Inglenook, switchbacks and wyes. Confused by layout elements? Here’s a handy beginners guide.
If you’ve read Model Railway Terms You Need To Know you’ll know the 40 essential and most model railway words to get started but once you start planning your layout you’ll come across another set of unfamiliar words.
They’re all pretty straight forward but to plan your layout you’ll need to know them.
Beautifully done sidings in the Dentdale layout.
Sidings
A siding is a dead-end line that branches from another (“through”) line [see picture right showing sidings on the Dentdale layout – MRE].
The Inglenook
The “Inglenook” is nothing more than a siding that branches into three sidings, and may as well stop itself to form a siding looking backwards.
Passing Loop
A Passing Loop is an arrangement of two switches that allows two trains to pass each other on a single line. More usefully in switching layouts, it allows a locomotive to park a car, uncouple and move from one end of it to the other, so as to reverse the order of the two on the line.
Continuous Loop
A continuous Loop is a piece of track around which a train may run indefinitely. It is topologically equivalent to a simple circle, though it may be an oval, or even a figure-eight if it folds back on itself and crosses with a bridge.
Switchback
A reversing loop is the arrangement shown here that causes a train to return down the line from which it came.
Wye
A Wye is an arrangement at right. Like the Reversing Loop it enables a train to manoeuvre so as to reverse itself without any uncoupling, and like the reversing loop, it is electrically tricky to implement.
Turntable on the Elmgate & Thatcham by Tim Sanderson.
Turntable
The turntable, beloved of steam enthusiasts, carries out two functions: It has the capability of reversing the direction of the locomotive (or very short train) that stands on its platen, and it provides a multiway switch function typically used to select from a large number of storage sidings.
Read the full original post here. Pictures (c) ModelRailwayEngineer.
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Andy is a lifelong modeler, writer, and founder of modelrailwayengineer.com. He has been building model railways, dioramas, and miniatures for over 20 years. His passion for model making and railways began when he was a child, building his first layout at the age of seven.
Andy’s particular passion is making scenery and structures in 4mm scale, which he sells commercially. He is particularly interested in modelling the railways of South West England during the late Victorian/early Edwardian era, although he also enjoys making sci-fi and fantasy figures and dioramas. His website has won several awards, and he is a member of MERG (Model Railway Electronics Group) and the 009 Society.
When not making models, Andy lives in Surrey with his wife and teenage son. Other interests include history, science fiction, photography, and programming. Read more about Andy.
Beginner here. I’m keen to have a reversing loop on my first layout. Any ideas what the point type is called that allows a train back through it having been round the reverse loop?
Many thanks
Hi Richie, this is something I hope to look at in a future post. In the meantime, this quick guide should help. Andy