It's always good to have sources of inspiration to get yourself fired up about working on the railroad. I've had a few of those experiences recently, and the only thing holding me back has been a busy non-hobby schedule and these doggone early nights of darkness.
The first recent inspiration was operating on Seth Gartner's New York Central Piney Fork Branch. Seth's layout is a beautiful HO layout based on the New York Central in and around his hometown of Minerva, OH. Scenery is only partially complete, and is very nice where it is complete, but all of us who operate know that a railroad can be beautiful without even a hint of scenery.
On Seth's layout, I ran the infamous Wheeling Power & Light job out of Minerva. When enough empties had arrived at the yard, I boarded my power, put my train together, and headed south out of town. My first stop would be at Phillips, where I would set a cut of hoppers off on the south leg of the wye. These empties would later be spotted at the nearby Ohio & Pennsylvania mine. I then proceeded south to Piney Fork Yard, where I met a yard job scurrying about and one of my partners in crime, Todd Arnett, working another mine run. After figuring out how all three jobs could work at Piney Fork at the same time, I eventually got out of town and rolled through Dillonvale on my way to the Yellow Dog Mine. There I spotted empties and picked up loads before running around the train at St. Clairsville to start returning north.
Arriving back in Piney Fork, I met a southbound merchandise train before descending northward back to Phillips to pull the empties so I could place them and pull loads from the Ohio & Pennsylvania Mine between there and Amsterdam, OH. After finishing the work at the mine, I pulled north again and ran my entire train around the wye at Phillips. I was now a loaded coal train, having made all my pickups, and it was time to head back south again to work the W&LE interchange at Hopedale, OH. At Hopedale I would meet a couple of trains in the process of backing my loaded train into the W&LE connection track and picking up empty hoppers from the W&LE interchange.
Nearly three real hours later, I was heading back to Minerva with an empty train that would get yarded there. What a trip that was, and what a great time moving coal on a light density branch line.
The second recent inspirational event was an operating session at Bob Helm's Clinchfield Railroad Elkhorn Extension. Also an HO modeler, Bob has done the north end of the Clinchfield right with a very accurate representation of the real thing. Running distances between towns or passing tracks are long, train speeds are slow, and work along the line is plentiful. During the 4-5 hour operating session, I was part of a shifter crew the first half and I was the dispatcher during the second half.
Fellow N Scaler and Clinchfield modeler Ken Borowski and I were teamed up on a Nora Turn out of Dante, VA. Ken acted as the engineer while I worked as the conductor of the job as we ran. Our crew climbed aboard an A-B-A set of gray-and-yellow Clinchfield F-units and proceeded to the north end of the yard at Dante, where we would get ahold of 10 system empty hoppers and a caboose. After a brake test, we were northbound from Dante, through Trammel, and up to the Nora spur. There we would pull by the switch to the spur and then back down to the large loadout at Blue Diamond. We would set off our cab and then shove our 10 empties up above the loadout before pulling back down to pick up our loads. We put together our train of 25 loads before easing down to the mainline switch. Our next duty was to call the dispatcher for permission to line out and take our 25 clean loads to the passing siding at Allen, VA, where we would set them off.
Upon arrival at Allen, we were met by an Elkhorn Turn that had been coming south from Elkhorn City. The crew of the Elkhorn Turn had to set off raw loads in the Allen Extension Track before continuing south to Dante. Once that job and its pusher finished their work at Allen, we cut off and ran back light to the Nora Spur so we could work the Open Fork loader. We pulled the raw loads and then waited for the loader's switcher to place some empties that had been brought earlier. Our work complete, we returned again to Allen, this time backing our raw loads into the Allen Extension Track. Finally, we would return to our train of 25 loads out of Blue Diamond, couple up to them, and take them south to Dante for weighing.
Our run from Allen to Dante was uneventful. We arrived in the yard and put away our power. Almost immediately the yard crew went to work weighing our cars. We tied our power down and took our rest. In real time, we worked this job well over an hour.
Both of these railroads reinforced my interest in coalfields railroading, with enough switching to do to keep crews busy for a long period of time. On the CR&E, the crews of the C80 and C82 Hill Runs can make a three-hour event out of their job very easily. Some of the mine runs on the K&N District can run for an hour or more as well. I enjoy this type of operating because I think it makes a crew feel like they are doing work. There are a lot of elements of realism I observed at both Seth's and Bob's sessions that can be incorporated into CR&E sessions to make operators feel like they have worked a day on the railroad.
