August Yard - an N scale shelf layout
Approximately 120cm x 20cm..a 'micro' layout.
In my
quest to try out all kinds of scales and gauges, I decided to give N a go, and
having read about the superior running qualities of American stuff over ours, I
sold my 009 bits on ebay, and scouted for some stock to get me going. Meanwhile,
sketches and doodles were made until I eventually settled on one. (The plan is
not to scale.) 
Construction and detailing is abot finished, just details really now..I have found the running very smooth and the operation quite rewarding.. lots of scope for switching here, with four or five spots and a run-around holding one car. Point control is by stiff rods and coupling is intended to be microtrains automatic with under-track magnets on both headshunts. An occasional run by the doodlebug to the passenger platform helps to complicate things.
The ‘fiddle’ track represents the connection to the larger main freight yard in the town.
August Yard has five spots to place cars;
1. August Yard Freight House
2. August Yard Freight House
3. Bach & Co. Shipping
4. Wright Move Logistics
5. Far Side Imports
The operator has a card for each car in the pool. These will be used on a diagram of the layout, known as the SPOT plan.
At start of session, assign one car from the pool randomly to a spot and place it. Place its card on the SPOT plan.
Train In
Trains of three cars pulled by the loco arrive from the main yard to be switched to locations at August. Each is assigned a spot randomly with no duplication. The cards for each car are placed at their destinations on the SPOT plan.
The car already spotted is to be removed to the main yard on the next train out. The card for this car is now placed on the ‘IN/OUT track on the SPOT plan.
The operator now switches the cars to their locations, moving the outgoing car to the in/out spur.
Train Out
Once the cars are spotted, the operator takes a break for crews to deal with their loads. The three cards for the cars just placed are now shuffled and two placed on the IN/OUT track on the plan. A destination for the third car is randomly chosen and the card placed on the plan. On the SPOT plan there should now be an outgoing train of three cards and one car to spot.
The operator now makes up the outgoing train in the right order and re-spots the remaining car. Then the train exits to the main yard (fiddle). The loco can push the cars to fiddle. (i.e. it does not need to be pulling at the head of the train.)
Now make up a new train of three cars and start again.
