25. Terminus station loco-release loop design.
Rather a dry subject, but I hope it will caution others from making this mistake. Before cutting a single piece of wood, having designed and refined my layout to 'perfection' over the years, the passenger station throat looked like this :
Perfect! I believed. The junction was only 'two points long', so allowing the maximum length of train either side. Trains could depart to the left, and be un-coupled by the 'Hand of God' un-seen behind a tall warehouse.
However, in February I wondered again how a locomotive would run round its train. Having had the pleasure of being aboard a '47' during such a manoeuvre one Saturday evening at Eastbourne - the 'Sussex Scot' running E.C.S. to Brighton - I looked more closely at the track layout I had proposed...
After arriving and the crew changing cabs, the loco in Platform 1 would have to propel (push) its train back onto the bi-directional running line, un-couple and reverse a little into Platform 2 (which, therefore, also has to be empty), before running along the loop and back onto its train, pushing it back into Platform 1 for departure. This also required smooth running over a 3-way point - not my favourite piece of model permanent way.
A faster-operating and more elegant solution would be to have the loop on the other side of the running line and straight ahead of the platform :
It also replaces a 3-way point. The (shorter) Platform 2 can continue to be used by multiple-units, and the loco's train does not foul the running line. The disadvantage is making the run-round loop less accessible to rarer loco-hauled trains using Platform 2 or the Milk siding, but I think this is out-weighed by the advantages.
Thankfully, I realised all this before laying a single rail. With model shops closed preventing me from buying the track, this is still a theoretical solution, but I hope it is the most economical and practical, and it appears more 'realistic'. Any comments gratefully received, and I hope this is of use to others designing stations.
Edited by C126
Typos.
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