I have a fairly tight N scale layout and I'm curious to know what kind of industries are able to be placed on a passing siding, rather than on spurs of their own. I have room for only 2 spurs in the center, but my passing siding is fairly long and can support the placement of at least one structure. I need another customer for my railroad. I'm curious about what else is possible, even if it stretches the prototypical boundry a bit. Pictures would be greatly appreciated.
Purely from a logical point of view I can't see you can retain the passing siding as a passing siding if there is stuff parked on it to serve an industry. In reality I'm pretty sure a RR would bung another switch in with a short spur. I'd think the only way you could maybe allow this is if the service is fairly short. Eg. for delivery a tank car could be spotted for a few hours once a week to deliver fuel oil to a holding tank. For loading a mine or other mineral source could have a bunker over the track which fills hoppers while they are drawn through by the train engine, which does not take that long. No idea if there is a prototype for that, but it is plausible anyway - I think it comes under the heading of selective compression (3 tracks become 2) Can you not extend one of your two spurs along so it serves the additional industry as well? This adds some operational 'interest' as the near industries cars may need to be moved temporarily to reach the far one.
I'm not sure if your modeling era would be appropriate, but I have an ice house and platform along one of my passing sidings. It is rarely (actually never) used for icing of reefers but it fills a space and gives the impression of a needed facility. Even a through train could pause for icing of the reefers. And if your era is too modern, an abandoned icing facility could fill the same space. Ben
Just a thought, you could use it as a team track, just mount a small unloading platform along it somewhere. I see old (now unused) platforms in such places now and then.
Maybe shorten the passing siding and create a spur with the industry? Or place a crossover before the industry so you can have a shorter passing siding when the industry has cars, or the original length of passing siding when it doesn't.
Ben- Ice House immediately came to mind for me but I think that if he is short of space an ice house may take up too many linear inches.
Fotheringill, how does 2" by 11" strike you? The plan came from a 1960's MR and is the type that would have been used on a branchline most likely. The ice house footprint is only 2" x 4", with an offset end for the beginning of the 7 1/2" x 3/4" icing platform. The platform could have been made much longer and I still may do that one day, but you know how that goes. If Ironhead can spare 2 inches plus very minimal clearance (since it needs to be close to the track) by most any length along the track he is in business. Another structure I am using alongside a passing siding (and abutting the backdrop along the layout edge) is Walther's passenger platforms, but to simulate a freight platform. There are similar structures in Chicago's Dearborn Street Station yard for freight and mail. The sections require only 1 1/4" depth plus clearance. Each are 6 inches long and I used all eight of them for a long platform. Ben
All excellent posts. I bounced it around off other boards as well, and I'm really not interested in sacrificing the length of the passing siding to create a stub. However, the idea of a lap siding came up and that is a VERY interesting idea that preserves the length, and still allows for a meet while a dock is in use. I may go this route. Thanks for the input!
There is a difference between sidings. Passing Siding wouldn't be able to be used for anything else over a extended period. Perhaps for short times (one location on the line I worked, we used a passing siding to store autoracks during the Auto plant shutdowns) but that was a short time 2-3 weeks and once per year. They no longer do that. You could however do what they have done to former passing sidings and turn them into blind sidings, or storage sidings. This is popular on lines with less traffic to store long term cars in there. Then when the railroad needs a few cars, the local that works that section digs them out and crams the remaining cars back in.
I say go for it. There is precedent for having a double ended industrial track. Small towns would have these quite often. You would find a depot, water tower, freight house, stock pen, team track, grain elevator and or feedsupply along this track. Or you can have a coal loader on this track if it runs parallel to a hill. I considered doing the same thing on one of my smaller layouts plans. The justification for the passing siding/ industrial track being that trains going either direction can service the track. Besides, your layout is small. Adding some industries along the passing siding could add interest visually and give you some new projects to work on.
Generally, but not always, there wouldn't be an industry on a track considered as a passing track. If you did spot cars, there'd need to be a train order taking it out of other service. Or even the switches would be spiked for safety. Which could make an interesting operating wrinkle. Boxcab E50
