Recommended accessories for steam layout

There is a lo published on yards but doesn't seem to be much of a common thread on how they are laid out. For steam-coal, water, sand, ash pit maybe an engine house nearby.

My guess would be that positioning of those critical items would have been guided primarily by the land available. 

The items you see at large steam facilities:

Roundhouse and turntable

ash pit (to dump spent ash from the firebox) with conveyor (to move ashes from pit to gondola or hopper)

Water tower and / or stand pipes. If the tower was located up on a hill, simple stand pipes along the tracks would provide needed water.

Coal tipple with pit and conveyor

Sand house (to dry the sand) and sanding tower

Wash rack - could be simple manual high-pressue wands or an up and over array which the loco drives through.

In all of the books that I see, everything is on sidings and never the mainline with the exception of an occasional water source maybe.

It seems like the layouts were usually focused on efficiency. The most needed item - water, would have multiple sources nearest the mainline. The other needs would be situated on feed tracks going into the turntable.

Some of the modern day stuff that is done is to use a front loader to fill the tender with coal from a large pile of coal on the ground(tourist railroad). A water tower might be used if available, but some places use a fire hydrant and fire hose to fill the tender with water.

While realism of the older steam days is always nice to see on a layout, the modern day stuff that is done on real railroads is for time convenience.

I like to have a couple of water towers for my steam engines and a coal tower. I think it looks more realistic.

Lee Fritz

Engine service facilities are similar to model railroads. They are designed to make the best use of available space and tailored for the locomotives that use them. There is no "standard" plan.

They range from huge complexes like Juniata Shops / Altoona Works to more compact facilities (Reading Locomotive Shop / Car Shop along North Sixth Street in northern Reading, PA) and short line facilities in small areas (Strasburg, Cass).

The East Broad Top shops, yard, wye and station in Orbisonia / Rockhill Furnace were built on a farm. The original farmhouse is still there. There is no water tower, just trackside "plugs" fed by pumps from the Aughwick Creek. Locomotives were coaled from a bin. Hoppers were pushed up a ramp and dumped into a bin. The wooden retaining wall has given way.

Overhead maps are available of the EBT facilities. They can provide a basic plan.

how about a lift that can pick up the engine on cables??  not even sure if this is done but probably so, some cross bars, chains hooks, slides  heavy duty stuff

BIG wrenches?

Coaling tower, sand tower,water tower,fuel oil Tower [if not coal burner],Yard switch tower and ash pit/cinder lift. And of course, Enginehouse.

1890s ash pit and template for new pit/cinder lift.

This is an excellent book, must own for designing your service facility.

We had limited room, but managed to squeeze in everything... I think.

Sand drying house, multiple sanding towers, coal tower, water tank, 2 water columns, oil column, ash pit/hoist, and it's still a work in progress as far as detailing the scene.

Contact AlexM       amalliae@aol.com

He was showing a prototype today at Trainstock for a smoking ash pit accessory.

it was awesome !

Laidoffsick, Said it All, the Book is Fantastic that he pictured for you. The Turntable, Whisker Tracks, Coaling towers, Water Towers, Switch Towers, People, Lead Tracks, and Lots Lots More. Happy Railroading.....

That is a great book.I placed the needed components in my yard to make the most sense with the space I had to work with.Nick

A bit more specialized, but I noticed a comment about heavy lifting gear etc. That would be the back shop area, machine shops, erecting floors and all that stuff from when railroads built their own steamers from scratch. If you have the room, don't forget the scale model operating steam forging hammer! ;0)

Check out these links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktHw1wR9XOU ( British steamer maintenance)

http://www.shorpy.com/node/488...ze=_original#caption (Santa Fe forging hammer)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcbTXlMSCwk (CPR building a steamer)

Warning: Viewer discretion advised. There are scenes which will make you cringe, curl up your fingers and tuck them under your arms for safety!

Good question, great answers! I find the pics especially informative. I'm in the early stages of planning a late steam/early diesel layout & hadn't considered most of this. Definitely got my brain churning & hoping I can fall asleep tonight....  Thanks to all for the input!

This looks so real! Awesome! 

Chris 

Here's a diagram of the Seaboard Air Line yard here in Portsmouth Va back in the early 1900s:

Wish I had room to duplicate it.

You can see in this next diagram that the area on the right had a Wye:

Excellent responses from all, exactly what I was hoping for.  Love the layout pics.  I will definitely check out the book