jeff train: Operations

Sýnir færslur með efnisorðinu Operations. Sýna allar færslur

sunnudagur, 19. júlí 2015

Operating Session Jul 18, 2015 - The Motion Picture

An experiment - I shot some video during yesterday's op session and pieced together a short film that's available on YouTube for viewing - CLICK HERE TO VIEW -

Enjoy!

In no danger of winning an academy award but comments are welcome.

laugardagur, 27. júní 2015

Operating Session Report - June 27, 2015

UPDATE: Bernie Kempinski posted his report on the op session on his blog (CLICK HERE). He has better photos than the ones the crew took. Of he wasn't doing anything but talking, reading my books, and eating our food. (Only kidding�he didn't eat ALL the food�.;<).

One of my favorite locomotives - Iain Rice built this model from a Bachmann 2-8-0 - but her old Soundtraxx DSD is simply not up to snuff. After failing her "preflight" she spent today's session in one of the house tracks.

Sorry if it seems as if I've gone silent for the last week but between work at the office and getting ready for today's operating session I've not even looked at the computer at home most nights until now!
To summarize, thanks to an outstanding crew today's session was an unqualified success!

Train 303, the northbound Vermonter, pauses at the Waterbury station as the crew of X481N Rich Steinmann and John Paganoni (right) look on.

I rearranged the operating scheme to reflect more of the reality of the layout and less of the prototype timetable. What I was finding was the prototype timetable simply doesn't scale down to provide an engaging operating scheme on the model railroad. The following positions were staffed today:
1. Dispatcher
2. White River Yardmaster
3. White River Ass't Master
4. Southern Division operator/Crew
5. Three road crews (two of the road crews were two man crews) for a total of nine crew members.
The road crews didn't HAVE To be two man crews, but since both the north- and south-bound locals were operated in today's schedule, and since two people had never done much operating, it seemed helpful to put them under the tutelage of a more experienced crew member.
I think it also helped that several of the crew have been to a number of previous sessions, which meant I had fewer "basic" type questions to answer.

One of two Rapido FPA-4s premiered at this session to rave reviews. Yes, I know they post-dated steam on the CV. They run so well I don't care.

Couple of things I noted from the session:
1. Some of the locomotives are older engines with a lot of hours that are starting to have "issues."And frankly some have never worked all that well. In the several months since the last session I've made a concerted effort to repair or replace those bad actors. This session showed few, if any of the motive power issues that have plagued earlier sessions. Does it suck to have to admit a locomotive that you paid a decent amount of coin for is worthless? Yes it does. But a session with top-performers makes that pill much less painful to swallow.
2. To date I've played the role of "Southern Division Operator/Crew since most of it takes place in the utility room. I'd like to train some other people to do this job so I can do other things from time to time but it's hardly an appealing position in its current state. It was suggested the job which to date has been part station switcher, part fiddle yard "mole" could be recast to add specific WRJ hostler functions - I need to look into this.
3. I don't NEED nine operators (8+me) but no one spend an inordinate amount of time waiting around. Honestly, the layout can readily be operated with six. One thing I think I'm getting better at is crew management. As a project manager in my professional life I have no problem telling people what to do but model railroad "people management" has proven to be an interesting challenge. This time I arranged the train schedule and crewing assignments so that once one crew finished a run they would have a short break (10-15 minutes max) - before running another train. And I based the train schedule on that approach - not simply the prototype timetables. The result paid off in a great session.
4. The "paperwork" - timetable, Yardmaster instructions, and the like seem to have enough maturity that I don't feel the need to alter them before the next session. (For example, I've hosted 11 sessions and today we used Timetable No. 10�. You do the math!) I did get some questions on "Is this town north or south?" a few times - I think a linear map showing the towns with a "You are here" highlight on the town you're standing in front of may help. Easy enough to do. Thought of doing it at one point. For some reason I never did.
In any event, a good time was had by all (lunch was outstanding, thanks to Christine's efforts!) and I'm very pleased with how the layout performed.
Now I'd like to get some of the scenery finished.

