Transfers: Transfer/Staging Yard

To recap as quickly as I am able, my idea is to use a transfer with a foreign road as a “safety valve” in order to accommodate operators with differing ability levels.

My initial design was to have a number of connecting roads act as these transfer partners, and each session  transfers would be between only one connecting road: For example in January, on the West end of the layout, we would be transferring cars between the New York Central. In February it would be the B&O, and in March it would be the C&O.

On the east end we will transfer between the WM every session, but we would alternate between the C&O and B&O every session.

After some thought, always a bad thing, I came up with the concept of a M&E (Mail & Express) transfer from each of these connecting roads as well, to flesh out the job that works Passenger Trains/REA/USPS. 

A connecting sleeper from B&O or NYC would be among the consist.

I had planned a four track staging yard, three full tracks one MTY at the start of each session. This would give each job holder the ability to bring up to 75 cars worth of additional work into his switching district.

But the addition of the passenger transfer added another track to this hidden staging yard. And if multiple roads had connecting passenger transfers EACH session this transfer Yard began to grow and grow.

Then what if two switch jobs needed more work? Do I need a transfer Yard for EACH switching job as well?

I came up with the idea of a “Clearing Yard” built between the main through tracks and the industries along the back wall; a long narrow yard with crossovers.

Each switch job could head out and back from the clearing yard. When cars accumulated in the clearing yard a transfer could be run. Each switch job could store cars they needed there until they were ready to use them. Some sort of responsibility for its organization will need to be established. 

Finally I thought about my original concept of building multiple staging yards for each connecting railroad. If each of these transfer yards will only be used every third session, why not just make one big transfer/staging yard with a long access track, with turnouts, so that each connecting road emerges onto the modeled portion of the layout directly adjacent to its own freight house or yard office. Only ONE transfer/Staging yard to build!

 The actual cars and CCWB would be relatively similar, only the transfer power and caboose would change.

Finally with these separate spurs emerging at points around the layout, I thought why not stage the passenger transfers right on the emerging access track. Those transfers need to run first, because of the time sensitive nature of passenger car connections. One or more less track’s to build in staging!

I believe the concept of the Transfer/Staging safety valve yard has value, but I believe the yard might have to grow. This does not concern me TOO much because the tracks can descend and the yard can be under the first benchwork level. Trains staged in these transfer Yard would be roughly consistent in size; no car being longer than  52 scale feet, so negotiating tight radii will be no problem. Transfer power could be arranged to be strong enough to pull a 25 car cut up a 3% incline around a 18” radius curve.