Team tracks
- Thread starter zoegraf
- Start date
PaulB
Member
Modellers often go for small team tracks that fill an odd spot. However, team tracks are good industries in themselves and deserve the same status other trackside industries get.
Think about how much traffic your team track will deal with. How many cars will it hold at any particular time? 2.5 feet would hold 4 or 5 40' cars in HO scale, depending on whether clear standing room for the turnout is taken into account. That capacity won't serve many customers.
Team tracks can receive a large variety of cars, some to regular customers and some one-offs. Why not go for a larger team track that can add more to the layout's operation?
Consider the photo I added below. (http://members.trainweb.com/bedt/indloco/ht.html)
The team track is two parallel tracks, so that capacity is maxiumised while still allowing customers to drive up to their boxcar and unload. Note there is a crane on this team track also. Walthers LCL crane might make a nice model of such a crane.
See this page of the website linked to above for a description of how a modern team track works and who the customers are:
http://members.trainweb.com/bedt/indloco/nynjr.html
Scroll down to see the yard and a section below that about Bush Terminal Customers. Look for the plastic pellet hopper and how the customer unloads his delivery. Team tracks can handle hoppers and tank cars as well as gondolas and boxcars.
Though these are dock side team tracks, they should serve as inspiration for a branchline team track.
Think about how much traffic your team track will deal with. How many cars will it hold at any particular time? 2.5 feet would hold 4 or 5 40' cars in HO scale, depending on whether clear standing room for the turnout is taken into account. That capacity won't serve many customers.
Team tracks can receive a large variety of cars, some to regular customers and some one-offs. Why not go for a larger team track that can add more to the layout's operation?
Consider the photo I added below. (http://members.trainweb.com/bedt/indloco/ht.html)
The team track is two parallel tracks, so that capacity is maxiumised while still allowing customers to drive up to their boxcar and unload. Note there is a crane on this team track also. Walthers LCL crane might make a nice model of such a crane.
See this page of the website linked to above for a description of how a modern team track works and who the customers are:
http://members.trainweb.com/bedt/indloco/nynjr.html
Scroll down to see the yard and a section below that about Bush Terminal Customers. Look for the plastic pellet hopper and how the customer unloads his delivery. Team tracks can handle hoppers and tank cars as well as gondolas and boxcars.
Though these are dock side team tracks, they should serve as inspiration for a branchline team track.
Yes. This small team track facility is on the former Southern Pacific branch onto Alameda Island near Oakland CA. There are two tracks, the shorter leading to the ramp for end-on loading/unloading.
In the clear, the longest track is about 220 feet, or almost exactly 2.5 feet in HO.
Coordinates:
37°46'3.86"N
122°14'3.43"W
Yes. This small team track facility is on the former Southern Pacific branch onto Alameda Island near Oakland CA. There are two tracks, the shorter leading to the ramp for end-on loading/unloading.
In the clear, the longest track is about 220 feet, or almost exactly 2.5 feet in HO.
Coordinates:
37°46'3.86"N
122°14'3.43"W
Well that made my day thanks. I'm planning on building a module like this,
http://www.wesleysteiner.com/mr/Modules/Free-moHO/Vernon/Journal/Journal.html
but with only a branch line with a team track, dirt road crossing, and a small depot on it on it. My plans allow a 217 foot scale team track and a straight track in front of the depot approximately 400 scale feet with the start of 36 radiuses on each end so at least a baggage car and a passenger car will look ok coming into the scene pulled by a locomotive.
zoegraf and all:
As info I grew up on the MoPac about 100 miles south of St. Louis in the Missouri Ozarks (1950s and first half of 1960s).
Our town of 400 had two dead-end spurs - one with a lumber yard on it and the other (on the other side of the main) with an unloading spot for tank cars of tar, plus at the end of the track a converyor belt under the track for unloading coal from hoppers into a truck.
