Container yard - a design

[disturbman]

Well. It's now two weeks I'm (really) giving thoughts about this. I've try several options and draw different design but none of them seems quite right to me. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, maybe I'm looking for the impossible but I thought that some of you could help me in my task.

I'm trying to design a small and compact container yard. Something to house 5 or 6 cars long modern container trains. The yard should have two to three tracks and connected to a mainline. At best, I'd like to build a module out of this, something with some operational fun packed in.

If you have any idea, feel free to post sketches, advices and/or plans. I really am at loss here. :)

[CaptOblivious]

What about this? Very simple. Out tracks are for loading/unloading, middle for storage of emtpies (you see a lot of these storage tracks at, e.g. Sumidagawa depot). No auxilliary tracks at all, shunting will interfere with mainline operation, but hey, it's small right? Doubles as an inglenook for fun!

[bill937ca]

My train layout only has a container siding like many JR locations.  At this point I have only laid the track, so no photos yet.

It might look something like this from the street.

http://www25.big.or.jp/~t_fukuda/JR_train/005_H200117_kagoshimata.htm

Some unrelated freight train photos.

http://www25.big.or.jp/~t_fukuda/JR_train/JR_train.htm

Research tip.  Translate JR freight container station into Japanese, then copy and paste the Japanese translation into Google and search Google images. Wow 

http://www.google.com/images?q=JR%E8%B2%A8%E7%89%A9%E3%82%B3%E3%83%B3%E3%83%86%E3%83%8A%E9%A7%85&um=1&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbs=isch:1&ei=GeAcTJmDE5XiNcTz9LQF&sa=N&start=0&ndsp=20

[bill937ca]

A couple more.

Very compact along side the Shinkansen viaduct.

http://blog-imgs-36-origin.fc2.com/g/e/k/gekiv/DPP_4414-s.jpg

http://gekiv.blog115.fc2.com/blog-date-200912.html

This web site has many stations on it.  I have researched tram stations on the Hankai Tramway and in Hiroshima on this site. This may give you some ideas.

http://ku-gyou.net/JR-F/higashifukuyama.html

This is the local freight station my siding is based on.  I was thinking of this and couldn't remember where i book marked it.  Very good photos.    

http://www5e.biglobe.ne.jp/~tec300/5PhotoLocal/freight.htm

For someone with grand plans (and lots of money!!).   

http://d.hatena.ne.jp/iwase_akihiko/20090804/1249394988

http://img.f.hatena.ne.jp/images/fotolife/i/iwase_akihiko/20090729/20090729091324.jpg?1248826535

[disturbman]

@Don: very minimalistic design. I don't think we can do simpler than that... except if one choose to design a simple siding.

@bill: interesting stuff, I'm well impressed by the prototype you choosed for your own container yard. Do you have any sketch/plan/picture of what you've done with the trackplan?

I think the problem I have with this is that, for the moment, every really takes a lot of space because you need more or less a module for the freight yard and another one for the shunting operations. Maybe I should think to pack this with a station and have a doubled theme module...

[bill937ca]

@bill: interesting stuff, I'm well impressed by the prototype you choosed for your own container yard. Do you have any sketch/plan/picture of what you've done with the trackplan?

Sure. Here's my plan. The layout is 30" x 120" (762mm x 3048mm).  The container siding is near the top above the yard.  Its 980mm long.

I think having a container train stopped in a siding like this is as natural as having a passenger train stopped in a station. The plan is to pave up to the track and have some trucks on hand to haul containers and some containers stacked in the background.

[CaptOblivious]

My design could be given a lead economically with only the insertion of a single turnout between the mainline turnout and the three-way turnout. The lead could then also be given a lead for the mainline loco to wait for a new consist to be made up. None of this would take up much space, but any yard design with a lead is going to take up several of you modules, sadly. I do not think it can be done any more compactly than I drew it in my first post above and still meet the stated requirements.

[cteno4]

Some of the container yards dont have raised docks, but the tracks are embedded in cement so the fork lifts can cross tracks. usually there is a container storage area then a transfer station where its either just a roof or a whole warehouse where containers are broken out into other containers for transfer or goods transfered to trucks. Matthew did a quick and dirty one of one that he use to see while in Iwate that was just two of the single sided kato platforms back to back. could do the same with a few center platforms next to each other or pretty easy scratch build.

you need room on your dock area for the fork lift to back the container off the car then move to the storage area.

one interesting storage area i saw a picture of was under a viaduct shinkansen track just behind the container yard!

cheers

jeff

[bill937ca]

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/fWCqPfpEMZs" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/fWCqPfpEMZs</a>

[disturbman]

None of this would take up much space, but any yard design with a lead is going to take up several of you modules, sadly. I do not think it can be done any more compactly than I drew it in my first post above and still meet the stated requirements.

That might be the reason why I was not satisfy with my earlier design. I need to give more thoughts to the subject.