Fiddle Yard ideas

[richardw1970]

I am starting on my first, quite small, O gauge layout and currently working on the design and am pondering the fiddle yard which also acts as the station throat.

 

My initial thoughts were for a cassette based system as I don't want to be handling the stock more than necessary but wonder if that's a bit of a pain for shunting etc when the cassettes would constantly need moving from one track to another which made me consider a sector plate but space constraints mean it would be a single track so the stock would then need handling regularly again.

 

To this end has anyone any experience/design of a sector plate that utilises cassettes on it so that you get the easy swinging between visible layout tracks and the benefit of minimal handling of the stock off scene?

 

Thanks

[Chimer]

No experience, but it should be simple enough - a couple of inches of track on the free end of the sector plate for the cassettes to line up against, with guides down the side to ensure alignment ...

 

 

 

[richardw1970]

That's the sort of thing I have in mind and pretty much matches my thinking, even has the right number of tracks😀 I like the addition of the short fixed piece, hadn't considered that.

[Keith Addenbrooke]

I think this is a really good idea from @Chimer: as @richardw1970 notes, including just a couple of inches of fixed track on the sector plate is key to making the scheme work, simplifying the alignment issues both for the cassettes and the operation of the sector plate.  An idea I’ve not seen before, but worth highlighting for wider use, Keith.

[Schooner]

As per Chimer, or a traverser with/for cassette roads - same idea but possibly even more flexible operationally, space/design depending.