What is your subway yard like?

You can see our subwy yard on the right  We have two ladders that alternately feed sidings so we could get the tracks as close as possible.  I beleive they are 3.25 inches on center

The tracks in subway yards were somewhat farther apart than they were in railroad freight yards.

 

That's because of the third rail on each yard track that the subway cars would need.

 

Where a freight yard might have 2' or so between the sides of cars on adjacent tracks, a subway yard would have 3' or even more, in order to accomodate the third rails which are beyond the width of a subway carbody.

 

Run-around loops tenchically aren't needed as a subway train is bi-directional. However loops are used in certain areas. They are used to physically turn a train around in order to equalize wheel flange wear due to the curves in an assigned route.

 

Maintenance shops can be old early 20th century brick affairs/ They look something like the Atlas locomotive shop but longer. At least two such Atlas buildings joined together would make a decent looking older shop. Or, the more modern Butler Building type designs common to later 20th century construction. The MTA shop at Clifton on Staten Island would be an ideal one, easy to model. 

 

Modern shops are not all that difficult to build from scratch, with suitable styrene siding, commercial window and door castings (Grandt Line). Specific kits for a subway maintenance shop probably don't exist. To build one, use and follow photos of a shop you'ld like to have.

 

 

 

Thanks Ben and Ed,

Great information to have and helps a lot.  I am working on a mock up in RRT and will post it when I get a little further. Thanks!

Chris

Hi,

Ok, here's a stab at it, what do you think?  Was trying to create as compact a yard as possible because I am really limited on space. I am trying to base it on  SEPTA's 69th Street Terminal & Shops as possible with most layup tracks able to handle full scale 6 car set (96" approx), in this version, 8 of 10 tracks can; have a run around;  maintenance shops; utilize 36" curve for run around to keep yard compact. Used Altas O-36 turnouts on the lead and RCS #4 3 way for the layup tracks and maintenance tracks. Track spacing is 3.37" or 3.5" apart. Overall dimension is about 4'x12' with some inches to spare. Would like to make it a little more shallow but couldn't seem to get the track to line up right. Don't really need 10 layup tracks but hated to waste space inside the loop. Am still toying with what/where to put the LRV tracks/shop.  Here are some photos of the prototype.

Thoughts or suggestions?

Chris

Hmm, I knew I should have copywrited this yard design.
Chris,
This is the Wavecrest yard / Saltaire station complex on my under construction Triboro Rapid Transit System. Saltaire is at the end of the line so I needed some kind of a reversing loop. Like you, I incorporated the loop into the yard design. The yard itself measures roughly 14'x5'. The storage tracks are on 3.5"centers and are long enough to handle a 6 car train. All track is Gargraves with Ross turnouts. Minimum radius is O45. The station platforms at Saltaire sit under an 86" long train shed. The crossing to the left of the station was hand built.
Sorry for the screen shot. My Cadrail program only saves in bitmap format and I can not post directly.

Hey that is sharp design, I like how you have it going right in to the terminal station.  I haven't gotten that far yet in my planning, right now it looks like my yard might be a little bit away from a station.  What does the rest of your layout look like?  Is it dedicated subway/transit or are you incorporating other types as well?  I am trying to incorporate subway/EL, Trolley/LRV and commuter/long haul.  I am struggling with the rest of the track plan, so I focused on the subway yard because I know where that will most likely be.

Chris,
At the other end of the line lies the metropolis of Emerald City. It is located on a peninsular with isles on both sides. This yard is more user friendly then Wavecrest since it can be accessed from the isle on either side. The total length is 19' including Emerald City. The width of the yard is 4'. Track, turnouts and track spacing are the same as Wavecrest yard. This yard incorporates a major inner city terminal denoted by the two triangular platforms in the center. The two center tracks are stub ended and are used for shuttle service while the two outer tracks along the platform are for though routed trains. The reversing loop is hidden under the City Of Emeralds. Both the East and West yards have separate yard ladders that are connected by their own reversing loop that is also hidden under the city. This allows for equipment moves between the two yards without fouling the main line.
The whole design was loosely based on the old Laramie yard located on the CTA in Chicago.

Sorry, I missed your last post. Here is a shot of the rest of the layout. Roughly 30'x30' located in the basement. The entire layout is dedicated solely to rapid transit. The green trackage is El structure. The helix in the left top corner leads to the lower subway level that runs the entire layout perimeter. 

7 Track SUB Yard

I just threw some tracks down on a board and this is what it turned out to be...

Photos here - http://classic.kodakgallery.com/sirt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Thirdrail...Another creative track design and efficient.  How creative is that with the yard loop connecting both yards on either side of the main without touching it.  Interesting.  How many subway/transit vehicles do you have?  Looks like a very large layout.

Hi SIRT... Nice yard, I saw some of your Subwya line modules online, great stuff, the scenery and detail structures are amazing.

Ya, it's an ambitious project. The Wavecrest/Saltaire section is presently under construction. The rest of the basement is still occupied by the old HO layout, also all rapid transit, which is being slowly dismantled. I spent 30 years in HO before "discovering" O-scale rapid transit about 3 years ago. Like S.I.R.T., all my construction is modular (dominoes) and can be moved if needed. I've lost to many layouts in the past due to relocations.
Funny you ask about equipment. With the large investment I had in HO my intent was to only "test the waters" with this new O-scale stuff. I only recently realized that the roster now consists of 25 subway sets, half are 6 car trains. So I guess I waded into the water a lot further then planned.
Here are a couple of shots from the HO layout.

 

https://ogrforum.com/d...ent/3259945172335332

Hi Thirdrail...  you are the 3rd or fourth person to suggest that I build out modularly so it can be moved later.  How did you do that, is there a particular modular spec sheet you followed to achieve that?  So, do you have Lionel and MTH subs, I assume you do, I saw the doors opening on a set on you tube and that was great. Do you have a favorite?

Chris

Hi Joe,

Thanks for sharing your yard layout, looks great and the yard spacing is nice and tight.  I am going to have to try and duplicate your tight spacing.  Are you reunning command control?

any of u guys know of someone selling plain or almost plain dummy silver cars?  i wanna make my own septa cars to pull behind my two septa beeps.       great lay out.  this site is awesome.  thanks for posting pictures.

Septa Beep?  Where did you find that? 

I am not sure where to find SEPTA cars but, I'd really like to get a group together to convince MTH or Lionel to produce a run of SEPTA Silverliner V's and/or Market-Frankford M4's.  I heard you need a pre-order of 50 to 100 to make it worth a run but, I am not sure how accurate that is.

Chris

Hi Thirdrail, can't get your photos to show up, can you try to repost them within the message?

Chris

No I am not running command control.