I am about to put an itermodal yard into my layout but I need some ideas as to what kind of stuff I need and how much it will cost and how much space I will need etc. If you could reply to this message that would be great.
Well, you don't need a lot of space, maybe enough room for a 305' articulated unit, maybe two of them. So anywhere from 3-6 feet long is fine. Couple of tracks wide, but be sure to leave clearence for trucks to get down to unload to. You'll want to put the tracks in the middle of a "paved" surface. Other things you might want are extra chasis floating around, a container-style forklift, or a Mi-Jack crane. It is really up to you, because intermodal facilities come in all shapes and sizes.
Kalmach prints a book called "The Model Railroader's Guide to Intermodal Equipment and Operations". This should tell you everything you need to know.
Intermodal yards can be quite complex, but in general aren't as the cars can be off loaded quickly. You can also go to Model Railroader site and they have a search engine and type in intermodal and you will get a number of hits.
Hi, Is there any possible way that I could make a yard in about 1 1/2 to 2 feet?? That is about all the space that I have right now. Thank you. Matt M
1.5x2 feet is gonna be tight. I am assuming 1.5 wide byt 2 feet long. The mijack over the track crane needs at least 8 inches so you can do that and have plenty of pavement and room for the main line too in the 1.5 inch width. Getting the siding far enough from the main for a mijack will use up most of the two feet lenght so I would go for a side loading setup. The siding only needs to be 2-3 inches off the main - don't forget the 89' flats are a foot long. articulated equipment is all going to be too long. If you can find one or two more feet...
Hi Matt, 1.5 to 2' is a small area for an intermodal yard. But if u can add a back drop of a yard to make it look larger u could probably get away with 2'. How wide is the area? i modeled a small intermodal yard and doc in a 4' curved area with 5 tracks, intermodal office, container trucks, overhead crane and a couple office buildings and the edge being the harbour. The width took about 20 inches. All the tracks were set in concrete. Curving the tracks added to the length. U still might be able to see pictures of it at http://sites.netscape.net/agsgreg/layout then go to the photo point site. i don't know if any of this is up and running. But u could try. If your modeling is 2' , two athern intermodal cars stretch 17". It is tight. Good luck. Greg.