One of the new SNE RS-3s in action. Kind of reminds me of the rail fan photos I used to take with my Kodak Insta-matic!

sunnudagur, 3. maí 2015

Operating the Virginia Midland

Yesterday had a great time operating Steve King's Virginia Midland in Germantown, Md.
For many years we've gently kidded Steve for the �uh, "lack" of VM painted locomotives. In fact he ran the railroad for many years with a fleet of undecorated locos, which he jokingly refers to as the "Appalachian Stealth" scheme.
There is one VM-painted Appalachian Lines locomotive on the roster, shown here.
Over the last few months Steve has gotten 46 locomotives painted in the VM's own olive green scheme.
There's even a little bit of scenery on the railroad.
I was too busy having a great time running trains to do a lot of photo, but I did manage to get a photo in one of the staging yards showing the original VM "paint scheme" (on the left), the Appalachian Lines unit, and the two VM units in the original VM second generation scheme.
Steve operates the railroad using Timetable & Train Order, which he is an expert at.
A great time with good friends.

sunnudagur, 29. júní 2014

Operating Session #5 - June 28, 2014

Hosted another op session yesterday.
I'd have to rate it as the most successful session to date.
I spent several short work sessions over the last week correcting the few track work issues that revealed themselves during the previous session.
One lesson I learned from last week is to have a "ready toolbox" of frequently needed track and wiring tools available. Putting such a tool kit together seems to work - I didn't have any layout issues at all! Perhaps being prepared scares away the gremlins? Or at least keeps them at bay?

Things ran so well I actually ran a couple of trains during the session.

I tried to shoot some video but failed miserably - I need to work on figuring out the video functions on my camera.

So here are a few "grab shot" still photos:

RS-3 on the empty sand and gravel train north of Randolph:

My contribution to the next generation of model railroaders - two of my three sons are into model railroading to one degree or another. The oldest likes building models - the youngest could care less about building models but loves operating, and has since he was a kid. Here's the youngest, Matt working the northbound local in Randolph with Phil. As an aside - I need to add cup holders to the fascia to give people a place to put the soda cans.

Several of the guys on today's crew belong to the Vienna Model Railroad Club in nearby Vienna. Turns out one of them, Dave Mitchell, is also a Central Vermont fan and modeler! Was nice to have someone immediately recognize the various stations and scenes. His train, the southbound local, is meeting the northbound in Waterbury. He's temporarily changing roles to that of Waterbury station operator and calling the dispatcher to OS his trains northbound counterpart.

White River Junction yard is always a busy place - it got a little backed up at one point in the session until I gently reminded the yardmaster he might want to call the B&M to come take some cars off his hands...Getting the scenery done in this area is high on the list. It also needs additional lighting. The coaling tower is based on a standard Roberts & Schaefer design and is detailed to match the one in White River. If you want one it's available as a kit from my good friend Bernie Kempinski's Alkem Scale Models.

As I said I managed to run a couple of trains. I also had the chance to "rail fan" the layout a bit during the session. Those are both firsts for me. This is train 307, the Boston/New York to Montreal "Ambassador" heading through Everett, Vt.

And yes, the day ended with Christine's now famous (at least among our NORVA operating group) BBQ sandwich lunch. On another forum someone commented that op sessions are too serious and take all the fun out of the hobby. Of course that same person went on to say he didn't operate and didn't care to try it. As you can tell, no one here was having any fun.

mánudagur, 23. júní 2014

Operating Session #4 - June 21, 2014

Operating Session #4 on Saturday June 22, 2014. Started at 0900 with victory being declared (and lunch served) at 1252....One of my visiting operators, Wayland Moore, took photos - a good thing since I didn't! Thanks Wayland!

Mat Thompson stepped in to take Bob Warren's

normal spot in the dispatcher's chair.

