RMweb Gold martin_wynne Posted May 13, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 13, 2014 Considering the typical terminus to fiddle yard end-to-end home layout. For a right-handed operator, is it more convenient to have the terminus on the left or the right (viewed from the operating position)? Instinctively terminus on the left, fiddle yard on the right, feels more natural, and seems to correspond with most of the layouts I know. But I can't put my finger on an actual reason one way or the other. Is there one? For a double-track (UK) layout arrivals or departures would be on the nearer track. And the preference for trailing crossovers may make more or less length available for yards and sidings on the operator's side. But most such layouts are single-track and effectively reversible. Puzzled, Martin. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenton Posted May 13, 2014 Share Posted May 13, 2014 Instinctively terminus on the left, fiddle yard on the right I can't think why but this does not feel instinctive to me - yet as you mention, it does seem the way it is done as if by default. But there are plenty of layouts out there with a through scene and a FY at each end so presumably there is no reason why it should default to one side or the other. To me, when making up a train, I would proceed from left to right and with the last item of stock added being the loco before sending it out - so in theory my FY is to my left - perhaps I am left-handed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Colin_McLeod Posted May 13, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 13, 2014 My terminus is on the right. Why? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Ray H Posted May 13, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 13, 2014 Surely it has a lot to do with the overall track plan? Isn't it about trying to avoid routinely leaning over the greater part of the layout to uncouple stock furthest away? Persons with auto couplers won't have this problem. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold martin_wynne Posted May 13, 2014 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted May 13, 2014 Surely it has a lot to do with the overall track plan? Isn't it about trying to avoid routinely leaning over the greater part of the layout to uncouple stock furthest away? Yes, if you are modelling an actual location. Usually one side or the other is clearly more convenient for operating. But I was thinking of a fictional layout where you can design the track plan to suit the space. Do you start off with the buffer stops on the left or the right? Martin. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talltim Posted May 13, 2014 Share Posted May 13, 2014 I'm sure there was a thread about this a while ago. For myself, I designed a layout with the terminus to the left, then realised that the layout design/scenery would work much better with it to the right (rotated 180 degrees rather than mirrored) but it took a lot of mental processing to get my head round it, so I obviously found it easier to think of one way round than the other. A related query, when drawing a layout, do you put the viewing side at the top or bottom? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted May 13, 2014 Share Posted May 13, 2014 Or even, if there is a choice to be made, which side are you going to make the viewing side? I had to decide on viewing from the East side so that down trains were going left to right heading North; because for reasons I cannot divine, I repeatedly got confused with where the trains were going when trying to draw it from a West side view. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted May 13, 2014 Share Posted May 13, 2014 I'm sure there was a thread about this a while ago. For myself, I designed a layout with the terminus to the left, then realised that the layout design/scenery would work much better with it to the right (rotated 180 degrees rather than mirrored) but it took a lot of mental processing to get my head round it, so I obviously found it easier to think of one way round than the other. A related query, when drawing a layout, do you put the viewing side at the top or bottom? Normally at the bottom. On my current build there is a fiddle/sector plate on both sides and my designs have it where it is best suited, too Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PaulCheffus Posted May 13, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 13, 2014 Hi Mine has the fiddle yard on the left and the scenic part on the right. Cheers Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Chimer Posted May 13, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 13, 2014 I would operate from the front, and I think I would automatically start planning with the station on the left. But I've no idea why! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cromptonnut Posted May 13, 2014 Share Posted May 13, 2014 I'm left handed and would do it the other way round. Perhaps that could be something to do with it if you're all right handed? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium t-b-g Posted May 13, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 13, 2014 I have both! In fact, I have a good mix with some LH and some RH, plus one operated from the front. I am not sure that there is a "best" way but I like to ring the changes and to do what seems to suit the track layout best. For example, I will normally arrange for a goods yard to be nearer the operator but something like a loco shed can be at the back. Tony Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Clive Mortimore Posted May 13, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 13, 2014 I have never considered it but I now realise that all my layouts have had right sided fiddle yards...I am right handed. Always wondered why I found certain layouts more difficult to operate, fiddle yard on the left. