Small goods yards

[hornbyandbf3fan]

What would small goods yards typically consist of for loading and unloading purposes. I was thinking (for my layout) of 3 or 4 sidings with steam/early diesel stock. Would I need a yard crane, goods shed, loading/unloading platform, coal staithes etc.? Also, what facilities for engines would there be at a 1 siding engine shed for steam; water tower, coal staithes?

 

Thanks

[Mallard60022]

Seek out the nice pics on Platform 1 at 36E for some inspiration! Next go to your P.C. on return from that foreign place you are visiting (please don't forget the Pasty) and do some searching; there is so much stuff available. I've got some books too if they may be of use?

P @ 36E

[hornbyandbf3fan]

Seek out the nice pics on Platform 1 at 36E for some inspiration! Next go to your P.C. on return from that foreign place you are visiting (please don't forget the Pasty) and do some searching; there is so much stuff available. I've got some books too if they may be of use?

P @ 36E

Thanks and I'll have a search on google, it's just that you have to do a lot of trawling

[Mallard60022]

Try this one

myweb.tiscali.co.uk/gansg/8-yards/y-gooda.htm

 

P

[90171]

The exact facilities would depend on whether it is a country station or maybe a small yard in a larger town/industrial area.

 

Very few yards were without some kind of storage building or goods shed for valuable items or things which could be damaged by rain. There were some mighty goods shed structures, but also some quite modest ones. It would be impossible to run a yard without a crane, for obvious reasons.

 

Most buildings were heated by coal fires, and most industries also burnt coal in their processes. Hence even very small places were likely to have coal drops if the topography allowed....... Grosmont on the N Y Moors Rly is an example of a tiny station with a few drops.

 

1 or 2 sidings would be widely spaced with a hard surface such as cobbles between them. Here goods not affected  by weather (building materials for example) could be taken off wagons and left to be collected.

 

There would very often be a small weigh office and a weigh plate in the ground, at the yard gates. 

[David C]

What facilities were provided depends on the traffic (or expected traffic) that the station handled ... Is your layout a model of a main line urban station serving an industrial town or is it serving a mainly rural area?

 

If the former, then you will need the facilities for dealing with almost every kind of traffic. Goods sheds could be large and even have several stories. Sometimes these would be "multi purpose" - "Goods & Grain Warehouse" or "Goods & Woollen Warehouse" (if the latter was in Yorkshire, for example). Coal would be a major traffic (up to the 1960s, almost all households were heated using the stuff, almost all gas and electricity was generated by coal) and would generally be handled as far away from other goods as possible. Depending on the prototype, the facilities provided  could be by coal drops (North Eastern, Lancs & Yorks etc) or staithes (almost everywhere except for the GWR) or just plain flat areas (most GWR stations!). Other goods would be loaded or unloaded in the open - a lot of depots had large areas which could be cobbled or paved or just plain dirt where this happened.

 

Rural stations would have smaller goods sheds, usually a yard crane, a coal handling area, a cattle dock, but also possible animal food stores (often old coaches on timber or brick piers, but in the 1950s, pre fabricated concrete sheds like the Ratio kit) and even fuel depots, plus sometimes, lineside industries such as dairies, maltings and the like. 

 

All the above is very generalised - most stations were different - there are lots of books, DVDs, etc which will give you heaps of inspiration. 

 

Hope this helps.

 

David C

[hornbyandbf3fan]

Thanks to all of you, I've got a lot of information form you. I'll probably going to have a go at scratchbuilding some buildings such as platforms, stores, goods shed etc. I'm going to go with a platform for general unloading and cattle docks, goods shed siding and a coal siding. Progress will be posted on my layout topic here. Thanks again!

[hornbyandbf3fan]

Would it be neccesary to have a covered unloading area if I have a covered storage area?

[Rivercider]

Some good advice already on this thread.

 

A typical small goods yard, with small engine shed would vary depending its geographic location.

If there is an area or branch line you like or are familiar with why not try to get hold of one of the 

Middleton Press books 'Branch line to XXXXX'. (Your local library may well have a copy or two of your local lines).

You may find there is a yard that fits your requirement, and you could model a version of that.

But you need not copy one yard, you could pick the best bits you like from several yards and design your own.

That way your layout would have a local identity.

