So, you're getting into operation now, Sawyer? It's a lot of fun and is my favorite facet of the hobby.
I have one comment from a relatively experienced operator, as I've been operating for over a year now on both mine and a friend's layout:
Put the car type back. I use a car card and waybill system (I like them a lot better than switch lists, but that's just me) and when I'm operating I never look at the car number that's on the car card. I only look at the roadname and car type. And, while you may have your numbering system memorized, any guest operators will find it hard to tell and you may find it awkward too. Just looking at the car type is a whole lot easier. Maybe you can write the number bigger without the car type on the list, but since most people won't even look at it unless they need to, it's not really needed.
Most trains won't have two of the same road and same type of car. I routinely run up to 7 car locals (one of the only times you need to look at the car cards except for yard ops) and I don't think I've ever gotten the same type of car from the same railroad.
Of course, you're using a switch list system. This is similar too. An operator looks at the list "Any cars for ABC Lumber? Yup. It's loaded on a UP bulkhead flatcar." Since there's probably only one UP bulkhead flatcar in the train, it's obvious which one the list is reffering to. The operator never needs to look at the car number.
That isn't to say you should take the number slot off. Other people have different operating techniques and they may be used to looking at the number slot even if they don't need to. Plus, on the chance you do actually get two of the same type of car from the same railroad in the same train, car numbers are useful to know!
Of course, unit trains are the exception here, but since they don't exactly do much switching, I don't see a switch list being written up for one on most railroads...
So, I'd put the car type back! Just a suggestion from an operator...
It's been a great weekend here in Joisey.
To start, we had a snow day on Friday. I got some time to do some weathering. Here's the pix:
I also finished some more scenery:
And now for the best news. I'm getting a PL42AC from IMW. It is a resin kit, and it will be my first. I can't wait to order it so that I can start building it.
That's about it for now. Over break, I'll install the DCC and start assembling the structure that I'll be getting for Christmas.
My Model Railroad: Tri State RailMy Photos on Flickr: FlickrMy Videos on Youtube: YoutubeMy Photos on RRPA: RR Picture Archives
TrainManTySo, you're getting into operation now, Sawyer? It's a lot of fun and is my favorite facet of the hobby.I have one comment from a relatively experienced operator, as I've been operating for over a year now on both mine and a friend's layout:Put the car type back. I use a car card and waybill system (I like them a lot better than switch lists, but that's just me) and when I'm operating I never look at the car number that's on the car card. I only look at the roadname and car type. And, while you may have your numbering system memorized, any guest operators will find it hard to tell and you may find it awkward too. Just looking at the car type is a whole lot easier. Maybe you can write the number bigger without the car type on the list, but since most people won't even look at it unless they need to, it's not really needed.Most trains won't have two of the same road and same type of car. I routinely run up to 7 car locals (one of the only times you need to look at the car cards except for yard ops) and I don't think I've ever gotten the same type of car from the same railroad.Of course, you're using a switch list system. This is similar too. An operator looks at the list "Any cars for ABC Lumber? Yup. It's loaded on a UP bulkhead flatcar." Since there's probably only one UP bulkhead flatcar in the train, it's obvious which one the list is reffering to. The operator never needs to look at the car number.That isn't to say you should take the number slot off. Other people have different operating techniques and they may be used to looking at the number slot even if they don't need to. Plus, on the chance you do actually get two of the same type of car from the same railroad in the same train, car numbers are useful to know!Of course, unit trains are the exception here, but since they don't exactly do much switching, I don't see a switch list being written up for one on most railroads...So, I'd put the car type back! Just a suggestion from an operator...
Well, I had nothing else to do, and I was looking around for something to do for my RR (had finished up all thew wiring I could do today), and so I googled switchlist and got that site, went ahead and created it. Also, I printed out two copies of my numbering system, one for each shelf, so an operator will always have it handy. I plan to eventually have a small manual for any operators, once I get the operation all figured out, that has everything they'll need to know. Reason I went with a switchlist is b/c it's easier to make than a car card system, and I have access to it more (I have no clue about car cards, lol). And the car numbers jsut make it look more official, lol.
Sawyer Berry
Clemson University c/o 2018
Building a protolanced industrial park layout
Your decision, but...
