TIMESAVER
TRACKPLAN & LAYOUT SIZE
The original "Timesaver" track layout as conceived by John Allen requires 5 switches (the original layout used "Y" switches) to build up a layout with 5 sidings and a runround track, providing access to 5 destinations (e.g. industries) receiving and sending goods by rail.
Most importantly, each section of the track plan has a specific length which is measured in terms of the number of rolling stock it can hold. This includes both the freight cars and the locomotive used, meaning that a siding with a capacity of 2 should be able to hold either two freight cars or one freight car plus locomotive. The original Timesaver was conceived for five 40ft freight cars and 1 switcher.
Restricting the length of the tracks is a key element of the switching game, because it limits the number of freight cars you can temporarily leave on a siding while getting another car to its actual destination. In order to end up with a working Timesaver layout, the lenghts of the individual sidings as given above should not be changed.
With the track layout and storage capacities indicated above, it is easy to determine the length of a Timesaver layout in any modelling scale - you just measure the longest item to be used on the layout and multiply this with the storage capacity index of the individual sidings (e.g. if you use 50ft boxcars instead of 40ft boxcars, the tracks need to be lengthened accordingly). Special care should be taken with the runround track, making sure that the clearances work on all sides. Before starting to build a Timesaver layout, you will obviously need to know the projected size of the layout.
By defining the lengths of the sidings in terms of the exact number of rolling stock they can hold, the scheme can therefore easily be adapted for any scale and, in fact, any prototype.
A short British Cl 08 switcher and an even shorter wheelbase freight car (VEA) cut down considerably on the required length of the sidings of a Timesaver.
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Page created:18/OCT/2002
Last revised: 21/MAR/2006
