Or you can run them alone. Not all operations require a whole fleet of engines. You get up real early and want to “play trains” so you select a pair of road switchers and start building up a train in the yard. Working the eastern end of the yard at Melville SD40 number 5118 and her mate (two of 241 of her kind) move up the shop track. Now renumbered 6002 and upgraded to SD40-2 standards she lives on in CN service.

There are a few of things to notice about this photo. The yard is not chalk full of cars. In fact you can’t see any. If those prototype yards got as jammed up as our model facilities the real railway would come to a grinding halt. There has to be room to move. It’s mid summer and so there is a lot of green around the yard. Many of us refuse to add colour thinking the place should be a desert of sand and gravel. Switch stands are obvious. Put some on the layout. Even if they don’t work. And there’s always a little casual water around some place.