Two more ways to wye

A “wye” describes an area where three turnouts are arranged to form a triangle, thus allowing cars, locomotives, or even complete trains to reverse direction. They’re commonly found where a branch leaves the main line or where two railroads cross at grade. Many interchange tracks are constructed as parts of wyes.

My article “10 ways to wye” in Model Railroad Planning 2013 described 10 arrangements of wyes found on the prototype, and suggestions of how to model them. Here are two more “ways to wye” that didn’t fit in that special issue.

11: Two wyes, dogbone to staging

In most of the other two-wye cases covered in my MRP article, the portion adjoining the wyes (designated on the accompanying diagram as C) has been downplayed or simply left unmodeled. But what if this area needs to be the focus? The Virginian Ry.’s Elmore Yard in West Virginia sat between two wyes (fig. 11). At the south (railroad east) end of the yard, a wye divided the Guyandot line to Gilbert, W.Va. (A), from the main line to Princeton, W.Va. (B). On the north (railroad west) end of the yard, a wye divided the main line to Deepwater, W.Va. (D), from the coal branches around Pemberton (E).

Making things even more interesting, the yard’s large enginehouse and servicing tracks were all contained within the northern wye at Mullens, W.Va. In this prototype setup, the yard is the most prominent feature that needs to be modeled, so using a third-leg-staging wye on each end makes the space between the wyes the focus. If you need more operation on the third leg of each wye, you can continue that leg on a second deck.

12: Two wyes, all legs modeled

The final track plan idea is included to show just how crazy all this can get. If you’ve got just the right prototype, it’s possible to have every leg of a two-wye setup modeled and operating.

The two-wye town of St. Paul, Va., is a perfect subject for such a layout. The Norfolk & Western (Norfolk Southern) and Clinchfield (CSX) cross each other in the small town of St. Paul. But rather than the traditional bridges or diamonds, the two railroads actually merge together through the town and split via wyes at either end (see fig. 12). Both the Norfolk & Western and Clinchfield have small yards adjacent to the eastern wye (D and E) where a lot of interchange occurs. The western wye is adjacent to a large viaduct on the N&W that is very tempting to model (A), and the CRR has a small yard less than a mile away at Castle, Va., where they interchanged with L&N trains using trackage rights over the N&W. There was a lot going on in this town, especially during the coal boom of the 1970s.

One advantage we have in modeling this area is the N&W and CRR stayed in close proximity to one another for a couple of miles on the western end, so the third-leg-in-the-background approach is somewhat prototypical. On the eastern side, the dual yards dictate more of a peninsula-off-the-front layout so both yards can be operated. Obviously, if you cared about only one of the two railroads, you could simplify this arrangement, but we’re going for the gusto with this plan!

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