My thanks to Seth and Bob for allowing me to operate on your railroads. I always bring home new ideas from every new railroad I operate on. I encourage anyone who is interested in operations to take every opportunity to travel to other layouts as well. What you learn will be invaluable.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
A quiz before an operating session?
I experienced something new in my model railroad operating "career" this past weekend.
Upon arrival for a special operating session on Jack Parker's Piedmont & Western Railway, I was handed a clipboard with a two page document and a pen. On that document was around 25 questions pertaining to the layout. I was being given a quiz!
After originally wondering if I really needed to take the quiz -- after all, I had been to the P&W many times although I had not been in several years -- I decided to do as I was told and start walking around the layout looking for the answers.
As it turned out taking this quiz, which was never graded, was quite entertaining and very educational. Jack had a great idea in giving it out --- the operators who participated that night would be searching the railroad and the railroad room for details, and details are indeed the things that sometimes help us out during operations.
Some of the questions were simply to get us to take note of things. How many Black Angus cows are in the stockpen at Altamont? Who cares, I might ask, but then again if I'm switching that town later I bet I know where to spot the stock car without even thinking about it. What is the name of the power plant serviced out of Loray? I know for a fact that someone is going to need to know where that is before a session ends, whether it's the Loray Yardmaster, a train crew, or anyone else who needs to send cars there.
So I got to thinking that this type of quiz might be a great idea for people to take before a session begins. Veteran operators and newbies would be able to benefit from taking a few minutes to actually look at the layout, at a relaxed pace, and to actually notice things. What a great way to point people to things that you, as a layout owner, want them to notice.
Now, I suppose I'll hold off for awhile before developing a quiz for the CR&E. I could see it now. "How many screws are in the riser under the switch at Forester?"
Marcus
Upon arrival for a special operating session on Jack Parker's Piedmont & Western Railway, I was handed a clipboard with a two page document and a pen. On that document was around 25 questions pertaining to the layout. I was being given a quiz!
After originally wondering if I really needed to take the quiz -- after all, I had been to the P&W many times although I had not been in several years -- I decided to do as I was told and start walking around the layout looking for the answers.
As it turned out taking this quiz, which was never graded, was quite entertaining and very educational. Jack had a great idea in giving it out --- the operators who participated that night would be searching the railroad and the railroad room for details, and details are indeed the things that sometimes help us out during operations.
Some of the questions were simply to get us to take note of things. How many Black Angus cows are in the stockpen at Altamont? Who cares, I might ask, but then again if I'm switching that town later I bet I know where to spot the stock car without even thinking about it. What is the name of the power plant serviced out of Loray? I know for a fact that someone is going to need to know where that is before a session ends, whether it's the Loray Yardmaster, a train crew, or anyone else who needs to send cars there.
So I got to thinking that this type of quiz might be a great idea for people to take before a session begins. Veteran operators and newbies would be able to benefit from taking a few minutes to actually look at the layout, at a relaxed pace, and to actually notice things. What a great way to point people to things that you, as a layout owner, want them to notice.
Now, I suppose I'll hold off for awhile before developing a quiz for the CR&E. I could see it now. "How many screws are in the riser under the switch at Forester?"
Marcus
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Back to work! A 10-10-10 progress report
With the Carolina Southern RailOps weekend recently cancelled due to lack of registrations, I decided it was time to start working on layout projects I was afraid to get into before that session.
The first two projects are underway, and supplies have been purchased for the third project. The fourth project, a rather large one, is still on the agenda but also still in the planning stages.
Project #1 - Brushy Mountain Railroad extension
On Version One of the CR&E, the railroad's Old Main Line extended eastward from the mainline control point at Lewis toward Archer Fork and Glace. The route ran parallel to the mainline through that area, and forked at a place called Laurel Creek Jct near Archer Fork, WV.
Beyond Laurel Creek Jct, an NS/CR&E branchline served a coal loading operation along the branch's namesake Laurel Creek. The other route at Laurel Creek Jct was the continuation of the Old Main Line, which had been taken over by a shortline operator. The Brushy Mountain Railroad (BMTR) came into existence, using two ex-Southern SD35's lettered for the Brushy Mountain. Those locomotives were eventually replaced by a pair of ex-N&W GP9's, only one of which made it into Brushy Mountain green and yellow paint.
