Just to make good use of the great brains in this forum, I have a challenge for ya'll..... I am going to build an inglenook layout in HO (though scale is irrelevant). For those of you who dont know what one is, its a 3 track 'yard'. 2 tracks can hold 3 cars, 1 track can hold 5 cars, and the lead track can hold the locomotive and 3 cars...all tracks, except the lead, must be facing the same direction (so the loco is always at the same end of the cars...no runaround). Now, rather than just have 3 tracks sitting side by side, I'd like to see a bit of interest in it, from a scenic perspective. What sort of things can you guys come up with to add a bit of visual interest and 'purpose' to a layout like this. FYI, the layout may be incorporated into a 20' x 10' layout later. Some advance information.... 1) I will be using 40' boxcars exclusively for the rolling stock at this stage. 2) #6 atlas switches in use 3) Tracks MAY be a bit longer than the 3 car / 5 car limit... I'll use the honesty system ...but I dont want em 20' long! Obviously, they cant be any shorter. What ideas can yall come up with for this sort of thing? Bear in mind, if it goes into the large layout, it could make a nice engine service facility..... just a thought...
short of having dimension, its hard to plan anything. Also, the lead should be 2 cars and a loco lenght and not 3 car. allowing for 3 car to clear make operating the inglebrook way too easy. if space is at a premium you might consider using peco 3 way switche instead of atlas #6.
Coaltrain, there is no limit, either direction, and it isnt to be scale specific. If you want to design it in z scale or G scale, its all relative. The 'size' is dictated by the 40' car length and the number of cars rather than a set space in feet and inches. This will be going into a 25 x 15 shed to start with, then into a 20x10 once we move to the US. You are exactly right Ranchero.... Lead track is loco + 2 x 40 cars (with switch clearance). 2 Sidings hold 3 x 40' cars, other siding holds 5 x 40' cars. As I said though, if the sidings were a little long, that would be fine because its a one person operation and I'll use the honesty system
While the Inglenook is an interesting novelty, like the better-known Timesaver I find it more of a railroad-themed puzzle than a model of a railraod. That's OK, if that's what you want, but a more prototypical arrangement for an engine service area in the same space might be better for the real layout ... then you could just put the Inglenook on a separate board you haul out when the gane-playing urge strikes. There is a large source of Inglenook and variant plans already on the web: Carl Arendt's micro design page at: http://carendt.com/microplans/index.html For those who would like to learn more about teh Ingelnook and switching puzzles in general, there's Adrian Wymann's Shunting Puzzles web page: http://www.wymann.info/ShuntingPuzzles/ Thanks to Neil Machin, one can also play with the Ingelnook or Timesaver scheme completely online: http://www.precisionlabels.com/shunt/home.html Regards, Byron
You might find that tricky. If the switching lead does not hold three cars plus the loco, I believe that there are combinations of starting car positions that cannot be solved with 3-3-5 yard tracks. You could easily test this on the online virtual Inglenook site I posted earlier by limiting yourself to only two cars on the "headshunt". I imagine you will soon run into a combination of starting car positions that makes it impossible to solve the puzzle if you limit the number of cars you can move. Regards, Byron
Just remembered one more source for Inglenooks and other small puzzle layouts: http://layoutdesigns.com/ The "Micro" and "Mini" pages have a lot of these small designs. BH
The Inglenook is very much an artificial situation, and I can only think of things that would be fairly bare bones -- maybe that's good in light of later modification. Anyway, the ideas would be either a storage area for the boxcars (would justify the shuffling) or RIP (Repair In Place) or car repair tracks.
Loco service area on 3 tracks, RIP, Storage, Caboose tracks, a station, multi line industrial storage, Team tracks.....there are a lot of possibilities. Remember, the lead is limited to the loco plus 2 (or 3....need to review the original doco) ONLY for the inglenook puzzle...not when incorporated into a larger layout. If the 5 car siding was percieved to be the 'through line' continuing out via the lead, theres a wide spectrum of possibilities.
OK, those links got me thinking a bit, and I designed a 'double inglenook' servicing stockyards / meat works. I'll put up a layout diagram in a bit when I get access to a decent drawing program (only got MS Paint here at work...blech). Remember, this is meant to provide room for expansion / inclusion in a larger layout. Its pretty good though.
alright, i have been waiting in the quietly corner for 9 days now. let's see some of those designs i know will be great. david
No but I just spent the last two hours surfing through all those links and have gotten the bug to pull out my HO stuff and through down a cast aside 4 x 2 piece of plywood. hehehe
jman, 4'x2' wont get you an inglenook in HO..... It WILL get you a timesaver though. A 5 car siding, using 40' cars is about 3' long (allowing clearances). Add a couple turnouts, the 3 car plus loco lead, and you have 6' at least. Not much width, for sure, but theres no real way to get it all inside 6'. I think an inglenook would make a great engine service facility, actually. It isnt true that an inglenook is something that you wouldnt see on a 'real' railroad, though the train MOVEMENT certainly is. Its just 3 sidings, after all.....
Actually I think the timesaver is 6 feet long as well. Oh well even with a 4' x 2' you can have a little fun...emphasis on little.
