Yesterday I had my first operating session, which many of you helped plan out beforehand. It went very well, and the my winter of trackwork and rebuilding really paid off! The yard performed great, with no capacity issues, and no derailments. Same goes for the new mainline, except for one car which had a low trip pin and shorted out the whole railroad on the west switch of Ogden Siding. There were two derailments caused by faulty switches, both on industrial spurs, and both on industries which use live loads. I now have pulpwood in a river, and a pile of sand next to the LeBlanc Cement spur...
Other than those minor problems, the session went great! All operators had fun, I think, and seemed impressed by the railroad. Once I get my staging yard in, I'll be holding more sessions and trying to do something about how long the through freights take to traverse the layout, since those operators basically just hung out while the local finished it's work. Perhaps I'll add a few more through freights, plus add more cars to my roster so the through freights will need helpers over the Mascoma Lake Grade, making their trip longer.
Here are some photos of the session.
Alex (foreground) pulls local 41T out of Lebanon Yard, while Jed brings 402 into the yard at the other end.
Greg (right) consults his timetable for 403, while Alex checks the waybills as 41T rolls into Enfield.
As Greg brings 403 into Lebanon Yard, 402 rolls to a stop to await clearance eastbound. With the staging yard unfinished, both through freights make several laps around the layout. This will change once I finish the staging yard.
There are several members here, without who this session would not have been possible. Thank you to Don Z, Packer, Guilford Guy, and many others who gave great advice and tips for the operating session!
As usual, any questions or comments on the operating session are welcome!
Congratulations!
Did you use some system for car forwarding? How did that work out?
Mark
It was fun, and adding yard transfers runs, additional through freights, helpers, and perhaps another local ( ) could add additional fun/headaches. Also, you really should replace, or fix those switches, because blaming the crew of 41T could cause a certain leaser to rescind the S4, 70 Tonner, and track that they own, and have gratiously loaned to WRS.
Alex
Tyler,What type of manager are you? Don't cha know derailments is cause by human error?
Sounds like you guys had a swell time!
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Thank you! I use a car card and 4-cycle waybill system for car routings, since it is both easy to learn for operators, and many operators already know it since it is very common. It worked out very well, except I made a mistake while setting up the session, and forgot that the local's cars come from the through freights, and aren't already in the yard at the start of the session. But other than that, the system worked great!
Alex: I have been considering adding another local in the other direction instead of having a turn. All things to consider once I add the staging yard and make all that possible. Right now Ogden Siding is too critical to traffic (402 even terminates there!) to add any more trains. And I never blamed you for 41T's derailments... Those Atlas #4 switches are full of problems!
Sounds like you guys had a blast. Do you keep track of how many cars and trains move each session? I also use a car card system with train orders and find it fun to operate.
John
Fantastic !!! Let the fun begin. I'm lucky to be in a very active round robin group of operators and we have a blast every week. Keep the reports coming, looks like you're off to a great start.
http://www.youtube.com/user/ClinchValleySD40
http://www.flickr.com/photos/52481330@N05/
http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php/cat/500/page/1/ppuser/8745/sl/c
Thanks! Yes, we had quite a bit of fun.
I don't really keep track of how many cars are moved per session, but with a 100% car utilization at the moment, I would estimate the number moved at somewhere between 30 and 40 cars, on through freights 402 and 403 as well as local 41T.
Could you show us some pics of the derailments?
probably you would have a yardmaster if you don't, and he would build the trains as the session goes.
All thru freights report in even if their looping around and just pick up a new train, or loop again if desired.
No staging? just use your current yard as such for now, technically the whole layout is a staging yard til the session starts, then events happen as you go. You can set up some cars at industries ahead, but the session will get cars moved in.
I don't think I am going to have a major yard anywhere, but a lot of interchanges, I think my main biggest yard is the Burnham yard for the South Shore and its only a large interchange yard, the rest are terminals/small interchanges/industries all over the place.
demonwolf224Could you show us some pics of the derailments?
That's a new request...
This one was the only photo that actually looked interesting enough to post here... Need to fix that turnout! (Out of frame to the right)
Ah, there's nothing like using live loads!
EDIT: I do have a yardmaster position, but a setup mistake caused there to be no cars in the yard for the through freight. My next session (or possibly the one after that) will see my staging yard finished and able to fit four freights. That will solve a lot of problems, and make adding more trains possible to increase interest for the through freight operators. I also need to aquire a good 30 more freight cars, so that I can run longer manifests requiring helpers over the Mascoma Lake Grade, which will make the run longer and more interesting.
Yeah, and more live loads to be tiped! Looks nice, what about the other car that derailed?
I think this is why I turned away from live loads. I bought the Tyco trucking set, i thought it would be a cool idea to get them trucks to really run up trailer trains and deliver... later I decided the designing was a nightmare, I will just let it go for more fantasy work than real loadings.
Not sure I am going to clean up real coal from a derail of my coal drags I plan...uhmmm, nope, don't think so.
I recall years ago I dropped my container of spikes on the floor...I was full handlaying at the time, big container of spikes like 5000 in it.
I picked up every single spike I could find. no way jose for coal and other loadings.
dinwittyI picked up every single spike I could find. no way jose for coal and other loadings.