Usually once a day, the Brushy Mountain's train #101 would come west from its hidden staging track to make a connection with the CR&E Division at Lewisburg. After switching out inbound and outbound cars, the train would return along the Old Main Line, take the BMTR's route under the CR&E at Archer Fork, and disappear again into staging.
On the new CR&E, the Old Main Line was reborn, as was the Brushy Mountain Railroad. The Laurel Creek Branch, however, was not. On the new layout, the Old Main Line serves as the Lewisburg yard lead to a point just east of the Greenbrier River bridge. East of that point, the line is under the control of the Brushy Mountain Railroad.
For the first few operating sessions, the Brushy Mountain has dead-ended near Caldwell. The Lewisburg yard crew, when ready, would bring the BMTR train in to Lewisburg and then run it back out to the end of its track. As of this week, however, the Brushy Mountain has been extended back to its staging track, which is located behind the CR&E mainline at Archer Fork. Just like on the old layout, the BMTR sneaks under the John R. Comita Bridge at Archer Fork before disappearing into staging.
A new feature of Brushy Mountain 2.0 is the addition of two industries to switch. The APG Lime facility, formerly located on the CR&E mainline at Archer Fork on the old layout, has been relocated to the BMTR mainline on Version Two. Boggs Scrap Metal, a brand-new industry, has been located on the Brushy Mountain mainline at Caldwell, WV. BMTR Train 101 will switch these two industries on its way west to interchange with the CR&E Division. This new arrangement will be in service for our next operating session.
Project #2 - The K&N Clear Fork Branch extension
At Kessler, WV, on the Kessler & Northern District, there is to be a wye that connects the K&N Extension with the K&N's original line up to Clear Fork, WV. A flood loading operation at Clear Fork, represented by a hidden staging track, will load coal trains to head south on the K&N to NS destinations as well as north on the K&N to CSXT destinations.
The mainline and siding through Kessler have been in service for a few months. The south leg of the Clear Fork wye was also installed to allow for some limited coal shipments to be switched there by one of the shifter crews. The north leg of the wye has been graded (cork roadbed glued down) but the track has not been installed yet. The apex switch to connect both legs of the wye also has not been installed.
Finally today, I began working on the staging track that will hold Clear Fork trains on the inside of what is becoming something like a mole staging area inside the K&N peninsula. The subroadbed has been secured for the entire Clear Fork Branch hidden staging track. Once the wye turnout is installed and the track is laid, Clear Fork will be able to send out 20-22 car coal trains in the current arrangement. This is a little shorter than I expected, so I may extend the shelf around a curve to get a standard 24-car unit train to fit.
Project #3 - Extending the K&N north to the B&O connection at Fenwick
Whew....this topic has been the subject of much internal debate for a few months now.
My original plan for the upper level peninsula in Room #2 was to extend the CR&E mainline east from New Castle, through Abbott and Catawba, to the staging yard at Roanoke. I did not plan to build this right away, until I got the lower level K&N branchline territory figured out.
When I was designing the K&N, I suddenly decided I liked the idea of having a double-deck K&N occupying the peninsula. I began sketching out plans that would allow 16" wide benchwork built all around a big hole in the middle, like a squared-off "O." In the middle of that "O" would be an oval-shaped helix ("ovalix") connecting the lower and upper levels of the K&N. Up on top, above the already built lower level K&N, the branch would meander along toward a connection with the B&O at Fenwick, WV. I was really liking this B&O connection idea a lot, and the possibility of building a little-used, run-down portion of the K&N. This would mean that the modeled portion of the CR&E mainline would end at New Castle, as it does now, dumping straight into the Roanoke staging yard as it currently does. It was a sacrifice I was willing to make for more branchline operations!
That is until I started thinking more about that ovalix. Was it really worth running trains around a helix three times in hidden track just to get around the peninsula one time on the upper level to access the B&O? Would it be worth it to have three times more hidden track on that part of the K&N than visible track? Did I really want to build a helix after figuring out how to have a double-deck railroad without one? Did I really like the CR&E mainline ending at New Castle, missing out on switching opportunities and mainline running through Abbott and Catawba like I had on Version One? What to do...what to do?
