Different track for yards?

On my Hi rail layout, I used Atlas O track, for the yards I used cheaper Gargraves and used ballast to almost completely cover the ties. 

if you want to see the pictures and videos, look in my profile and look for my layout post

My layout is all Gargraves track.  In the yard, I elevated the mainline on cork roadbed and used a light gray ballast.  Yard tracks were laid directly on the Homasote and ballasted to the top of the ties with a mix of cinders and black ballast.

Major differences in track types on a layout always bugged me personally. I'm a user of tubular track and have used O Gauge (Black Tie) and O-27 (brown tie) in the same layout. They are close enough that you can't really tell the difference unless you know where to look. See a photo of my old layout below...it is a mix of O and O-27. 

My current layout is all 0-27 on grey indoor/outdoor carpet with Ross switches. Ross and tubular are about as far apart in similarity (appearance wise) as you can get but it doesn't bug me as Ross switches are the best of the best and I have no problem overlooking the extra ties for functionality. Tubular switches/Lionel had always given me headaches but not enough to rip them all out although I did with one on the old layout.

What DOES bug me is using tubular and Realtrax or Realtrax and Fastrack, etc on the same layout...just looks strange. 

Below is my old layout, O and O-27 tubular with Ross and Lionel switches. Didn't bother me. Outside of the Ross switch, you could hardly tell the difference in track/switch types.

I've been a member of the National Capital Trackers for almost 10 years. The standard is Lionel Tubular Track (O Gauge, Black Tie) however over the years, that has morphed into whatever track you want. I've always been a proponent of ONE track type not only for looks but functionality. The Trackers are currently making changes to their standards and once again, I've mentioned requiring and enforcing the Lionel tubular track. You'll see Fastrack, Realtrax, Tubular, Gargraves, Atlas, etc on a single layout and, IMHO, it looks terrible and can cause operational problems. 

Real railroads have different standards for track for each type of use.   High volume/high speed main lines have ties closer together and thicker roadbed.   Lower usage track was less well built and and yard tracks were even less.    The Pennsy standard book lists the tie spacing for 3 levels of service in terms of ties per 100 feet of track.    The variation is quite significant going from 33 ties to I think 24 ties per 100 feet.   

John

Take a look at Atlas, MTH ScaleTrax or Ross for your yard.  By using their numbered switches (the Atlas No. 5, MTH No.4 or the Ross No.4 or or Ross Regular) you can get more car capacity in a given space that if you use tinplate switches like O-36, O-54 or O-72.

This view shows the yard complex on the Northwest Trunk Lines.  It uses MTH ScaleTrax switches.  They allow much closer track spacing than Fast Track or other tinplate switches.

I used the same Gargraves Flex in my little Service Yard but sunk the yard track down in the dirt while the mainlines are elevated on cork. Used clean ballast on the main and dirty oil-stained in the yard.