Think creating yards for your model railway layout is simple. There’s a lot to them than you may think. Watch this and get the inside information plus loads of tips on yard design.
The tips below are based on real-world rail railways and even if you’re not trying to build an accurate (to real life) model layout, designing your yards and sidings correctly using the tried and trusted techniques from full size train yards will make operating your model railway a whole lot easier and more fun.
If you’re looking for more information yard design, read the Ten Commandments of Model Railroad Yard Design by Craig Bisgeier at Housatonic Railroad, available here. It’s a gold mine of good tips. There are also some good fiddle yard design ideas by Stephen J Chapman here.
If you want some bedtime reading on the subject, there’s also a highly rated book on the very subject by experienced layout builder and show exhibitor Richard Bardsley called Designing and Building Fiddle Yards: A Complete Guide for Railway Modellers – available from Amazon.
Finally, to give you something to aim for in your yard design, take a look at Bailey Yard, Nebraska, which is the largest rail yard in the world, handling an astonishing “10,000 railroad cars every 24 hours”.
Thanks Gary, that means a lot. Are you building a layout now? Andy
What an absolutely great site. As a 62 year old, I am embarking on my first layout. As a child in the early 60’s, I have very fond memories of playing with my dublo train set.