Randolph made its operating debut. Note the "spare" locomotives in the background.

All in all, session went well. A few trackwork gremlins hid until visiting operators were present,and one feeder wire connection came undone which rendered a section of the mainline dead for a time while the Section Foreman (me) tracked the problem, failed to find it, and ran an over-table temporary jumper to get the trains moving again.

I had fun and the guest operators enjoyed themselves (or so they claim). We will finish the operating "day" next week with a different crew - it will be interesting to see if they can recover from some of the issues "earlier in the morning" since the cascading effect of the mainline shutdown is most certainly showing itself in the on-time performance....

Post session I spent some time getting another of the 2-8-0s up and running - and reprogrammed the steamers on the layout so the brake squeal is turned way, way, down.

A few granuales of ballast found their way into the turnout going to the creamery, which caused some issues. I got those cleared out so hopefully that problem is fixed.

Roger is asking two guys who clearly don't know the answer "Which track is this?"

Answer: I forgot to tape the Randolph track diagram to the fascia....sorry.

Paul Dolkos and Steve Williams try to

decide what to do next.

?????

Steve and his conductor on a northbound.

????

??
??????????

Paul gets ready to depart St Albans (north staging) while Molly makes

sure no one gets out of the aisle without petting her.

Lunch! the best part of any session. Thanks to Christine for the delicious BBQ and potato salad!

Rain held off long enough for us to enjoy lunch on the deck.

Interesting angle shows the current state of the peninsula "blob."

Need to tweak some track issues in Essex this week prior to our next session on the 28th. I might end up replacing Essex with something much simpler since it's a little jammed in. But this town does add a great deal of operating interest.

The Essex operator left several little notes on track issues in Essex Jct - I need to resolve those before next week's session. I might (and emphasize might) make some radical simplifications to the track in that section of the layout - one possibility is removing Essex Jct from that section of the railroad and replacing it with a much simpler town of Richmond, Vt. I just think there's a little too much jammed into Essex - something that's becoming more obvious as I try to fit buildings between the various sidings. I'd lose the Essex switcher position if I did that, but Essex Jct might return on the currently empty wall of the basement beyond the current north end staging yard.

As an aside, if I do change out the Essex scene the remaining styrofoam subroadbed will be replaced with plywood on that side of the peninsula.

Another lesson learned was I need to be a little more specific in some of the train card instructions - I will try and beef those up a little before next Saturday.

föstudagur, 30. maí 2014

Refining the Operating Script

Owning a large operating model railroad comes with a unique set of �management� challenges. The first of these is creating the operating scheme itself. Creating the schedule for a model railroad operating session is not unlike writing a play (hey, that�s an original thought, isn�t it?). Another issue is crew size. Too many people and inevitably an operating session will devolve into a gab fest. Too few and it seems like everyone is scrambling to keep up since trains are ready before bodies to man them.

With each session I�ve made tweaks to the operating scheme to refine the �script.� At this point I�ve done the following:
1.       Assign two-person crews to the local trains.
2.       Assigned a crew member as the �Southern Division� crew. He works the B&M transfers to and from WRJ and runs the CV trains in and out of staging.
3.       Added an Essex Junction turn to the operating scheme.
But even with these changes there�s still a need to flesh out the operating schedule with a few more trains. At the time I�m modeling the CV ran a grand total of 12 trains (6 freight/6 passenger) a day on the Roxbury subdivision. Each operating session is one 12-hour trick (with a 3:1 fast clock, that�s about 4 hours). Here�s the rub � I have a group of good friends who�ve given up their spare time to help me bring the railroad to life. Running a total of six trains in four actual hours doesn�t really cut it.
We could add second-sections, extras and the like. But this is Vermont, not the Northeast Corridor, so simply piling on more trains isn�t really the answer. The tightrope is to keep my operators sufficiently entertained and engaged but not end up with so many trains that a headlight is appearing over the horizon every 10 seconds.
A more extreme possibility involves resurrecting my freelanced railroad, the Southern New England (see MRP 2000). There is still plenty of SNE lettered equipment floating around the layout. And frankly, I kind of like those engines and cars. While this change may seem extreme it really isn't. Best of all, it requires no changes to the layout itself!