I'm not saying your operators won't be able to do their work without the car type, but it is definetely easier on them (and you, some people will ask the layout owner questions they could easily get by reading a manual, but it's faster and people are lazy) if they could tell the car type by a quick glance. Prototype railroads are constantly trying to streamline their operation, and model railroads should follow suit.
And the car numbers do make it look official, no doubt. They should stay there. I'm just saying you should put the car type on IN ADDITION to the numbers.
A manual is a great idea for your operators. I'm planning on having one for each train on my layout giving descriptions of each industry and the different car spots (after one operator spotted a loaded cement car on the sand track at New Poland Cement) for each industry. I'll try to include everything the operator needs to know, including track authority proccedures and random tips and remainders.
I will, however, make information available outside the manual when possible, such as the car types on each waybill, and having town schematics on the fascia with the industries labeled. This will make it easier for the operator to find the information without having to slog through a manual trying to find very basic information.
I'll try to write up a crash course on car cards and waybills for you tomorrow, including copies of the documents I used. It's really simple, and worth the extra trouble at the start because setup takes just as long as turning the waybills in each car card, instead of writing up each switch list. I once operated a train on a friend's layout using a switch list, and it took us a good 15-20 minutes to write up the switch list for ONE TRAIN! Setting up the waybills for a session on my layout (with three or more trains) takes less than 5. Multiply that by having a session once a week, and you've saved yourself 540 hours in one year!
TrainManTyYour decision, but...I'm not saying your operators won't be able to do their work without the car type, but it is definetely easier on them (and you, some people will ask the layout owner questions they could easily get by reading a manual, but it's faster and people are lazy) if they could tell the car type by a quick glance. Prototype railroads are constantly trying to streamline their operation, and model railroads should follow suit.And the car numbers do make it look official, no doubt. They should stay there. I'm just saying you should put the car type on IN ADDITION to the numbers.A manual is a great idea for your operators. I'm planning on having one for each train on my layout giving descriptions of each industry and the different car spots (after one operator spotted a loaded cement car on the sand track at New Poland Cement) for each industry. I'll try to include everything the operator needs to know, including track authority proccedures and random tips and remainders. I will, however, make information available outside the manual when possible, such as the car types on each waybill, and having town schematics on the fascia with the industries labeled. This will make it easier for the operator to find the information without having to slog through a manual trying to find very basic information.I'll try to write up a crash course on car cards and waybills for you tomorrow, including copies of the documents I used. It's really simple, and worth the extra trouble at the start because setup takes just as long as turning the waybills in each car card, instead of writing up each switch list. I once operated a train on a friend's layout using a switch list, and it took us a good 15-20 minutes to write up the switch list for ONE TRAIN! Setting up the waybills for a session on my layout (with three or more trains) takes less than 5. Multiply that by having a session once a week, and you've saved yourself 540 hours in one year!
Ok, I'll add that. Of course, the only two car types ever going to appear in the industries are boxcars and covered hoppers (PS-2 (feed) and hoppers to carry plastic pellets), so I'm not too sure how having the kind of car would help. It'd more be the initials that you'd need to worry about. And thanks, I have really no idea about operation, except you shove cars into sidings and take them out of sidings, lol.
Our club uses nice little track diagrams and general instructions. Feel free to download and take a look!
http://www.wimrc.ca/Track%20Diagrams/Track%20Diagrams%20January%208th,%202008.pdf
Alex
Its annoying in HO having to bend down to track level to read the numbers on equipment. I'm sure its twice as hard in N... On Tyler's and Yoshi's I read the roadname initials, and can usually identify which car is in question, unless there are two cars, in which case I have to read the numbers.
Guilford Guy Its annoying in HO having to bend down to track level to read the numbers on equipment. I'm sure its twice as hard in N... On Tyler's and Yoshi's I read the roadname initials, and can usually identify which car is in question, unless there are two cars, in which case I have to read the numbers.
Kinda random, but yes, I agree. They are very small.
ns3010Guilford Guy Its annoying in HO having to bend down to track level to read the numbers on equipment. I'm sure its twice as hard in N... On Tyler's and Yoshi's I read the roadname initials, and can usually identify which car is in question, unless there are two cars, in which case I have to read the numbers. Kinda random, but yes, I agree. They are very small.