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Kris Posted May 13, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 13, 2014 Possibly down to the easiest way to turn. If you are right handed and the controller is between the fiddle yard and the terminus it is easy to turn your body to the left and keep the controller in reach. Do it the other way round and you instinctively have to cross your hand over your body to operate. (Obviously this is the opposite for left handed people). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sykes Posted May 13, 2014 Share Posted May 13, 2014 If you're inserting a railway into a real location, then the topography of the place may be relevant. For example, I'm toying with ideas for a little layout based on the proposal for a light railway from Greenodd to Lakebank on the east side of Coniston Water. In this case the natural viewpoint would be from the lake with rising ground behind. The line from Greenodd would come in from the south so the station would be at the left and fiddle yard at the right. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium mezzoman253 Posted May 13, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 13, 2014 I've the terminus/yard on the right and fiddle yard on the left. I write, play guitar and bowl left-handed, bat and kick with my right and can use some tools e.g. screwdriver, in either hand. Having said all that the fiddle yard is on the left because the layout isn't the same size at both ends, there's more room and scope at the larger right end. I don't suppose that helped any. Rob Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cromptonnut Posted May 13, 2014 Share Posted May 13, 2014 I write, play guitar and bowl left-handed, bat and kick with my right and can use some tools e.g. screwdriver, in either hand. I don't seem to be able to use things like an airbrush in either hand... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium mezzoman253 Posted May 13, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 13, 2014 I don't seem to be able to use things like an airbrush in either hand... Strangely I use mine in the right hand, although I write left-handed. My results are similar to yours. Rob Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Campaman Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 I am totally right handed. Current layout has fiddle to the left scenic to the right, but the new one I am planning will be the other way round, the only reasoning I can put on this is that the track plan and curves work better that way round for applying the scenic treatment so that I can view them from my operating position. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
maunsel Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 I'm left handed and would do it the other way round. Perhaps that could be something to do with it if you're all right handed? Oops! So am I, but I plan the fiddle yard on the right! Eric Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium southern42 Posted May 16, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 16, 2014 Has anyone thought that it might be more to do with the way we read - from left to right. So, is it more natural for us to watch/operate a train departing from a terminus on the left to a fiddleyard on the right or even vice versa? Or maybe it's to do with how we view railways on a map where north is often at the top of the page thus influencing the way we 'see' / model / operate it. Looking at 81C Southall on the map, for instance, locos enter the shed from the left. But, on the other hand, if you're more used to seeing the shed from a train on the mainline or from the station platform, locos enter the shed from the right. So, it might be more natural to operate/model it that way. So, it could be a visual thing as much as it is a right/left handed thing or a combination of both or something else completely - I'm no expert. There are so many things to take into consideration, I guess there is no one answer. All the best. Polly Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Radford Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 I am currently building a U shaped layout in the garage. Because of the door one side is 2 feet shorter - so this became the fiddle yard. Trains leave the scenic area to the right of the operator - so I presume I have a right handed fiddle yard, or would have, but it is behind me! Bill Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatB Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 Maybe the convention has nothing to do with physiology but everything to do with CJ Freezer (who, I seem to recall, was a southpaw) drawing the vast majority of his BLT plans with a RH fiddle yard . Seriously, though, he did, and I suspect that his influence on British layout planning thought runs deeply in the subconcious of most UK modellers who've become active since the 1950s whether they realise it or not. It is interesting to note, though, that one of the exceptions was Tregunna, one of the few which Mr Freezer actually built. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAF96 Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 I am left handed, but right eye dominant so for one handed games I'm 'brain crossed' and have poor coordination (squash, darts, mousing, etc) but for 2 handed games (cricket, snooker, archery) I'm OK as long as I play right handed. For layout control I find sticking to convention (i.e. trains arrive from the right) will usually sort out which way round a layout has to be - however just after I have finished scheming the plan I then realise that the wrong side of the brain was in control of planning and I need to flip the whole thing over. I should have learned as this has happened 3 times in a row now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Colin_McLeod Posted June 13, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 13, 2014 For layout control I find sticking to convention (i.e. trains arrive from the right) I was unaware that there was a convention. What if one models a through station? What if one stands on the other side of the layout? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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