The real Southern New England was a proposed extension from Palmer, Mass. on the CV mainline to Providence RI. In the real world it was graded but never finished. My previous layouts were based on the fiction that the line was completed. The layout modeled the theoretical SNE mainline from Providence to Palmer.

But what if, although I�m not modeling the SNE itself, I presume the SNE was finished? White River Junction could serve as a logical division point for SNE trains heading to/from Providence or New London. An additional freight train or two could be added to the schedule between Montreal and Providence. There�s even the potential to split the Washingtonian/Montrealer in WRJ into �Providence� and �New York/DC� sections.
Part of the whole point of a blog is a chance for the reader to work through such things with the blogger. I'll conclude this post by saying the addition of the SNE trains is something I'm pondering - there are some negatives to simply throwing more trains on the schedule in the effort to simply entertain one or two additional operators. Since it doesn't require any real changes to the physical layout it will be a simple matter to try it out. But I'm not sure I'm going to like it.

þriðjudagur, 15. október 2013

MER Convention Op Session - A couple of photos

Although I failed miserably to take any photos during the open house and op session this weekend Chuck Diljak, who did a fine job as White River Yardmaster, was kind enough to send a couple of pictures he took during the op session.
Here's the WRJ Assistant YM, Joe Calderone during a break in the action at White River Junction. That yard is entirely too empty and he looks far too relaxed and smiling ..... we'll have to do something about that next time he visits.
A northbound extra through freight (behind a CN F7) runs through a crowded Everett as the Mill Turn works the town.

þriðjudagur, 24. september 2013

Sea Trials #2 - Results

First of all, I had every intention of posting this update sooner but the events on and around the Washington DC Navy Yard dominated the week and frankly made the hobby seem pretty insignificant in the overall scheme of things. Please keep the victims and their families in your prayers and thoughts. I for one have grown weary of these types of events. This one hit very, very close to home as I work in that building almost every day.

As far as the �Sea Trials #2� op session last Sunday - I'd give it a C-. <g>

I meant to take some pictures during the session, but frankly got so involved in trouble shooting and responding to questions I didn�t have a chance. I did manage to grab a short video of no. 20, the WASHINGTONIAN, crossing Williams Creek bridge. It's shown above.

Goals for this session were to test the entire schedule, see if the Passenger Terminal Operator position was interesting enough to be a dedicated job, and ensure everything was ready to go for the op session scheduled during the MER convention next month.

We only had three crew members who'd operated before - Bob, Steve and John. The remaining crew members have seen the layout but never operated on it! In addition, last time we ran only the freights. This is we tried running the entire schedule. I knew we weren't going to set any on-time records. We did encounter some performance and electrical issues.

On a good note, as always it was fun to see everyone and catch up.

What I've learned -

I need to get some specifics into the "intro brief" - keep it short and to the point but there still needs to be some very basic information covered. Next time I'll try making myself some notes.....
Need better explanations of things like the waybill routings, the train descriptions, etc... so the YM has some idea what cars go in what trains, etc... oh, and a line up of trains and what engines go on which trains might help the YM as well.
There are a few trackwork/wiring issues to be addressed before the next session. Each session seems to turn up a few of these. Thankfully, the vast majority are straightforward and easily fixed.
I was truly puzzled by the radio throttle issues we started having about halfway through the session, especially since the last session had absolutely zero issues with the throttles. When thinking through what was different from previous sessions to this one, the only thing I could come up with was three engines with QSI sound systems were on the layout. These all ran fine prior to the session, but I never ran them all at the same time. Removing them from the layout and resetting the DCC system immediately cleared up most of the issues. The "why" remains to be determined....
I suspect one or more throttles have mis-set frequency numbers. I need to check ALL the throttles and make sure they're assigned to the right channel.

