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Offline Lars Westerlind  
#1 Posted : 19 June 2008 22:08:59(UTC)
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Lars Westerlind


Joined: 19/10/2001(UTC)
Posts: 2,379
Location: Lindome, Sweden
In a swedish speaking forum there is some argueing about - what does "fiddle yard" mean? Is the term used in the 1:1 world - what does the term come from - and such.

Any light on this?

/Lars
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Offline Ladislas  
#2 Posted : 19 June 2008 23:31:57(UTC)
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Ladislas


Joined: 09/08/2007(UTC)
Posts: 67
Location: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Wikipedia gives a very good description (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiddle_Yard):

Quote:
[size=1" face="Verdana" id="quote]quote: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 manipulated. 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.

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

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.


I don't think there is any prototype counterpart - by definition, a fiddle yard is not intended to represent a "real-life" installation. It is simply a convenient "backstage" where trains can be set up and prepared for operation on the rest of the layout.

As for the origin of the term, while "fiddle" is of course a colloquial English name for the violin, one meaning of the verb "to fiddle" is to make aimless or frivolous movements or to play with something, which is a more or less irreverent description of the activity carried out on a fiddle yard.
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Offline RayF  
#3 Posted : 19 June 2008 23:37:18(UTC)
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RayF

Gibraltar   
Joined: 14/03/2005(UTC)
Posts: 15,871
Location: Gibraltar, Europe
A fiddle yard is another name (commonly used in UK) for what we call on this forum a "shadow station" - usually a set of hidden sidings.

Traditionally, British exhibition layouts are a model of a station or goods area, and the operation is point to point. If the station is a terminus, the operation is fiddle yard to station, and if it is a through station, then it's fiddle yard to station to fiddle yard.

The term fiddle comes from having to man-handle the stock in the hidden sidings to rearange the trains before they come back onto the visible part of the layout.

In Britain, it is not very common to have a continuous run layout in exhibitions. They are impolitely refered to as "tail chasers".

Ray

edit - I see Ladislas has beaten me to it with a much better reply!
Ray
Mostly Marklin.Selection of different eras and European railways
Small C track layout, control by MS2, 100+ trains but run 4-5 at a time.
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Offline Ladislas  
#4 Posted : 20 June 2008 00:15:56(UTC)
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Ladislas


Joined: 09/08/2007(UTC)
Posts: 67
Location: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Quote:
[size=1" face="Verdana" id="quote]quote:edit - I see Ladislas has beaten me to it with a much better reply!


Not better, just a different way of saying the same thing - and now I know the term "shadow station", which I had not seen before! Smile
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Offline Macfire  
#5 Posted : 20 June 2008 05:38:32(UTC)
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Macfire


Joined: 04/11/2006(UTC)
Posts: 2,652
Location: New Zealand
Trainworld in Napier, Hawkes bay has a massive fiddle yard - room.
From memory it would be at least 6 x 3 m2.
Huge. It contans not only x number of tracks that trains wait on but there are shelves stack with locos and wagons as well.

The Marklin layout is a very old, compact M Track that runs two trains, the proverbial 3000 / 3001 locos of course.

Wish we had taken the camera when we visited last time. Maybe one the Kiwi contingent has pics????????

The web site has the following information:
"A very large model railway exhibit (6 metres by 20 metres), OO Hornby model of English countryside, running over ten trains, along with a moderate sized Marklin HO privately built railway and a two train 'O' gauge North American railway are featured.

A real ride on train, Brookie (7 and 1/4 inch scale), carries up to four around the first floor room and thru a small tunnel."
No pics on the web unfortunately.
There was also a fire there last year but I believe it is up and running again:
http://www.taradalefire..../issue_14_trainworld.pdf
Lord Macca
New Zealand branch of Clan Donald.
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Offline TTRExpress  
#6 Posted : 20 June 2008 07:13:54(UTC)
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TTRExpress

United States   
Joined: 06/04/2006(UTC)
Posts: 655
A Fiddle Yard is just a Staging Yard. It can be hidden like a "shadow station."

More of an English term.

Regards (a Scot in Wisconsin),

Maurice [ETE, TTRCA, IG-TRIX Express, Maerklin-Insider & TRIX Profi-Club]
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Offline Lars Westerlind  
#7 Posted : 20 June 2008 10:15:10(UTC)
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Lars Westerlind


Joined: 19/10/2001(UTC)
Posts: 2,379
Location: Lindome, Sweden
Thanks. I know it's impossible to be precise, but could we try?
- most "Schattenbahnhöfe" = shadow stations I've seen are more or less automatic, allow for another train to exit a tunnel where the first train just entered, but the first train will after delay enter again. Comments?
- what does fiddle come from? Is the original meaning of that word playing (folk musik) on a violin, whereafter it has become the meaning of using your hands wery swift or something like that, and the latter meaning is what constitutes a fiddle yard; here you cheat BY HAND and change train consists etc?

/Lars
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Offline RayF  
#8 Posted : 20 June 2008 10:38:33(UTC)
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RayF

Gibraltar   
Joined: 14/03/2005(UTC)
Posts: 15,871
Location: Gibraltar, Europe
Lars, I think you've got it!
Ray
Mostly Marklin.Selection of different eras and European railways
Small C track layout, control by MS2, 100+ trains but run 4-5 at a time.
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Offline Purellum  
#9 Posted : 20 June 2008 12:26:34(UTC)
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Purellum

Denmark   
Joined: 08/11/2005(UTC)
Posts: 3,528
Location: Mullerup, 4200 Slagelse
Cool

Quote:
[size=1" face="Verdana" id="quote]quote:- what does fiddle come from?
Keith Moon singing "Fiddle about" as "Uncle Ernie" in "Tommy"? [:0]

UserPostedImage

Per.

If you can dream it, you can do it!

I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. This applies worldwide.

In case this is not legally possible:
I grant anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law.

UserPostedImage
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Offline Caplin  
#10 Posted : 20 June 2008 14:59:43(UTC)
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Caplin


Joined: 23/03/2005(UTC)
Posts: 2,497
Location: Denmark
This turn around table looks great, nice way make several trains come back to the visible part of the layout in the opposite direction
[:p]
Regards,
Benny - Outsider and MFDWPL
UserPostedImage
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Offline RayF  
#11 Posted : 20 June 2008 15:15:17(UTC)
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RayF

Gibraltar   
Joined: 14/03/2005(UTC)
Posts: 15,871
Location: Gibraltar, Europe
The purpose of the man sitting at the end is to catch the trains that fail to stop in time!biggrin
Ray
Mostly Marklin.Selection of different eras and European railways
Small C track layout, control by MS2, 100+ trains but run 4-5 at a time.
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Offline steventrain  
#12 Posted : 21 June 2008 01:46:47(UTC)
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steventrain

United Kingdom   
Joined: 21/10/2004(UTC)
Posts: 31,697
Location: United Kingdom
In UK about 90% of adult layouts have the fiddle yards.

Some of my friends have it!
Large Marklinist 3- Rails Layout with CS2/MS2/Boosters/C-track/favorites Electric class E03/BR103, E18/E118, E94, Crocodiles/Steam BR01, BR03, BR05, BR23, BR44, BR50, Big Boy.
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