However both tracks were about 1300' long and they were both used as team tracks (mostly boxcars but also gons and flats), plus I've seen MOW cars parked there (including some old passenger cars and of course bunk cars), company materials parked there (like ten or more hoppers of ballast), badorder cars set out and repaired, and one or more diesel locos sitting there all night with their engine(s) running. [You know why I remember the diesel engines sitting and idling all night? As a teenage boy I had a very strong impulse to try to sneak into them and run them up and down the spur. I'm glad I never tried it, and the engineer probably hid the throttle handle anyway.]
The reason I'm saying all this is that relatively long team tracks can be visually very interesting. They function like miniature yards - unless empty they almost never look the same way twice - very flexible; they are constantly changing. On a model railroad they are an opportunity for visual interest (such as how about an excursion steam loco parked there for a few days? - why? - for routine maintenance; and/or finding and fixing a problem; or a big derailment a few miles away; or owner's shop is not ready for it; etc.)
Hope this is useful or at least interesting.
DougC
As info I grew up on the MoPac about 100 miles south of St. Louis in the Missouri Ozarks (1950s and first half of 1960s).
Our town of 400 had two dead-end spurs - one with a lumber yard on it and the other (on the other side of the main) with an unloading spot for tank cars of tar, plus at the end of the track a converyor belt under the track for unloading coal from hoppers into a truck.
However both tracks were about 1300' long and they were both used as team tracks (mostly boxcars but also gons and flats), plus I've seen MOW cars parked there (including some old passenger cars and of course bunk cars), company materials parked there (like ten or more hoppers of ballast), badorder cars set out and repaired, and one or more diesel locos sitting there all night with their engine(s) running. [You know why I remember the diesel engines sitting and idling all night? As a teenage boy I had a very strong impulse to try to sneak into them and run them up and down the spur. I'm glad I never tried it, and the engineer probably hid the throttle handle anyway.]
The reason I'm saying all this is that relatively long team tracks can be visually very interesting. They function like miniature yards - unless empty they almost never look the same way twice - very flexible; they are constantly changing. On a model railroad they are an opportunity for visual interest (such as how about an excursion steam loco parked there for a few days? - why? - for routine maintenance; and/or finding and fixing a problem; or a big derailment a few miles away; or owner's shop is not ready for it; etc.)
Hope this is useful or at least interesting.
DougC
Very informative Doug! Thank you. I didn't realize how much can go on, on a team track.
I got very luck while searching the net for branch line ideas and came across this site yesterday. It has the subdivisions of the actual province I'm going to model on my next layout. It isn't 1950's, but I'm sure I'm going to get some good ideas from the simpler ones with only sidings and team tracks for my first module.
http://www.theboykos.com/raildocs/cn/carcontrol/198310a/
Shortliner2001
Member
Zoegraf - a recent post from Model Trains Interactive forum which might be of interest to you
Western Transloading Corporation, Annacis Island, British Columbia.
http://goo.gl/maps/NUu7z
http://binged.it/SGlzRe
http://binged.it/SGlAop
It could handle almost any sort of traffic.
Cheers
David
Hope it helps
Jack
Western Transloading Corporation, Annacis Island, British Columbia.
http://goo.gl/maps/NUu7z
http://binged.it/SGlzRe
http://binged.it/SGlAop
It could handle almost any sort of traffic.
Cheers
David
Hope it helps
Jack
That's pretty cool. I'll have to use Google earth more often.
Here's two side by side team tracks. It was posted on West Coast Rail Forums by Chris Walker. One on left is BNSF (nee Santa Fe) & one on right is Los Angeles Jct Ry. You can use 2695 Fruitland Av 90058 to see it on Bing or Google aerials. It's been around since early '70s. There used to be a connection along 46th St but no more. There's been some talk of a connection again since Malabar yard is just a few blocks west on there. Will have both on my LAJ layout as really like the "shapes" as Santa Fe calls them (steel & other metals) being sent there plus the variety of coil cars, gondolas, flats etc.
Thanks! I'll take a closer look.
