Big_Boy_4005 posted:John, the tracks of the runaround look the same length, but I believe the rule is that you aren't allowed to spot cars on a switch. That would account for the difference in capacity. It also makes the problem slightly more challenging.
If you look closely at the original plan there is an exact equal amount of trackage on both sides and switches. It is exactly identical on both side on John Allen's and Russ Kane's track plan. I wonder who came up with the particular drawing and stated the number of cars? On my particular design I can only spot one car on either side without it being on top of a turnout. And I would not have wanted to stretch it out to a ridiculous length to accommodate the not parking on a turnout rule. Maybe that is the case. But in many of the time-savers I've seen it looks to me like the sidings are virtually identical and the number of turnouts on them are virtually identical.