On the operating scheme my takeaway is:

The Passenger operator position has the potential to be an interesting job and is worth pursuing but we need to figure out the best way to integrate that job into the op scheme. I suspect one issue is I designed the trackwork one way, and it was being operated another. Better job description paperwork would certainly help.
Some of the passenger cars were jumping the rails a lot more than I want to see. Need to isolate the problem - is it a certain car, types of cars, or specific brands. Some of the Rapido cars were fine, others were extremely troublesome for instance. Need to extensively check the passenger cars and see what the issues are. Offending cars will remain off the layout until they can prove themselves in test running. Update � Checking the wheelset gauge on some of the passenger cars shows several have out of gauge wheelsets.
One of the locomotives was displaying some bizarre behavior - the lead set of drivers kept "creeping" up over the rails, even on tangent track. This needs some study as well.
I think the timetable is stabilized enough that we can use it for the next few sessions. Perhaps we flew a little too close to the sun by trying to run a number of extras but I wanted to stress the layout. We succeeded in doing just that.

Considering the locomotive and throttle issues we were dangerously close to running out of locomotives, so getting more decoder equipped power is a very high priority. I'm also getting tired of seeing locomotives lettered for the C&O, Reading, and Western Maryland!
I still need more cars on the railroad - Ben brought by some cars (15 or so) which really helped fill a few trains out. But we still need more, so I need to get building!

Update � Have spent time over the last week getting some �basic� freight cars (Accurail/Bowser and the like) and getting all the cars cleared off the �RIP� track (mostly coupler/wheelset repair/replacement). So I�ve added a total of 22 more freight cars to the fleet in the last few days. They aren�t weathered, but at least they�re on the railroad!

fimmtudagur, 1. ágúst 2013

"Sea Trial #2" Test Session Scheduled

I've looked over the calendar and chosen September 15th for the second "Sea Trial" test session. This time we'll try running the passenger trains - and hopefully the timetable, train sheets, and train cards will all match! (something that didn't exactly happen back in May!)

That same weekend will see the first ever Mid-Atlantic Railroad Prototype Modelers meet in Stafford, Va., which is about 30 miles south of us. Even though Norm Wolf, who's organizing the meet, didn't ask me to present a clinic, I'll go ahead and plug the event here. See http//www.marpm.org/ for more details.

The next model railroad event where I will be presenting a clinic is the Mid-Eastern Region, NMRA Annual Convention in Rockville, Md., the weekend of October 10-13, 2013. I'll be doing my clinic on Friday, October 11 at 2:30. As clinic chairman for the event I've tried to put together a decent line-up of clinicians - I'll let you decide if that's the case. Schedule, and convention information can found on the convention web site - https://home.comcast.net/~candp2013/

We will also be having two open house sessions as part of the self-drive layout tours, one Saturday morning from 9:00-12:00, the other on Sunday October 13, time to be announced.
We are also hosting an operating session on Saturday afternoon. Attendance at the op session is first-come first serve and you can sign up for the op session when you register for the convention.
So, it looks like we'll have a busy fall.
If you're looking for me, I'll be in the basement working the railroad!

þriðjudagur, 18. júní 2013

Tweaking the Schedule (An ongoing process)

Frankly, other than ballasting some track (see Wordless Wednesday from the last couple of weeks) and making up some Super Trees I haven't done much on the layout since last months' Sea Trials test session. We've been busy with other summer activities. I did take a few moments to share a revised timetable with Bob Warren, the dispatcher from the session to get his input. Here's the revised (once again) timetable draft based on what I learned at last month's session:

Schedule shows three northbound "extras" - these of course will not be on the "real" timetable. The times for these through White River Junction comes from the "Manifest" schedules which are included in the prototype employee timetable. In general the railroad ran three northbound extras every weekday... so we need to be prepared to do the same.