Not random at all... I'm stating another reason why pax1 should add "Car Type" to his list.
Guilford Guyns3010Guilford Guy Its annoying in HO having to bend down to track level to read the numbers on equipment. I'm sure its twice as hard in N... On Tyler's and Yoshi's I read the roadname initials, and can usually identify which car is in question, unless there are two cars, in which case I have to read the numbers. Kinda random, but yes, I agree. They are very small. Not random at all... I'm stating another reason why pax1 should add "Car Type" to his list.
Which I have done, now I just need to change it on Word.
Ok, got it! Nvm...
For my PL42, im definately going to build the kit, because I just found out that a RTR version is $699!.!.!.!...
Page 3? Not on my watch! Here are some awesome cookies I frosted last night.
Hope everyone gets the loot they want this year! (and happy holidays, too!)
Those are really neat cookies!
I went railfanning a few days ago... Here's the trip report: http://cs.trains.com/trccs/forums/t/144027.aspx
Nice cookies Wikious.
Merry Christmas everyone (or Happy Holidays!)
Got some Bragdon weathering powders today, here's what I've gotten:
The prototype pic I used as a guide:
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=55152&nseq=3 (can't get the img url for it)
And what I got (sorry about the pic quality, still have to get a tripod):
Unfortunately, I couldn't get the front to get that same look, probably b/c of the black paint on it:
Here's my best pic of the roof (will just post the url):
http://s253.photobucket.com/albums/hh55/Packers_1/AAT%20Rwy/weathered%20U23B/?action=view¤t=IMG_3270.jpg
What I need to do is get that loose powder on those side grilles matted down, but otherwise, it's pretty good. Much better, considering my last attempt at weathering:
Well I've been very busy these last two weeks, with basketball, our bands christmas concert, tests, other school related items, and moving snow, I haven't got the time to post. For basketball we are 3-1, which is pretty good.
Happy Holidays to all! I should be posting again in 4-5 hours from now.
My Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/JR7582 My Flickr Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wcfan/
Holiday Greetings from Sussex County, NJ!
WCfan Happy Holidays to all! I should be posting again in 4-5 hours from now.
That would be 1-2 am EST, so 12-1 am in Wisconsin. I don't know about you, but after waking up at 9(east coast), cleaning up all day, and then having the family- which is very big- over since 5 (EST), I am literally falling asleep in front of my laptop...
Anyway, Happy Holidays to everyone out there. Merry Christmas, and I hope that everyone gets what they want. Have a safe, healthy, and happy Holiday Season!
WCfanWell I've been very busy these last two weeks, with basketball, our bands christmas concert, tests, other school related items, and moving snow, I haven't got the time to post. For basketball we are 3-1, which is pretty good.
We're 0-2. We lost 37-14 to a team of all 10th graders (we're all 8th graders, age group is 8th-10th grade), and then we also lost to another team by 11.
What type of offense do you guys run? We run Flex, which works nice. All the other teams we've played don't run flex, they ran some weird types that don't work well. The funny thing is, is every one knows Wausau West runs Flex, and they pratice stopping a flex cut layup, but we still beat them. the game we played on tuesday, we beat them by 20 points. One guy on the oppsite team put up a shot at our hoop, and made it! We got the points.
Raise the layout sternum level, or get chairs so that the layout is close to eye level.
A friend who has a large layout and holds operations layout is built like so one doesn't have to bend a whole lot.
Sawyer, the U-boats weathering looks better than the Gp35. I made the switch to powders a little bit ago. The ONR box and UP hopper were only the fourth and fifth cars I did with pastels (scrape a pastel stick with a razor blade to get powder), and the look great.
The other day I went to P-cola and picked up a 20-pack of Kadees, and 3 freight cars. A BAR railbox-style box car, a CP hopper, and an N&W hopper. They had a Bachmann silver series hopper in BN, but 16 bucks is pretty steep for a bachman, considering the N&W one I got was a Proto 1000 for half as much.