My friend Larry came by yesterday for a short visit. Out of his mouth came the words that sometimes require sitting down to hear, but usually mean a good idea is about to come out: "I may be smoking crack, but..."
Larry suggested a way I could have BOTH the extended CR&E mainline AND the K&N run to Fenwick's B&O interchange, WITHOUT having the helix. It all involved that 3' X 6' open space inside the peninsula that was going to be dedicated to that helix.
If I didn't build the upper level as K&N trackage, I was planning to run a staging track into that big open space, around the outside of it, to have a mole-type hidden staging track for the K&N. Larry's idea developed from that: build that staging track around the outside of that big hole, but scenic it, call it Fenwick, and build the B&O interchange in there. Once or twice during an operating session, a K&N or B&O crew working the interchange would have to crawl inside the hole, stand up inside it, and switch the interchange at Fenwick. It would be one person occupying what would be a 24" aisle inside the benchwork, certainly doable. A stool inside there would make switching the interchange comfortable.
The upper level, then, would be built to represent the CR&E mainline from New Castle to Roanoke, just as I originally wanted to do. Down inside that mole staging area would be the rest of the K&N, and would be the connection to the B&O that I thought would be so neat.
The materials have been purchased, and construction will be underway this week! Sometimes it just takes someone else to help you figure out what you want to do.
Project #4 - Extending the CR&E mainline from New Castle to Roanoke
This one hasn't started yet, and materials have not yet been purchased. Once the K&N trackage is finished up to Fenwick, I'll start on the Roanoke extension.
The upper level will be a narrow shelf, no wider than eight inches, built above the K&N. To make it work, a curve will have to be realigned just east of New Castle, and the ladder on the Roanoke staging yard will have to be moved to the opposite end.
This will be a project for the fall and winter, with the debut of the mainline extension hopefully taking place for our February 2011 session.
The first two projects are underway, and supplies have been purchased for the third project. The fourth project, a rather large one, is still on the agenda but also still in the planning stages.
Project #1 - Brushy Mountain Railroad extension
On Version One of the CR&E, the railroad's Old Main Line extended eastward from the mainline control point at Lewis toward Archer Fork and Glace. The route ran parallel to the mainline through that area, and forked at a place called Laurel Creek Jct near Archer Fork, WV.
Beyond Laurel Creek Jct, an NS/CR&E branchline served a coal loading operation along the branch's namesake Laurel Creek. The other route at Laurel Creek Jct was the continuation of the Old Main Line, which had been taken over by a shortline operator. The Brushy Mountain Railroad (BMTR) came into existence, using two ex-Southern SD35's lettered for the Brushy Mountain. Those locomotives were eventually replaced by a pair of ex-N&W GP9's, only one of which made it into Brushy Mountain green and yellow paint.
Usually once a day, the Brushy Mountain's train #101 would come west from its hidden staging track to make a connection with the CR&E Division at Lewisburg. After switching out inbound and outbound cars, the train would return along the Old Main Line, take the BMTR's route under the CR&E at Archer Fork, and disappear again into staging.
On the new CR&E, the Old Main Line was reborn, as was the Brushy Mountain Railroad. The Laurel Creek Branch, however, was not. On the new layout, the Old Main Line serves as the Lewisburg yard lead to a point just east of the Greenbrier River bridge. East of that point, the line is under the control of the Brushy Mountain Railroad.
For the first few operating sessions, the Brushy Mountain has dead-ended near Caldwell. The Lewisburg yard crew, when ready, would bring the BMTR train in to Lewisburg and then run it back out to the end of its track. As of this week, however, the Brushy Mountain has been extended back to its staging track, which is located behind the CR&E mainline at Archer Fork. Just like on the old layout, the BMTR sneaks under the John R. Comita Bridge at Archer Fork before disappearing into staging.
A new feature of Brushy Mountain 2.0 is the addition of two industries to switch. The APG Lime facility, formerly located on the CR&E mainline at Archer Fork on the old layout, has been relocated to the BMTR mainline on Version Two. Boggs Scrap Metal, a brand-new industry, has been located on the Brushy Mountain mainline at Caldwell, WV. BMTR Train 101 will switch these two industries on its way west to interchange with the CR&E Division. This new arrangement will be in service for our next operating session.
