# Newbie question: what is a staging cassette for?



## punchy71 (Dec 1, 2014)

Greetings,
Can somebody please explain to me what a staging cassette is, what its used for and how it's used? I see them hanging off the end of many track plans nowadays and was wondering about their use...
Thank you


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Truthfully, I had never heard of Staging Cassette until you
brought it up. So I checked Google and found quite a bit
about it.

Here is one way it is used:

http://books.google.com/books?id=dM...8Q6AEwCw#v=onepage&q=Staging Cassette&f=false

In summary, a staging cassette is a movable track that you can run
a loco or train onto, lift it mechanically, or simply pick it up and place it
at another location on the layout. For example: A 2 level layout but
without enough room for a helix. A train is run onto the cassette it
is then moved to the other level and the train exits onto those tracks.

Incidentally, Punchy, your post question is in the Google responses.

Don


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Don is correct, as far as his reply goes, although he left out part of it. Not only does a cassette allow moving a train, the idea is that you have multiple interchangeable ones, so that during an operating session, trains can arrive on the layout or depart from it to "staging", which instead of being several tracks, can simply be set up on a shelf somewhere.

I believe that this concept is evolving due to the large amounts of space consumed by helixes and staging tracks.


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## MtRR75 (Nov 27, 2013)

So a cassette would have to be as long as the longest train that you would want to move or exchange? Right?

Moving a train on a section of track by hand sounds like an easy way to derail a train. One bump or slight tip might be all that it takes. Or am I way off base. Just trying to understand...


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## punchy71 (Dec 1, 2014)

CTValleyRR said:


> I believe that this concept is evolving due to the large amounts of space consumed by helixes and staging tracks.


Perhaps you or somebody else could explain the concept behind a helix and staging track as well. Especially since I am a newbie...


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## MtRR75 (Nov 27, 2013)

punchy71 said:


> Perhaps you or somebody else could explain the concept behind a helix and staging track as well. Especially since I am a newbie...


A staging area is an area where you park the trains that you are not currently using on your layout. It is usually just track -- no structures or scenery. The staging area is sometimes under the layout table, or sometimes adjacent to the layout, but shielded by some kind of a barrier (like a mountain range with a tunnel that enters the staging area). Sometimes the staging area is in an adjacent room. The staging area is connected to your layout -- usually by a single track or a loop (in and out tracks). The staging area is not the same as the yard -- which models a real railroad yard and is part of your layout. A staging area saves you from removing and replacing cars onto your layout when you want to run different trains.

If the staging area is below the table you need to loose a significant amount of elevation to get down to the staging area and leave room to reach under the layout and position the cars. This is where a helix comes in -- a spiral track designed to lower (or raise) a train to a different level. Google it for pictures. Helices are also used when you have multi-level layouts.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

punchy71 said:


> Perhaps you or somebody else could explain the concept behind a helix and staging track as well. Especially since I am a newbie...


Yeah, sorry, dude. It's hard to know whait gives you lots ofoptions without needing a lotof space. people know and don't know sometimes. MtRR gives a good definition of WHAT staging is. Basically, staging represents the rest of the world. Real trains travel from place to place, not around in a circle, so staging tracks give us a way to represent that part of the world that is not present on our layout. For example, your Florida East Coast train might pick up 25 Tropicana reefers in Orlando bound for New York. In HO scale, these two places are something like 10 miles apart. Since no one has a layout that big, staging is used to represent one or both ends. If you're modeling Orlando, your train would begin at the fruit packing plant on your layout, traverse your layout, and then disappear into staging. In our imaginations, it's on its way to New York and will return a few days later. In reality, it's just off to the side where you can reuse the cars or even the loco for other trains. In New York, the train would emerge from staging (as if it had just completed a long journey) and head for your warehouse, market, etc. Or you could model somehwere in the middle, in which case the train would emerge from staging, transit your layout, and disappear back into staging at the other end.

So much for the concept. Yes there is some risk of trains derailing, although ideally you would have a wall or barrier to keep them from taking the long plunge of death. It's not a perfect solution, but I


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