I found a suitable location off of the Durango return loop. The yard consists of four tracks, and is connected to the loop by a wye. This allows trains to enter the staging yard from either direction, and allows trains to be turned on the wye. Each track can be used to simulate a different destination, such as Silverton or Chama. For example, a westbound train arriving in Durango can be sent to Silverton, which is represented by a track in the staging yard. Once the train arrives in Silverton, it is held for an appropriate period of time, and then turned and returned to Durango. Similarly, Eastbound trains to Chama are supported.
In a major departure from previous practice, I built the staging yard using flex track rather than handlaid track as on the rest of the layout. I decided that if this staging yard was to be built in time to be useful, I needed to use quicker contstruction techniques! I made use of Micro Engineering code 55 flex track, and LitCo Code 55 turnouts. I was required to handlay the two curved turnouts on the return loop, though. The turnouts are controlled by Tortoise switch machines and an NCE Switch8 decoder.
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| Rio Grande Southern No. 40, a Blackstone C-19, moves through the switch ladder of the new staging yard. |
The addition of the staging yard was reasonably quick and painless, and has added another dimension to operating the layout.
