Spurs / customers on a switching layout?


Beachbum

Beachbum

Member
Lately, I've been pondering the number and size of industries / customers on medium-sized switching layouts.

There are proto examples for both, but what do you think "works" better - several small industries so you can switch a variety of cars or fewer (maybe just one) large industry or customer? I don't think there's a right or wrong answer, just curious what other people think.

(Transloads / teamtracks don't count. ;) )
 
For the first time, now my third build, I intend to have one spur serve two industries, one fairly large (small coal works) and the other a sawmill or something. The spur ends at a switchback turnout. The tail of the switchback will double as a secondary spur to the coal mine, and the other leg past the turnout, going in the general direction the main spur comes, will be the sawmill. Space will be tight, so I will have to be creative.
 
Other options:

A large industry that ships and receives many kinds of cars on several spurs and sidings .

A small port.

Bruce
 
I think a good mix between large and small customers is best. If all you want to do, or have time for, is an extra out to a couple small customers, you can do that. Or if you have the time and desire for a longer session then you can just pile customers on the switch list.
 
Beachbum said:
Lately, I've been pondering the number and size of industries / customers on medium-sized switching layouts.

There are proto examples for both, but what do you think "works" better - several small industries so you can switch a variety of cars or fewer (maybe just one) large industry or customer? I don't think there's a right or wrong answer, just curious what other people think.
Click to expand...
There is that word again, "better". Works better for what, visual effect, efficiency, operational interest, mix of car type, or?

Car type depends on the industry not just the size. An oil company is going to be limited to tank & box, while a fuel company would had hoppers to the mix.

A packing plant only has basically reefers and box, but there is a lot of work to do with those few cars. Spotting the in coming cattle, moving the cars to clean out, putting the reefers to sanitize, running them to ice, etc.

A large customer like a steel plant will really provide a big mix of car type and specialty cars in addition to a large amount of internal switching work. It would be easy to have a whole layout of just a steel mill.

Many small customers provides some switching puzzles for operation. Say a car gets spotted and the customer begins unloading. Suddenly that car can't be moved until they are done. Other cars "behind" it on the spur must be taken out the other side or through an escape track.

And what about that small customer that gets cars that can only be unloaded through one door. They only have a 1 sided dock so the car has to be turned so the correct door is facing the doc.
 
I just got a sexy little 45 tonner yesterday that needs to be run, so I'm thinking of a small switching layout to hold me over untill the basement is done.
I'm leaning towards a cement distributor mostly because it would take in short cars and can be a compact industry. There is one close by that has a good variety of silos and features begging to be modelled.
 
I missed the comment in the opening post. Where is your layout? A city layout would probably have a number of medium size business's. I haven't quite figured out the industries in my switching district on my layout. I do have an interchange with a class 1 as the major traffic generator.
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Induatries

The first thing to consider is where is your railroad. Are you servicing larger cities or smaller towns. I built my railroad as a switching layout as instead of haing a train go through the same scene numerous times, it only passes through once. This gives me more room for industries. My railroad serves a more rural area with numerous smaller industries. In one town for instance, the rairoad serves a furnitre factory, a lumber yard and farm supply, a grain elevator, cattle pens, an oil distributor, potato loading and a freight house. Another town has cattle, grain, oil distributor and freight station.
I also have a small log loading facility which hauls logs to a mill in another town. In that town I have a meat packing plant that accepts the cattle loaded in different towns. In another town I will have a flour mill to accept the grain. I will have a potato processing plant for spuds to go to. The lumber mill will have lumber going to a few lumber yards and a cabinet and milling shop as well as a furniture factory. This gives me Definite destinations within my layout for loads to originate and deliver to. It took a bit of planning, but it is working out great as many loads have points to deliver to on the layout instead of traveling off of the layout.
This works good for me as I really enjoy switching and it works great for the area I am servicing, but may not work for a railroad servicing a more urban area.
 
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