thinking about the Pinwheel staging yard they were talking about. I've seen them in other articles, but up until now I hadn't seen any way that I could utilize anything like it on my current project. Then I remembered the staging on the lower level and how I wasn't really happy with it but didn't know what else to do when a light bulb came on. :eek: This might be the very thing I needed. I pulled up trusty old Right Track and what follows is the result.

This was the original plan.

lower_130.jpg


This is what I came up with afterward.

lower_grid.jpg


This is a closeup that shows how it splits off a little clearer.

no7pinwheel.jpg


I think that it looks much more elegant with more available space than the original. :) Except the one on the bottom rung all of the turnouts are Atlas Customline #4's due to the limited space (the whole thing had to be kept to no more than 1 foot deep since there would only be around 8" of clearance) but you wouldn't know it from looking at it, at least I wouldn't. :D
Does anyone have any comments or critisizims? I'd appreciate them as I've never tried anything like this before.
 
Is the staging simply for staging, or is it "operational" - i.e. does one operate this as a yard? There are a few "non-prototypical" ways to get much more room if it is just staging.

Andrew
 
MasonJar said:
Is the staging simply for staging, or is it "operational" - i.e. does one operate this as a yard? There are a few "non-prototypical" ways to get much more room if it is just staging.

Andrew
Click to expand...

Thanks to all of you for your comments. :thumb: :wave:
Andrew, it is primarily hidden staging representing distant cities. It needs to have the capacity to store and/or construct new trains using a switcher since the space and position are not sufficient to use it as a fiddle yard. Also it needs to operate without fouling the main (red) line. I'm presuming that means that it would fall under your definition of operational. However I would be interested in any ideas you have. The only constraints is a maximum depth of not much more than 1 foot.
 
By operational, I meant that a crew is assigned to run it like a proto yard - no 0-5-0 switching! So it is operational as you are using a switcher to make up the trains. However, if it is not necessarily part of your operations scheme, so to speak, there are a few ideas...

A friend uses a sector plate to give more room (no turnouts), and to avoid the cost of all those turnouts. You can see some pictures here:

http://www.ovar.ca/Mitchell/john_mitchell.htm

The sector plate is in the lower left photo.

Another neat idea that I saw was in MR a while ago (or maybe GMR or MRP). Anyway, it was a huge "yard" that slid out on drawer hardware, like a giant transfer table. That way the operator simply lined up an empty track for the inbound train. He also reclaimed space that normally was out of reach (as per your 1' depth maximum).

Anyway, I hope that helps...

Andrew
 
I've seen photos of the drawer type of storage. I can just imagine when I pull the drawer out and every car on it falls over on it's side. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :p :D
The sector plate is a good idea too. I'm just not sure how I'd fit it in the space I have to work with. Any idea how he handled the pivot end of the track? Flex track with only the ends fixed?
Thanks for the ideas. They definately give me something to think about. :thumb: :thumb:
 
Clark - you hit the nail on the head - flex track, with one end fixed off the plate at the pivot end, and the other fixed to the opposite end - no nails in between...

Andrew
 
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