UK Track question

In the UK, in a marshalling yard with sidings, a turntable and a roundhouse, would I use rail-only track, or sleepers only (no ballast)?
 
I would suggest normal ballasted track. Rails only would be appropriate for inset track in a goods yard where vehicle access is needed, but this would not apply in a marshalling yard (such as Whitemoor).

Ray
 
For inset tracks, I took some YARN roads such as the 4-lane highway, reskinned the asset with Ray's cobblestone texture, and removed the traffic. I can then lay any track even with ties and ballast and it will set in with just the railtops sticking out of the cobblestones because the road is thick enough and doesn't float above the terrain.

It takes a bit of fiddling to get the road lined up where you want it, but the effect is quite good. You may need to lower the track a tiny bit consistently to get the right height you want as well, however, it is a lot easier then hunting down rail-only track which rides up high anyway.

John
 
John - thanks for this. I had forgotten that I had produced a cobblestone texture!

I should perhaps have added to my original reply that I was assuming the use of shunting locos in the marshalling yard. Photos suggest that shunting horses used to cope with ballasted track, but for shunting tractors inset track would be needed. Incidentally, is there a shunting tractor in Trains? I've been thinking about how one could be simulated successfully.

Ray
 
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John - thanks for this. I had forgotten that I had produced a cobblestone texture!

I should perhaps have added to my original reply that I was assuming the use of shunting locos in the marshalling yard. Photos suggest that shunting horses used to cope with ballasted track, but for shunting tractors inset track would be needed. Incidentally, is there a shunting tractor in Trains? I've been thinking about how one could be simulated successfully.

Ray

I'm not quite sure what you mean, Ray by a shunting tractor. Over here we have Track Mobiles as they are called. Are they the same thing?

http://trackmobile.com/

They are used in and around industrial estates, grain elevators, and other places where an engine is too costly or infrequent.

John
 
John - we're probably talking about much the same thing! Over here, a shunting tractor is similar to a farm tractor but with a large metal plate fastened to the front and/or rear to push wagons around without coupling to them. Some may also have been purpose built. They do not run on track but are completely mobile, like a road vehicle, hence need a road surface with inset tracks. In Trainz, I think they could be simulated by having wagons on inset track with the tractors running on that track when pushing, but with invisible track and turnouts to enable them to move from one visible track to another. This is just an idea at present - I haven't tried anything (yet).

However, I think you may be talking about IC vehicles running on conventional railway wheels as I have seen photos of these in magazines. Over here, this was tried at one time by the LMS with road/rail buses which could run on either rail or road; in the latter case the rail wheels were raised. They were not considered a success. However, we now have at least one bus service running on a guided way near Cambridge, with part of the route (I believe) on conventional roads.

I've searched for a photo of a British shunting tractor but haven't found one - yet.

Ray
 
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