Some notes based on where this currently sits:

1. Big lull in midday with "maybe" the "extra" northbound local... and not much else going on.

2. I should be able to re-use the equipment for 20/21 and 307/332 with some manual fiddling during the session. Good news since it limits the amount of passenger equipment I have to buy. Really good news since it also means I only need to stage one train on each end of the layout prior to session starting, clearing up a staging track at each end of the railroad.

3. No accommodation on schedule plan for second sections and the like.

As we learned last month, having both locals out of the railroad at the same time can quickly bog things down. We could have handled some of it differently. but given that we were working with inconsistent schedules (strictly my fault!) and all new crew on a new railroad I think we did pretty well!

Bob's comments were interesting - and I'm looking into incorporating them into the ops plan:

Marty,

Comments on the revised TT follow:
PAPER MILL. Based on the sea trials lineup NO430 has a pickup in Everett. I expect these are loaded cars of paper from the mill. Who switches out these loads? Here is my thought working with the schedule you provided. NO211 can either leave WRJ 2 hours earlier or NO430 can leave St. Albans 2 hours later. Delaying NO430 seems preferable because it gives the WRJ YM more time to do a good job making up NO211. Since a delayed NO430 has only to cope with NO303 (that NB extra is not his problem) he should be able to stay on schedule. Finally the mill has a 7AM cutoff for loaded paper cars, giving NO211 plenty of time to get these cars of paper ready for NO430 to pick up. And there is a second cutoff at 4PM for cars to be picked up by NO210.
MIDDAY LULL. Advance the clock 3 hours at 9AM. Tell the guy on NO211 they went for beans (he has time for a Pepsi and a couple of pretzels). Since NO211 is an extra this doesn�t affect his train.
THE VERMONTER. I have an April 1952 Official Guide and that CV schedule calls for NO304 and NO404 to arrive at WRJ at 12:30 AM. What doesn�t seem logical is the basis for the 2 different schedules.
CLASS. It seems odd that all CV freights were 4th class. Most RRs that I�ve known had 3 classes: 1/c passenger, 2/c through freights, and 3/c local freights.
DISPATCHING. I find it often difficult to dispatch without an operator. But making all of the NB freights extras makes this scheme look pretty simple. I think the CV was on to something.
SEA TRIAL. You used the term sea trial, but in my experience these always went well. But they should have. By the time I came along there weren�t any mysteries about Gearing Class DDs. I�m thinking a first test flight where the pilot circles the field and immediately lands. In the CV Roxbury case I would say that it exceeded expectations. Good time

Sincerely
BOB WARREN

"Paper Scenery"

Way back when, "Boomer Pete" (one of Al Kalmbach's pen names) wrote a description of the "paper scenery" you can use as a means of expanding your layout. Things like schedules, posters, and switchlists are all examples of "railroad paper scenery." As I cleaned up after the test session I ran across Train Order no. 1 and the corresponding clearance card. Certainly paper scenery! I might have to frame these!

mánudagur, 20. maí 2013

Sea Trials #1...In the Books

Report on the �Sea Trials� Test session that took place yesterday, May 19. Truth be told, I just made it and was programming decoders and assigning id numbers to one of the radio throttles as the first crew members arrived!

In brief, it accomplished the primary mission of showing the layout was basically operable and ready for me to move forward with all the �fun stuff.� In fact, mechanically the railroad performed very well, with only one or two minor glitches. There�s a turnout in White River that had some �occasional� issues, and some missed feeders here and there. The biggest issue was a suddenly dead staging track in the north-end staging yard (which was working just a couple of hours before.) I suspect it must be a loose connection but haven�t gone under the layout to confirm that. Otherwise, there are no infrastructure problems to report.

The �operating scheme� itself needs some tweaking. With the exception of 303, the northbound Vermonter, we didn�t run any passenger trains.