Project #2 - The K&N Clear Fork Branch extension
At Kessler, WV, on the Kessler & Northern District, there is to be a wye that connects the K&N Extension with the K&N's original line up to Clear Fork, WV. A flood loading operation at Clear Fork, represented by a hidden staging track, will load coal trains to head south on the K&N to NS destinations as well as north on the K&N to CSXT destinations.
The mainline and siding through Kessler have been in service for a few months. The south leg of the Clear Fork wye was also installed to allow for some limited coal shipments to be switched there by one of the shifter crews. The north leg of the wye has been graded (cork roadbed glued down) but the track has not been installed yet. The apex switch to connect both legs of the wye also has not been installed.
Finally today, I began working on the staging track that will hold Clear Fork trains on the inside of what is becoming something like a mole staging area inside the K&N peninsula. The subroadbed has been secured for the entire Clear Fork Branch hidden staging track. Once the wye turnout is installed and the track is laid, Clear Fork will be able to send out 20-22 car coal trains in the current arrangement. This is a little shorter than I expected, so I may extend the shelf around a curve to get a standard 24-car unit train to fit.
Project #3 - Extending the K&N north to the B&O connection at Fenwick
Whew....this topic has been the subject of much internal debate for a few months now.
My original plan for the upper level peninsula in Room #2 was to extend the CR&E mainline east from New Castle, through Abbott and Catawba, to the staging yard at Roanoke. I did not plan to build this right away, until I got the lower level K&N branchline territory figured out.
When I was designing the K&N, I suddenly decided I liked the idea of having a double-deck K&N occupying the peninsula. I began sketching out plans that would allow 16" wide benchwork built all around a big hole in the middle, like a squared-off "O." In the middle of that "O" would be an oval-shaped helix ("ovalix") connecting the lower and upper levels of the K&N. Up on top, above the already built lower level K&N, the branch would meander along toward a connection with the B&O at Fenwick, WV. I was really liking this B&O connection idea a lot, and the possibility of building a little-used, run-down portion of the K&N. This would mean that the modeled portion of the CR&E mainline would end at New Castle, as it does now, dumping straight into the Roanoke staging yard as it currently does. It was a sacrifice I was willing to make for more branchline operations!
That is until I started thinking more about that ovalix. Was it really worth running trains around a helix three times in hidden track just to get around the peninsula one time on the upper level to access the B&O? Would it be worth it to have three times more hidden track on that part of the K&N than visible track? Did I really want to build a helix after figuring out how to have a double-deck railroad without one? Did I really like the CR&E mainline ending at New Castle, missing out on switching opportunities and mainline running through Abbott and Catawba like I had on Version One? What to do...what to do?
My friend Larry came by yesterday for a short visit. Out of his mouth came the words that sometimes require sitting down to hear, but usually mean a good idea is about to come out: "I may be smoking crack, but..."
Larry suggested a way I could have BOTH the extended CR&E mainline AND the K&N run to Fenwick's B&O interchange, WITHOUT having the helix. It all involved that 3' X 6' open space inside the peninsula that was going to be dedicated to that helix.
If I didn't build the upper level as K&N trackage, I was planning to run a staging track into that big open space, around the outside of it, to have a mole-type hidden staging track for the K&N. Larry's idea developed from that: build that staging track around the outside of that big hole, but scenic it, call it Fenwick, and build the B&O interchange in there. Once or twice during an operating session, a K&N or B&O crew working the interchange would have to crawl inside the hole, stand up inside it, and switch the interchange at Fenwick. It would be one person occupying what would be a 24" aisle inside the benchwork, certainly doable. A stool inside there would make switching the interchange comfortable.
The upper level, then, would be built to represent the CR&E mainline from New Castle to Roanoke, just as I originally wanted to do. Down inside that mole staging area would be the rest of the K&N, and would be the connection to the B&O that I thought would be so neat.
The materials have been purchased, and construction will be underway this week! Sometimes it just takes someone else to help you figure out what you want to do.
Project #4 - Extending the CR&E mainline from New Castle to Roanoke
This one hasn't started yet, and materials have not yet been purchased. Once the K&N trackage is finished up to Fenwick, I'll start on the Roanoke extension.
The upper level will be a narrow shelf, no wider than eight inches, built above the K&N. To make it work, a curve will have to be realigned just east of New Castle, and the ladder on the Roanoke staging yard will have to be moved to the opposite end.
This will be a project for the fall and winter, with the debut of the mainline extension hopefully taking place for our February 2011 session.
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