Take an old nylon stocking, or just a piece of thin cotton cloth if that's all you've got. (Hint - ladies leave their dang wet pantyhose hanging in the shower, expecting you to move it when you need to use the shower for, uh, showering. Serves 'em right if a pair disappears and gets used for a higher purpose.) Anyway, take the widget off the end of the vacuum cleaner hose, and cover it with the cloth. Hold it tightly, or rig up some sort of clamp. When you run the vacuum you can pick up coal loads, etc., without sending them up the tube and into the machine. It takes a while to clean up a big mess, but it can be done without losing the coal.
It helps to vacuum your track and scenery when you finish ballasting and putting down turf or ground foam. Otherwise, you'll pick a lot of that up when you clean up the coal.
Oh, and put those derailment photos in Photo Fun! Everyone should see them. They're great.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Well, at least we have a cause for derailment #2 - the dang engineer was texting when he should have been running the train!
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
rrinker Well, at least we have a cause for derailment #2 - the dang engineer was texting when he should have been running the train! --Randy
LOL!
Post of the year right here... You know, MBTA just put a ban on texting after a motorman ran a red and rear ended another trolley! I guess I didn't learn anything from that.
The layout looks really good, and it sounds like the crew was happy. That's all you need to worry about... it keeps them coming back!
Lee
Route of the Alpha Jets www.wmrywesternlines.net
what was he texting? add your thoughts and let the fun begin!
"hey honey. i'll be home in 5-10 years"
"to trainmaster, i quit!"
"hey, check this out!"
"let the conductor run the train. what's the worse that can happen?"
"Allstate Farms, am i covered for this?"
Anyone jumping to conclusions about texting? He looks to me like he was taking a picture, eh? With the latest in cell phone technology it is possible to take pictures and e-mail them to others, and download them into one's computer! Happy the session was a success! John
Actually, he took a photo of the wreck and was sending it to a friend of ours who wasn't able to make it to the session...
TrainManTyActually, he took a photo of the wreck and was sending it to a friend of ours who wasn't able to make it to the session...
Actually, I was telling the FRA about your dangerous work conditions, no radios, no gates or warning whatsoever, excessive track speeds, poor track maintenance, broken switches, the fact that you're running 3 trains over 10 mph on non signaled track, and a variety of other complaints!
Naaaaaaaa, he was taking pics of evidence. "Framed I tell you! Framed!" Is this incident at all making you second guess using live loads? Somewhat ironic, but seeing the 'realism' of your live loads in your crash photobytes has made me contemplate using live loads, which would be hard to do since as planned it will be covered hoppers, box cars, and tankers. Now that would be a mess, HO scale 20 000 galoon tank car full of corn syrup for the feed mill tear open . Ethenol would be too expensive for a live load....on second thought I'd better stay away from live loads. Last thing I need is an ethanol plant explosion cause the cat realized she could jump on the layout and play with the car. No serious, if it moves, it's a toy, don't matter if it's a paper ball or a feather, although I think after that near 2 story fall she learned her lesson. Cats really do land on their feet. Maybe I should paint gaint cats on the side of my rolling stock just in case they fall.......
Tyler, you better be ready in case El Alejandro sets ablaze your pulpwood!
I've actually used live lumber loads on flats and in gons before. On flats I use doublesided duct tape to hold the lumber down.
I won't try the live "tie" load again though, since that one was more humorus than realistic (they were the ties from atlas flextrack, still connected by the little pieces of plastic)
Alex, your asking for trouble with that picture lol. Remind me that whenever I get a layout and hold an operating session to disallow cellphones since they weren't invented yet in my operating era (1975-1985).
Vincent
Wants: 1. high-quality, sound equipped, SD40-2s, C636s, C30-7s, and F-units in BN. As for ones that don't cost an arm and a leg, that's out of the question....
2. An end to the limited-production and other crap that makes models harder to get and more expensive.
PackerRemind me that whenever I get a layout and hold an operating session to disallow cellphones since they weren't invented yet in my operating era (1975-1985).
Yeah, and in my era (fall 1997) the only cell phones looked like and weighed about as much as bricks!
Alex: I've already cleaned up the pulpwood in the river... Still haven't gotten to the sand, but that doesn't burn!
MILW-RODRCats really do land on their feet. Maybe I should paint gaint cats on the side of my rolling stock just in case they fall...
*Crunch!* go the axles as the cars land on their wheels! Unless you painted the cars upside down... *Crunch!* goes the weight as it comes unglued from the floor and crashes onto the ceiling! Or sideways... *Crunch!* goes the couplers as the car lands on it's end!
That looks like a fairly large layout. I'd love to see a track plan if you have one.
Thanks! The layout measures 12' by 22' in a kidney shape. I don't have a track plan at the moment (that same kidney shape makes it really hard to draw!) but I do have this schematic. You can zoom in on it to read the labels. It'll be changing once I build the staging yard too...
http://s233.photobucket.com/albums/ee261/TrainManTy/?action=view¤t=WRSSchematic5-19-09.jpg
I hope you're not going to have another ops session for awhile if we do end up relocating the mainline through Canaan and West Canaan. The old ROW can become a railtrail!
Congratulations on getting into operating! Here's a couple of suggestions for you. Get a notebook or clipboard and start a "bug sheet" where you note down each defect in the layout as it crops up while you are operating. This allows you to systematically eliminate flaws and contributes to smoother operation. On your own, go through each train operation and when you note that a car has a low trip pin or derails, fix it on the spot. After while your car fleet will get a lot less trouble prone. Every operating layout needs constant maintainance to stay reliable . Finally, you might rethink the idea of using live loads, at least until things settle down a bit. Have fun!