“The Model Railroader’s Guide to Freight Yards”
Author: Andy Sperandeo
Publisher: Kalmbach Publishing
ISBN: 0-89024-576-2
Retail Price: $18.95
Pages: 88
Pictures: Color and B&W
This review was originally published in the NMRA Midwest Region Fall 2005 Waybill. by Mark N. Goedert
“The Model Railroader’s Guide to Freight Yards” is an interesting look at a very specific component of railroading, the freight yard. The text covers both model trains and the prototype use of freight yards. When I first picked up the book I was skeptical that the author could really make freight yards something to get excited about, he did. This book delivers in both quality and content.
Author Andy Sperandeo who is a long time modeler and staff member at Kalmbach does an excellent job taking us through the various aspects of freight yards and how it applied to model railroads. I really enjoyed reading the book and the attractive layout of pictures and side articles held my interest throughout the text. Even though I finished reading the book, I find myself perusing the title to look at the pictures; it is just a nice book to look at.
This book is a new work by Kalmbach so you do not have to worry about a compilation of previously published articles bound in a flashy cover. This new look at freight yards has value for both the beginner and veteran modeler. Beginners get a good overview of freight yards and how to design and build them. Veterans can find value in terms of tweaking your existing yard or adding a yard to your layout. If you have an existing freight yard on your layout and it just doesn’t work smoothly or is a bottleneck you may uncover a few gems to improve yard performance.
The book starts off with an attractive cover that effectively summarizes what the book is all about, prototype yards adapted to model railroads. Throughout the book our eyes are treated with sharp pictures that span the steam and diesel era. There are over 90 pictures of freight yards, locomotives, and train layouts throughout the 88 page book. Most are shots covering the transition era but that does not indicate that this is a steam to diesel era book. Modern and pre-1940 modelers should not overlook this text because you will miss out on a lot of good information.
Andy first discusses the role of the freight yard and then he builds a yard starting one track at a time on paper, to give us a logical method when planning a freight yard. Then a discussion of Andy’s favorite freight yards will look at famous modeler’s yards and the strengths of each design. If you have a taste for prototype modeling Andy also looks at freight yard design and how you can adapt a prototype yard to a model railroad. The book rounds out with chapters on staging yards and freight yard operations for the prototype and model yard.
I really liked the chapter where a freight yard is built track by track. This chapter is helpful to both the beginning modeler and veteran in terms of design and fixing your existing freight yard. The book also has attractive gallery pages between the chapters that are a pleasure to look at. I was impressed that this text covers freight yard material with more depth than other track planning books all while keeping the pace light with side articles and an attractive layout.
In terms of improvement on a great concept, I thought the freight yard operations chapter could have gone into more depth when discussing the model train layout freight yard operations. The concept of waybills is introduced but not fully fleshed out as a method of operating a freight yard. If you are familiar with waybills you will have no problem understanding the concept at hand. If you are not familiar with waybills then a bit more research will be needed to fully grasp how waybills work. In defense of the author, it would be a tough call to add more information on waybills before discussing yard operation. For the novice I think a little more information would be beneficial. This is a very minor point in an otherwise good text.
In conclusion this book is excellent and I would recommend it to the experienced as well as the beginner in the hobby. The presentation of freight yards is methodical with a nice mix of prototype and model train examples to work from. The book is visually pleasing and easy to read, definitely a worthwhile addition to your modeling library.
