Yard tracks, how many in a 24" wide space.

Well your tracks can be as close as 3.5" center to center on completely straight, but you didn't say how much length you have to work with. Are you wanting yard tracks or mainline tracks? There's a few variables that need to be considered but you only gave us a 24" width to work with.

If you put them on 4 inch centers you can get six tracks in.  If you put them on six inch centers you can get four tracks in.

The length is about 20' and all tracks would have the option of a run thru. 

theoretically, 8 or 9 (2.75" spacing, too dense to easily load a train onto with other equipment on adjacent tracks)... practically 6-7 (3.5" center to center, still dense, but workable).

 

the densest track spacing would be achieved by using numbered switches (#6 is what i have used before) breaking off into a ladder siding structure.

Well if it's only 20', and you want swtiches at both ends to run through, you're not going to get 6 tracks in there. If you have curves at both ends, that's also going to cut down on the available space.

 

We need some sort of track plan with a minimum radius to work with. If it's all straight track, no switches, end to end, you can get 5 tracks in there and be able to use them all without any of the equipment hitting the adjacent track.

Ross has an eight track yard setup which includes one four way and four 11 degree standard turnouts. The website list it as 28" wide by 60" long.

 

So I would say you could safety fit seven tracks in your 24" space.

 

With one of these yard setups at each end you would still have 10' of straight track in between on the two outside tracks. As you work your way towards the middle, the length of the straight tracks would increase with the middle two probably being about 16'-17'

 

A very nice yard.

After laying it out in RRTrack, I think you may get all eight tracks inside the 24"

Actually, you have to cut that back because you need to have some distance between the outer tracks and the yard deck's edges. However, at 3.5", you can get the six tracks in with 3.25" from the edges to the centerlines of the the outermost rails.

 

You can use the Ross 4-way as it's an efficient way to get from a single track to four, but it takes up linear space. Figure you're going to lose nine feet (4.5 off each end) to the four-way turnouts, the two additional 11-degree turnouts and the curves on the outermost yard leads. (See below)

 

 

Don't used "curved" switches (i.e. 054, 072, etc), use "numbered" switches (i.e. #4, #5, etc).

 

I recently added a 24"x14' section to my layout and all I had was 054 switches.  As a result, I couldn't get but 3 tracks within the 24" wide space.

 

You have to allow space on each side of the outer-most tracks, so you actually have less than 24" to work with.

I'm designing a new staging yard expansion on a 23.5" wide shelf and 6 tracks fit well.  The new shelf is shown as a gray box.  The approach is made up of Ross curved switches and one RH 11 degree.  Ross LH O72 switches are used to get to a possible engine storage area.

 

 

This is my standard practice. Keep in mind that it may be necessary to fix derailments, so being able to get your hands between tracks is a good thing.

 

Personally, I'm not overly fond of the Ross multi switch units such as the 4 way or the 8 track yard, because they lock you into a less than optimal track spacing. I would rather use individual Ross switches and modify them to achieve the same effect with the 4" spacing.

Thanks guys for all the tips, when the time comes I will lay it out and see what it looks like.

3.5" is the minimum and works well with box cars, tankers and flats but not unusually wide cars. Remember that you still may need to get your hand in there as well so maybe 4" would be better.