steve Wrote:Is it just me or is the stone terminal on the 1999 layout too short for a 400 metre freight train to fit in and get the loco to run round to the back.
If the loco draws the majority of the train onto the headshunt then a second loco waiting on the loco spur could attach to the rear and haul it out again. But even then it looks like the last couple of wagons wouldn't reach the bunker to load/unload. And is that a reasonable statement to make about the method of operation in the exam, ie having a loco sitting around not doing a great deal?
Steve.
Yes I think that it is deliberately been made far too short. Note that the Goods Loop is however long enough to contain a whole train, as are (just) the sidings alongside the station which have no defined useage. Sometimes on a layout there is just a simple siding that is not referred to by the description (in which case just provide a route in and out), but anything more substantial is likely to have a specific purpose. If there is nothing explicit, think about implicit.
Hence put together the following clues:
1. Somewhere to temporarily store an entire train, just prior to it arriving at the station prior to the stone terminal.
2. A run around loop within the stone terminal that is sufficient to run around half a train
3. Spare sidings into which two half trains can be put together again to form a full length train for its return journey.
Also as you realise it is essential to get every wagon of the train to get into position under the hopper. Unless you are going to engage in much shunting (in which case it would be a yard rather than run round loop) it requires almost the whole train being loaded to pass beyond the hopper into the long headshunt so that the last wagon can get into the desired position. Hence it is not just the distance between the clearance points of the runaround loop which acts as the limit of the train which can be handled, but also the length of the headshunt.
Your suggestion of the other loco is not likely to be looked on favourably for the reasons you state- hardly economical, still doesn't allow the handling of the entire 400m train; also whereas a single loco in a facility at any one time only need minimal signalling, where there is a locomotive there before the arrival of the train and then two independent units there is a greater need for "signalling" of some sort- though not necessarily track circuits, power points and signals.
The thing in the exam is to state your assumptions and justify your decisions. You'd get credit for recognising that the loop was too short to directly address the operational requirement and the headshunt too short to permit the entire train to be unloaded, even if you couldn't come up with a means to solve it.
I agree it can be difficult to learn about railway operations- there is no book I can recommend; I did try to put the most important elements in the Mod 2 Study Pack (has anyone registered for he Mod 2 exam this year actually received a copy yet?).
Obviously do try to take any opportunity that exists whether it be visiting a signalbox or taking an intelligent look from station platform or passing train. Being a "railway enthusiast" helps- reading books, magasine articles, visiting heritage lines. You actually missed a good public open day at Merehead quarry in Wiltshire this weekend; it was a wonderful opportunity to appreciate a significant site with very little in the way of fiixed signalling. OK it wasn't in normal operation (the public swarming everywhere, three steam tank engines running up and down their individual sidings offering brakevan and footplate trips, whilst three other mainline steam locos took it in turns to pull some of the aggregate hoppers along an arrival road as well as the local diesel fleet being "on shed" / "in works", visiting diesel locomotives parked) but it was pretty easy to envisage how it must work on a normal day.