 

Good luck

[hornbyandbf3fan]

It'm going to mess about with the track when I get the boards. I'm hoping to make it half puzzle and half realistic. Does anybody know if a covered unloading area such as a goods shed was mandatory?

[The Stationmaster]

It'm going to mess about with the track when I get the boards. I'm hoping to make it half puzzle and half realistic. Does anybody know if a covered unloading area such as a goods shed was mandatory?

No it wasn't mandatory - some stations never had covered unloading facilities, basically because they didn't handle very much in the way of what was known as 'smalls' (that meant consignments under 1 ton) although they would quite likely have a lock up building but some were, again, quite small.

 

The main idea of the goods shed was to deal with smalls traffic which required possibly storage or was going to be warehoused or was being made up into rounds for road delivery.  Generally full wagon load traffic was not handled in the goods shed but was dealt with on what was known as a Mileage Siding (so called because the traffic was charged at a rate per mile) however 'vulnerable' traffic would usually be dealt with in the shed (vulnerable in this case was from a security/pilferage viewpoint).  At some smaller depots where the shed was quiet full loads might possibly occasionally have been handled in the shed and that was also the case at the very large depots with a lot of covered siding accommodation - medium size depots almost inevitably didn't have enough shed space to handle full loads unless they were for warehousing.

 

Hope that helps a bit.

[QuoitsPlayer]

I don't know if this is of any help from the North Eastern region's Whitby - Middlesbrough line:

 

Glaisdale had coal drops with a tiny weigh office in station yard then three sidings across the tracks on the opposite side of the station one of which was used by camping coaches in summer and the other two were for goods wagons but there was no goods shed at all. Similarly Egton just had coal drops and possibly a very short solitary siding, I have had conflicting view points in the siding idea from two ex railmen, while further up the line Lealholm had a proper stone goods shed, now a car repair garage, and coal drops that were dug out  and road vehicles drove down into a pit below rail level to collect the coal while Danby further up the line again,which has only ever had one platform, had a passing loop for Goods trains and a long single siding with prefabricated buildings similar to the Ratio kit running alongside.

 

Pickering on the Whitby-Malton line was laid out in the following order if travelling from Malton towards Whitby:

 

Single road brick engine shed - level crossing - stone goods shed three possibly four sidings -  brick signal box & level crossing - twin platform stone built station. I have plans of Pickering in the loft but my back won't let me get up there at the moment! However Pickering in the 1960's would make a very interesting model.

 

Hope this helps.  

[hornbyandbf3fan]

Thanks, its good to know I don't need a goods shed.

[Swifty11]

Hey Will,

You've had loads of replies! Wow...

Looking forward to seeing the progress, now a follower

[hornbyandbf3fan]

Hey Will,

You've had loads of replies! Wow...

Looking forward to seeing the progress, now a follower

It's not this topic clicky

[Swifty11]

It's not this topic clicky

Oh.... Rofl

 

It's all my iPads fault

[hornbyandbf3fan]

Oh.... Rofl

 

It's all my iPads fault

Yeh yeh Tom...

[Swifty11]

Yeh yeh Tom...

Stupid apple.... Definently there fault

[hornbyandbf3fan]

What kind of fencing would have been used to go round a countryside goods yard

[The Stationmaster]

What kind of fencing would have been used to go round a countryside goods yard

Usually standard lineside fencing although the public entrance/adjacent road would probably be proper timber fencing of the Company's standard for station platforms etc.  Styles varied from Company to Company.  My local goods yard had a mixture with 'good' fencing where the road lead into it and lineside, post & wire, fencing along most of its boundary, the next yard up the branch had standard, platform edge style fencing while the next one beyond that had nothing except normal boundary fencing at the railway's boundary.

[hornbyandbf3fan]

Usually standard lineside fencing although the public entrance/adjacent road would probably be proper timber fencing of the Company's standard for station platforms etc.  Styles varied from Company to Company.  My local goods yard had a mixture with 'good' fencing where the road lead into it and lineside, post & wire, fencing along most of its boundary, the next yard up the branch had standard, platform edge style fencing while the next one beyond that had nothing except normal boundary fencing at the railway's boundary.

Thanks, if you have a look at my layout thread, you can tell me if I'm doing it wrong when I get round to doing it