Biggest issue with the operating scheme wasn�t the train �script� it was the paperwork. In a completely bone-headed move, I prepared a timetable that didn�t have the correct times for the layout! Instead, it had some prototype times. This is apparently an issue when trying to run a timetable and train order operation�.and I didn�t have train register sheets out�.but hey, I ran out of time. Sea Trial #3 will be designed to test the �full operating system.� So, we�re not quite there yet.

I also need to tweak the waybills a little.

Another goal was to determine the �ideal� crew size. I started with eight plus myself � ended up with seven. Despite the issues with the paperwork, the crew had a good time and everyone seemed busy without being rushed. And, other than a local crew that waited in Waterbury for a meet, no one spent a lot of time sitting around.

I might be able to add one or two other operators when we try running the passenger trains, but 7-8 folks can certainly operate the railroad, especially now that they know where things are.

The previous Sea Trials, on the older double-deck version of the railroad, produced enough issues that I�ve spent the better part of two years completely rebuilding the railroad. We also had numerous issues with the DCC system � especially the radio throttles. Frankly my biggest concern was the radio throttles since I had no way to test a number of them running all at once with several people in the basement.

I�m happy to report no issues at all with the DCC system, other than one balky throttle that I may need to send back to the manufacturer.

My plan moving forward is to fix up the issues with the paperwork, finish up a couple of the open country scenes (the lobe end of the peninsula and the White River foreground river scene. At some point I�d like to host another trial session for the local guys who have been willing to come over and help with the layout. (Only one of them was able to make it on Sunday).

Yes, we ran an assortment of paint schemes on the locomotives - based on engines I could get my hands on that had functional decoders. And yes, we need more cars - some of the "through freights" were only 8 cars long. But hey, the thing works, and that was the point of the session. So, all in all, a great success.

One of my operators told me the "acid test" for any layout was "Would I come back." To a person, they all said they would.

But I�m looking forward to spending some time this summer working on modeling projects and not layout infrastructure!

Thanks to some great friends who took the time to help bring the railroad to life for the first time!

Some candid photos of the crew at work:

Steve Williams ran the inaugural passenger train on the railroad. ....."Now where on earth is "Essex Junction." And what's with the pink soil around here??? And why does my Central Vermont train have Western Maryland power? This is all quite....puzzling."

Paul Dolkos (background): "This is the most fun I've ever had model railroading!" (I'm paraphrasing here...)

Stic Harris (in foreground): "If I focus, and really concentrate, I can move that boxcar with my mind."

John King (spoken with his slow Southern drawl): "Let me 'plain something to you. Typically we put something ...anything really ...after the word "TO:"....otherwise stuff just floats around the railroad. And that's just wrong. Plain Jane wrong...."

After 20 minutes of making moves based on the "fact" that the Foundry spur in Waterbury was double-ended John will shortly discover it's a stub-end track. His comments will be unprintable.

mánudagur, 29. apríl 2013

Town Track Diagrams

As I continue to prepare for my Sea Trials test session on May 19, I've been putting much more emphasis on operating paperwork than I did for the last test session.
One of the most common questions operators ask on a layout is "Where am I?" The builder forgets that he knows where every town is in relation to every other point on the railroad, but it may not be terribly obvious to a visiting operator.
This is a sample of one of the town schematics I'm making for each town on the layout. I'm still tweaking these - but this is the one that's mounted in front of Everett. Note the direction arrows on the "station sign" - as you look at the layout "North" is always to your right. It also shows the names of the tracks, the car capacity, and the locations and names of the various industries, along with any specific car spots within that industry. Ultimately these will also include street names for grade crossings, and trackside facilities like water towers, stations, and the like.
The various spots represent different doors or loading/unloading equipment. The waybill specifies the specific spot the customer wants the car. Makes switching much more interesting than simply shoving all the inbound cars into one track.