Fiddle yard

A Fiddle yard or Staging yard is a collection of model railway tracks that are invisible to a viewer and allow trains to be stored and manipulatedCite book | author=Schleicher, Robert H. | authorlink= | coauthors= | title=The Big Book of Model Railroad Track Plans | date= | publisher=Motorbooks International | location= | isbn=978-0-7603-1423-4 | pages=53] . These tracks are required to allow most model railways to be operated in a realistic manner. Whilst it is possible to have a realistic shunting yard in view, its operation is generally unreliable with models. Fiddle yards were first built by British modellers so that they could build small layouts and operate them in a realistic manner. [Cite book | author=Koester, Tony | authorlink= | coauthors= | title=Realistic Model Railroad Operation: How to Run Your Trains Like the Real Thing | date= | publisher=Kalmbach Publishing Company | location= | isbn=978-0-89024-418-0 | pages=37]

Trains can be rearranged by lifting them off the track and replacing them.

Designs

There are many variants of fiddle yards, which being hidden from view may involve swinging tracks to minimise the use of crossings or may be a series of reverse loops to facilitate turning entire trains around without manual intervention. Other variants of the fiddle yards may be designed for 'end to end' running layouts.

References