I have a 24" x 20' space - planning on doing a HO switching layout Thinking of making it into one be huge freight classification yard .. one major problem comes up - once the consist is assembled then what? remove all the cars off by hand? - I would have no room to take them anywhere, I do think it would be awesome though anyone try anything like this?
That's sort of what I'm doing, except I've got some industries for deliveries (drop off/pick up) and I'm using a car float as the staging cassette (might even make two floats for easy swapping... we'll see). Mine is based loosely (and compactly, at 2.5 feet by 4 feet) on the classification yard at Bush Terminal. The original was pretty big and had some neat ladder tracks for sorting switching fun, then industries/warehouse terminals and float bridges. Here's my trackplan: Here's an old map of the original Bush Terminal track plan: With a little tweaking, this could easily be made into a nice long shelf layout (even longer in N-scale... jab jab jab).
Many yards have several industries adjacent to the yard that need to be switched out as well. Just thinking about the BNSF Northtown Yard (NTW) they switch out a large General Mills Grain Elevator, several warehouses, the car shops and the CP also switches out some additional industries next to the yard. Add in Hostling Engines, interchange traffic, and classification and you could keep fairly busy if you wanted to.
Not to tell you what you ought to do,or even less, what you might want to do. The layout I am building is MOSTLY but not entirely made up of a yard, a passenger terminal, and a port switching line with various industries. It is all one town scene and about one train length of the outskirts. There is a mainline (or will be when I get this thing built) but it is not very long. Just runs from the yard around to staging behind the yard. The mainline has NO passing sidings so the mainline run is pretty unimpressive. Just to get it on and off. I think this layout does SOME of what you want.
Maybe shove the cars behind some buildings on to hidden staging tracks. Pull them back in when you're ready to switch them again.
An image, actually a scenario, popped into my mind when I read the title of your post. Consider bringing (staging) an arriving train onto the classification yard's receiving track. Then, after cutting off the road engines and caboose, sort (classify) the cars of the train onto the yard's sidings using one or more of your switchers. When that's complete, take a well-earned break representing a crew or shift change. Then, after grabbing a cup of coffee and with the new crew, use your switcher(s) to build an outgoing train onto the ready track, attach a caboose, bring the road engines from the servicing facility, and depart. Of course, departure might only mean placing each car back in its box on a shelf ready to create the next "arriving" train, but hey, since it's your railroad company......
Andy Sperandeo's MRR Guide to Freight Yards starts off with a layout that is almost exactly what you are describing. The visible portion of the layout is one very large yard with a couple of industries on nearby spurs. The mainline from the A/D tracks wraps around behind the operator to a set of staging tracks out of view. You start with a train set up in staging. It comes into view, enters A/D, gets sorted, new train gets built, and it exits to staging. This sort of thing could provide hours of fun, if you're into that sort of thing. Especially since the layout included icing, scale tracks, caboose tracks, MOW, RIP, and Engine Service, plus the few small neighboring industries.
oh boy, great layout you have.. I'm debating on switching to N - then I could do just that- have one big huge loop, the visible length of loop out in front of the layout would be the yard with roundtable and engine house and the whole nine yards, then in the back I could have 3-5 tracks that I could park my trains, then when they are all full then bring each one back on the layout.. FIFO - first in first out method
heres a layout i drew up quickly for the space with industries on the left and a small yard on right although short tracks it could still work well , there is also an engine house, caboose track and engine fueling track hope it gives you some ideas
and another similar one on both plans the train would run out of staging then the loco would split from the train while a switcher dragged the cars into a yard track and the loco runs into the service area then switch and make up the departing trains and switch industries then the train departs this happens to 3 trains in staging during a running session
