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Another ingenious Emrys Hopkins design makes the
single switch a double-slip, which provides a very flexible shunting/switching layout
in the tiny space of 36"x12". In some ways Juster Yard provides
a back-to-back Inglenook type design (see "Inglenook"
for more on these designs). Hiding one of the legs behind a building or backdrop
would allow you to use it as a fiddle yard/staging area, representing the rest of
the world "off layout".
For more examples of Emrys's layout designs see his excellent web page, LayoutDesigns.com.
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Apple Valley Light Railway Mk.I is Ian Holmes's
first version of his interesting and provocative idea to use a full train turntable
in the center of his layout. This design idea is featured in a number of the plans
on these pages...it saves tremendous amounts of space, yet allows reversing of entire
trains, and with a replaceable cassette even allows you to swap out the consists
running on the layout!
Here, Ian hides the "traintable" behind a row of trees and a small office
building. He has provided an engine house (loco shed), several works sidings for
switching, a small passenger shelter, and the rudiments of a fiddle/staging area.
He later developed this idea further to achieve the design he's currently building
(see "Other
Good Ideas").
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One of the smallest and simplest layouts in these
pages, Morna Yard has a giant potential for operating fun! It uses a single
three-way turnout to create an "Inglenook" pattern switching/shunting layout.
In the space of an average bookshelf, Morna Yard provides an endless series of switching
problems than can occupy any model railroader for hours.
Basically, about five cars are distributed on two of the three side tracks, then
sequenced by selecting tokens from a hat. The challenge is to marshall the cars in
the designated order on the third track. Sound simple? Try it! You'll be amazed at
the complexities that can arise almost immediately!
For more Inglenook pattern layouts--and ideas for operating them--see "Inglenook."
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Jeff Hatcher revealed the plan of his "almost
pointless" N scale shelf switcher, "Stubby Yard," in Issue Number
38 of Model Trains International.
It's a very compact industrial shunting layout, using a traverser (transfer table).
And it has all the earmarks of a micro layout, but is somewhat too large to
fit the category (Jeff wasn't looking to design a micro, just a good small layout!).
Enter Stubbier Yard, a "squozed down" version of "Stubby Yard"
that fits in 36"x12" -- very much a micro-sized layout. In HO, it's designed
to use 40-foot cars and a relatively small four-wheeled switch engine. There are
five destinations for cars to shunt .
Start with three cars on the backstage storage track, randomly select (from a hat?)
destinations for all three, and proceed to distribute the cars, collecting any empties
that may already be in place at each destination. You'll find it a challenging exercise
from almost the first move! Note that runarounds can be accomplished in a number
of ways, all involving use of the transfer table.
Jeff Hatcher is in the process of building Stubby Yard in N scale. Who will be the
first to construct Stubbier Yard in HO? (Please send photos!)
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A Perfect "Starter"
Micro Layout!
Ian Holmes spent a rainy day in his workshop, creating
this delightful little micro layout. He had a foamboard offcut that measured 22"x6",
so started arranging track pieces on it. Suddenly the plan took shape, and became
Tennower Mine. Ian proceeded to build the layout to the point shown in the
work-in-progress photo below within -- you guessed it -- 10 hours!
 The
gauge is 16.5mm. Ian's scale is Gn15, but the same trackage will work for 1n20, On30,
or even HO standard gauge. In all scales, you'll want to use a very small switch
engine and some short four-wheel cars or wagons. The key dimension is the sector
plate .... it must be long enough to hold the locomotive and one car -- otherwise
shunting will be nearly impossible. If you leave the back of the mine building open
(at right), you'll be able to swap cars in and out, load and empty them, and rearrange
consists however you like.
The basic operation is to push cars out from the mine building to the sector plate,
which then switches tracks and allows the loco to pull the cars to the headshunt
at right and push them into the coal yard track at the front left. Of course, the
empties already in the coal yard will have to be moved out of the way first, then
later returned to the mine. If you try to keep three or even four cars or wagons
in play, you'll have an absorbing time shunting them about the layout.
All in all, Tennower Mine is a perfect "starter" micro layout. It's small,
inexpensive, uses standard HO track materials, can be made quickly, boasts interesting
track formations and a sector plate to provide some construction challenge, and when
finished it can be operated in prototypical and interesting fashion. Let's see ...
in N scale it would measure something like 14"x3". Unquestionably, you
always have room for a small model railroad!
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