I have to make loads for the 2 hoppers, and the 4 other ones I bought on ebay (DT&I, B&O, NP, and one other one I can't recall the road name off of). Then I have to weather a total of 23 hoppers, 2 gons,1 boxcar, and 6 engines (3 GP30s, 2 U28Bs, and 1 U30C). I don't think I'll weather my SD45s or F45 (whenever it gets here), I could say they are new engines.
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.
Well, now it is offically Christmas. For model railroading, my parents got be an Athearn DMIR SD45T-2 (SD40-3) 419, and a Kato DMIR SD38-2 216. Pictures will come later in the morning.
WCfanWhat type of offense do you guys run? We run Flex, which works nice. All the other teams we've played don't run flex, they ran some weird types that don't work well. The funny thing is, is every one knows Wausau West runs Flex, and they pratice stopping a flex cut layup, but we still beat them. the game we played on tuesday, we beat them by 20 points. One guy on the oppsite team put up a shot at our hoop, and made it! We got the points.
It's church league basketball. We run an offense that is basically just pass it around until there's an open shot. I think we're going to try to start using another offense though. We only practice once a week, so it's a little difficult to run an offense.
Vincent, thanks for the compliment. Coming from you, that's great, you do a great job w/ your weathering as well
Merry Christmas to all! For model railroading (from Santa ), I got:
An Atlas Classic Susquehanna RS-1
Walthers Proto N FM C-Liner (this thing weighs a TON, way more than any of my other locos. have yet to see how it runs, my first non-Atlas loco)
Pikestuff single stall engine house
Pikestuff warehouse/office combo
Nu-Line structures wood loading dock
Rix 30' grain bin
Seaboard Orange + SAL Hopper beige
Also got "Comatose Comes Alive" by Skillet.
I got a NICE pocket knife from my siblings. Still waiting to see what my parents got me (have to wait for my grandma to come).
What time was it for you when you posted? The post date here (Eastern Standard Time) says 2:02 AM...
Packer: What year are you modeling? The SD45s were built between 1965 and 1971 and the F45 between 1968 and 1971. If it's near then, the locos definetely could be new. Either that or they could be freshly repainted. The GN was merged into BN in 1970, and their F45s could have survived a few years in their GN scheme before they were repainted into BN, which could be the new paint job that makes them look so clean.
Also, you could just add a little bit of weathering, such as on the trucks, pilot, and roof areas. The wouldn't be hard to do and would probably be easier to explain than having it brand-spanking clean.
TrainManTyAlso, you could just add a little bit of weathering, such as on the trucks, pilot, and roof areas. The wouldn't be hard to do and would probably be easier to explain than having it brand-spanking clean.
And who repaints trucks?
Actually, I think trucks do get repainted. Either that, or they get cleaned really well. Couplers don't get painted though...
TrainManTyActually, I think trucks do get repainted. Either that, or they get cleaned really well. Couplers don't get painted though...
Ok, my bad, lol.
Oh, I see Sawyer.
Tyler I posted at 1:02 Central Time.
Packer, you could also say the locomotives had just been washed, or repainted. I know BN had a huge fleet of SD45s, and BN did order some in 71 (the 65XX series, many of them made it to the WC, while many of the ex GN and NP SD45 went to the CNW). Here are some BN slides that RP contributor Kevin Piper Page through and you can find some neat BN motive power!
http://www.railpictures.net/showphotos.php
Hey guys.
Hope Santa got what you all wanted. I know he certainly did for me!We got a family point and shoot camera, so you know what that means!! It's layout building time!
Also got a nice, lightweight video tripod that I can actually bring on my bike (well, maybe not this time of year, but...)
And my sister actually asked my LHS what a good gift would be, and he said you can never run out of good ol' Kadee #5's, so my sister got my 3 packs of those.
Got a railroad calendar, and I asked for my MR subscription to be renewed.
So I guess you want to see some photos!
Here's 2 of the models I've been talking about the past little while:
Nothing too fancy, the ditch lights could look alot better on both. And there's still some details to add to both.
What do you guys think? Not a bad Christmas at all!
Nice shots Alex D., looks like ya'll got a nice camera. I use our family's camera for the most part, unless it's out of batteries, then I gotta bug my sister. That's a nice C424, right (or is it C425, they look the same ) Merry christmas, we still have presents to open under the tree (relatives finally got here, lol).