Stock/Fiddle Yards

[mojo]

I have a 4 track main line coming into double tracks at each end leading to my stock yard.
At present I have 10 looped lines and 2 sidings for the 12 trains which I wish to run.
I prefer to see 8 of these trains to run both ways, Up & Down and at present this is achieved by turning the loco only not the whole train.

Points in the yard are hand operated and rely on blade contact for electrical connectivity. I have found this to lead to erratic running, problems with derailments and or electrical at varying places at different times.

I am considering using cassettes, the longest would have to be 52" for my longest train.

What experiences have other members had when using this type of storage and is the 52" length practical?

Maurice C.

[ntpntpntp]

I'd say 52" is quite long to lift and turn as one unit, though you can get longer lengths in the Train-Safe product line - up to 2m or 78"

https://www.train-safe.de/en/tsb-n/ts-basic-gauge-n

My yard is designed with crossovers at each end which means every line can be bi-directional. Each line is split in half electrically to accommodate 2 shorter trains or 1 long train. All points are motorised, and although I always ensure there is frog/route switching on the scenic parts of the layout these Setrack points are generally still ok relying on blade contact even after 30 years and dozens of exhibitions   The 2 outside lines were originally going to support cassettes (hence the wider spacing) but in the end I've never bothered to make them up.




Typically I only use one or two of the yard lines as bi-directional, for long unit sets or push-pull expresses.  No need to remove the loco to the other end

[Southerngooner]

We've used cassettes to carry and change trains on James Street for over 10 years. The longest are around 48" long and can carry a nine coach passenger train. They are simply made from electrical conduit, Perspex and gaffer tape, with door insulation keeping the stock secure. We use hair bands to keep them together. All really simple and very easy to use and make. There's no power in them, but I am trying to add that for those on my own Brickmakers Lane layout. I would recommend them over a big fiddle yard, frees up so much space.

Dave

[JanW]

Points in the yard are hand operated and rely on blade contact for electrical connectivity. I have found this to lead to erratic running, problems with derailments and or electrical at varying places at different times.

Would it perhaps be easier to put a little effort in getting to run your current fiddle yard better?
Problems with derailments can usually be solved by aligning track joints.
And you could add slide switches to operate the turnouts and power the crossing and blades:
https://www.trains.com/mrr/beginners/ask-trains/how-do-i-control-a-turnout-with-a-slide-switch/

Jan

[EtchedPixels]

I have a 4 track main line coming into double tracks at each end leading to my stock yard.
At present I have 10 looped lines and 2 sidings for the 12 trains which I wish to run.
I prefer to see 8 of these trains to run both ways, Up & Down and at present this is achieved by turning the loco only not the whole train.

Points in the yard are hand operated and rely on blade contact for electrical connectivity. I have found this to lead to erratic running, problems with derailments and or electrical at varying places at different times.

I am considering using cassettes, the longest would have to be 52" for my longest train.

What experiences have other members had when using this type of storage and is the 52" length practical?

Maurice C.

What kind of points are you using. If the trackwork parts are decent then I'd work on fixing the derailments and the power contacts a bit firstly. You can also massively improve a lot of fiddle yard power connectivity with a bit of additional wiring in some cases, or with the Kato points by setting them only to power route one direction so that except for the last point on the line of points to a typical fiddle yard you only switch power into each line not down the line of points.

If you are using Peco set-track or similar for the yard then it can be a lot more of a pain as they are very sharp.

I like cassettes for micro layouts as they tend to be short, and also longer ones are kind of ok for loading up odd trains you run rarely (like the sleeper service) but not a big fan of using them for most stuff.

[Newportnobby]

The exhibition layout "Tuemyll Junction " has no fiddle yard and uses cassettes, but I think they run just loco + 6 coach trains or equivalent freight