Couple of newbe Questions:

[lescar]

What direction do most people run there trains, clockwise or counterclockwise.  I'm sure it's up to me, but just wondering what the norm is.

When it comes to turnouts on the mainline's, do most pull into them or back in. My layout has two mainlines running next to each other, the outside main only has the crossovers going to the inside main.  The inside has two #6 turnouts that goes to the spurs. I'm assuming that the spurs get backed into, so car can get dropped off.

Do the modern trains of today use cabooses, if so how do they drop off cars in the line without leaving the caboose.

To the one's using XtrkCAD layout program:  How accurate is the train simulator, when comes to derailments and crashes.  What I've been trying to do is test the layout forwards and backwards to see if there are any problem in these areas.  Been running two trains next to each other with long cars to see if they will hit each other.  One train will jump to the other track and connect to the other train when that train passes it.

O.K. This was more then a couple!! but had to ask. 

Thanks
Les

[ABC]

Do the modern trains of today use cabooses, if so how do they drop off cars in the line without leaving the caboose.

Not anymore, cabooses are seldom used modern day.

When it comes to turnouts on the mainline's, do most pull into them or back in

You'd have to back/push in or else you would be trapped in the siding unless it connected back to the mainline or if you had to wait for the car(s) to be (un)loaded.

What direction do most people run there trains, clockwise or counterclockwise.

Some clubs run the inside most line in one direction the the outside line in the other. I think my club does inside cw, outside cc.

[jward]

it doesn't matter which way you run the trains. as a matter of fact, older layout plans often featured reversing loops so that you could easily turn your train and run the opposite way.

as for double track, the convention in north america has been to keep to the right, same as on the highway. most lines on the real railroads, however, are signalled for bi-directional running, and the dispatcher may route any train down any track.

as for cabooses, they were phased out on mainline trains in the mid 1980s, but are still in use on local runs especially where there is a significant amount of backing involved. to-day, the caboose serves as a safe place for the conductor to stand while the train is backing. railroad rules usually require somebody to be on the leading end of a moving train, and hanging off the rear car's ladder for long distances is dangerous and not alot of fun.

when a caboose is being used, the train crew will leave it out of the way while they drop or pick up cars.

[RAM]

as has already be stated, cabooses, they were phased out in the mid 1980s.  Most cabooses today are not cabooses, but stove car with all doors and window sealed, and are only used for a platform to stand on.  A few are kept for special moves.  like over size loads.

[Jim Banner]

Do the modern trains of today use cabooses, if so how do they drop off cars in the line without leaving the caboose.

Even though cabooses are rarely used, the same problem arises when you want to drop off a car or two from the middle of the train.  First of all, they don't drop cars on the main line, only onto sidings.  How this is done depends on whether it is a facing point movement or a trailing point movement.  A trailing point movement is easy

A_____________________________B___________________________C
D________________________________/

Our train coming from A and heading toward C has one tank car in the middle of the train that has to be dropped of at D.  The engineer drops off all the cars behind the tank car just before the switch at B.  Now the tank car is the last one of the cars connected to the locomotive.  The engineer pulls his shortened train past B.  When it is clear of the switch, the brakeman throws the switch to the siding.  Now the engineer backs his shortened train down the siding to D where he drops the tank car.  Then he pulls the rest of the cars past B, and the brakeman closes the switch.  Now the engineer can back up and pick up all the cars that were originally behind the tank car and when everything is coupled up, be on his way toward C.

Later on, another train heading the other way, from C to A, also has a tank car to go to D.  He is faced with a facing point movement.  Knowing this, he has arranged his train in advance so that the tank car is right behind the locomotive.  This might have involved shuffling some cars at an earlier trailing point siding somewhere up the line.  When he gets near B, the engineer drops off all of the train behind the tank car.  Then he shuts off the brake line to the tank car.  He stations one brakeman on the tank car and another at the switch.  He then accelerates toward the switch.  When close to the switch, he momentarily backs off the throttle which takes the tension out of the couplers, allowing the brakeman on the tank car to pull the pin, uncoupling the tank car.  The engineer then accelerates like crazy to get his locomotive beyond the switch before the tank car reaches it.  After the locomotive is past the switch and while the tank car is still approaching it, the brakeman at the switch throws it for the siding.  The tank car keeps rolling down the siding under its momentum from when it was accelerated by the locomotive.  At the right time, the brakeman on the tanker applies the hand brake, stopping the car.  This procedure, called a Dutch Drop or a Flying Switch, requires precise timing on the part of all three men and can be quite dangerous, particularly if tank cars of fuel, poisons, or corrosives are involved.  Some (many?) railroads have banned the practice.  I used to see this many of the mornings that I drove to work, and would stop to watch it.  Another method of doing the same thing involves using a chain so that the locomotive on the main line can tow the car on a parallel siding.  Unfortunately, snapping chains make it about as dangerous as doing a Dutch Drop and in any event chaining only works it there are no fences, poles, or other obstacles in the way.  Breaking chains is a very real hazard - chains capable of withstanding the sudden application of thousands of horse power to the inertia of even a single car are not something that mere men are strong enough to handle and chains that men can drag around are easily broken by the forces involved.

I have often thought of setting up a box car specifically for doing a dutch drop on my layout.  Installing a flywheel to generate enough momentum has never seemed like much of a problem but braking the the car has, until this very minute, when it occurs to me that using DCC and a decoder to operate a mechanical brake against the flywheel would be a relatively straight forward solution.

Jim

[pipefitter]

Jim, do your cars have polling pockets? When I was a kid I used to wonder about these "dimples" that were located on the corners at the bottom of freight cars. My grandfather told me what they were for. A loco on one track could push a car on an adjacent track by putting one end of a specially designed pole into the "dimple" or pocket on the loco and the other end of the pole into the pocket of the car to be pushed. Apparently this was rather dangerous as, like the chains you wrote about, the pole under great stress could break violently and hit the trainman using it.

http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showphoto.php?photo=58067&nojs=1

[jonathan]

You know I didn't plan it on purpose, but my outer loop goes counter-c, and my inner loop goes clockwise (most the time).  Huh...  wonder if it's a subliminal thing.

J

[Heave]

Take a piece of paper. Draw a circle on it.

Make that circle a track circle with each rail visible.

Then put a dot in the center of that circle.

That is your north pole.

Your outside rail becomes South rail and your inside rail becomes north pole. Clockwise = east bound and Counter = Westbound.

I usually go one step further and assign a color to each rail electrically to keep everything in phase in DCC.

[Jim Banner]

pipefitter,
I understand poling was another effective way of reducing the railroad workforce.  Apparently breaking poles was even more common that breaking chains.  But it was a particularly effective method when picking up a car from a parallel siding on a facing point move because it is easier than the alternative - a flying switch.  But it required some careful work on the car brake.  Too little braking and the car could run away, dropping the pole and possibly derailing the locomotive.  Too much braking and the pole could snap, scattering pieces at high speed in a multitude of directions.

I hadn't thought of it before, but adding a remote control brake to a box car would also allow a person to simulate poling by providing enough tension to keep the car from running away while being pushed.  I am slowly working on an 0n30 layout (resources based, started in 1880, as seen in 1900) and poling, chaining and flying switches would fit right in.  Another project to add to the list that should last well into the next century.

Jim. 

[ebtnut]

I might point out that a "flying switch" (sometimes referred to as a "Dutch drop") has been against the rules since at least the late steam days.  They are also very difficult to do on a model RR.  With any layout design that involves switching cars, you really need a run-around somewhere so that you can put cars where they need to be in the train.  A run-around is really just a short passing siding:

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