Operation

Transfer Runs, Switching, Branch Movements

That is the best way to describe the MO of the Railroad. Normal operation revolves around the arrival and departure of transfers to / from the staging areas, and the subsequent switching of cars arriving or departing on transfer runs. The staging areas are used to hold, turn and switch transfer run trains, which then make their way to the interchange where the local loco takes over and switches the cars while the mainline loco returns to any of the staging areas. I did have some trains representing my second freelanced railroad, the MWSL, but since I had to make the layout smaller, I have stopped using them, at least for now.

Storage Sidings

Before Dec 2006, there was one hidden staging area with 4 sidings and one visible staging area. In Jan 2007, the hidden staging area was un-hidden, and reduced to 3 tracks (1 x Drill and 2 holding spurs) and became the Illinois staging area, which represents IHB's Blue Island yard, Chessie / B&OCT's Barr yard, and a few other RRs. Trains held in the Illinois staging sidings are typically between 5 and 9 cars in length, and arrive on the drill track, before being turned and / or shunted as required. I also had a second major staging area - the Indiana staging area, which represents EJ&E's Van Loon Junction, Indiana, which allowed trains from EJ&E Kirk Yard, and Chessie's Pine Jcn. The Indiana staging area was scrapped in August 2008, due to me having to make the layout smaller. As you might imagine, one issue which the switch and transfer run crews need to keep in mind is the maximum length of train that can be held in the staging area sidings, and the capacity of the interchange tracks.

The RIP Facility

The way traffic for the RIP Facility is determined may be of special interest. In the Model Railroader Feb 2006 edition, the idea was put forward to have a RIP track or facility on the layout. As soon as I saw this I realized what a great idea it was, and I sought to include a RIP facility in my layout. I made up some business card size cards with indications of car faults, if any, in a train. An operator randomly draws a card when his train arrives at the interchange. If a car in the train has a fault it is then placed on a different siding to all the others in the interchange and is shunted to the RIP Facility later in the operating session. The cars put into the RIP facility are returned to the interchange during the following operating session.

Generating Work for the Railroad

On my previous layouts I have used a work timetable or waybill type of system, and when I had built this layout to the point where I could operate it, I tried a few ideas, but none seemed to work too well. Then I struck on the idea of using timetabled arriving and departing trains, and some Extras to fill in the quite times in the timetable, such as transfer runs. I also had the idea of have a 'switchlist' of sorts, which sets out what sorts of cars, and even what specific cars, are required by each industry on the railroad. Below is a list of some of these.

• 40' western railroad Box cars used by American Electric
• 50' Colored door box cars used by Bluwall Printers
• Grain box cars used by the Team Track and Midwest Foods
• 31' covered hoppers used by Team Track
• 40' Stock cars - transport firewood to either Team Track or Midwest Foods (I got the idea from the Puffing Billy Railway in Victoria, Australia)

Others are easy to understand.

• Fuel tankers for the Fuel Distributors
• All other box cars not already used by other industries are used by the Team Tracks
• Food related cars (other than bulk grain / flour) are used by Midwest Foods
• Chemical hoppers and tankers are used by Northern Chemicals
• COFC, TOFC are used by the Calumet South Tranship Facility or the Team Track
• Open hoppers of stone used by Petra Stone

There are also some single specific cars (identified by number) which service a particular industry, but these are relatively few to make it a bit easier for visiting operators.

Multi-Person Operation

This layout is quite interesting to operate as a single operator, but I had not had the opportunity to operate it with more than one operator, due to the control system I use, until August 2006.

In August 2006, I purchased a ROCO LokMaus 2 DCC system, with 2 controllers, a 2.75amp transformer, and 99 channels. As of August 2006 I have had a few operating sessions, with my oldest daughter and son, using the new DCC system and it does add interest to the operation of the railroad. In Oct 2006, my father visited with us for a few days, and we had 2/3rds of an operating session. This operating session, in particular, showed that it can be a lot of fun to operate the layout with more than one person. My dad had to think things through when operating the South Forest Local, as I have made that branch a bit of a shunting puzzle! In January 2007 I had a friend from the model railroad club come around and have an operating session - and he really took a liking to one particular section of the railroad because of the way it had to be shunted and operating restrictions that applied to that section. So now when I have visitors, such as friends from the model railroad club I belong to, or my dad, or have my children operating it, I can now have a multi person operating session rather than just talking about doing it!

Over the months of having multi-operator op sessions I have concluded that to help keep things interesting for the operators I need to have a minimal number of trains on the timetable, and run as many extras as necessary. This gives a lot more flexibility so that operators are more likely to be doing something instead of waiting for their next assignment. I do like to put visiting operators on one of the industry switch jobs, as they are quite fun to operate and it also helps me see where their operating strengths lie.

Since making the layout smaller in August 2008, I figure my maximum crew is currently about 3 people - 1 General Yardmaster / Dispatcher, 1 Transfer Runs Operator, and 1 Switch Jobs Operator.

Safeworking Issues

Because the layout is now multi-operator capable I also needed a way of stopping opposing train movements! After some lively discussions on the subject on the Ry-ops-industrialSIG Yahoo group, I have decided that the easiest Safeworking system for my layout would be to have the whole layout operated under Restricted Speed (Rule 80) under a General Yardmaster.

Restricted Speed (Rule 80) is defined as follows in relation to the C&SFT RR - Movements made at Restricted Speed must apply the following requirements as the method of operation:

• Control the movement to permit stopping within one half the range of vision short of:
1. Other trains or railroad equipment occupying or fouling the track.
2. Obstructions.
3. Switches not properly lined for movement.
4. Any signal or sign requiring a stop
• Look out for broken rail and misaligned track
• Do not exceed the maximum speed prescribed by timetable or other written or verbal directives.

I have incorporated a number of ideas based on TT&TO, such as a Train Crew Instruction Sheet (Form T1), which is based on a generic Form 19 / 31. This form includes not only Train Order type information, but also switching instructions, and other instructions relevant to the trains crew. I also use a Train Sheet to keep track of which trains have been completed, and where trains are on the layout, which helps if a session finishes before the 'day' being operated does. My Train Sheet has the following columns:

• Train ID
• Motive Power - which locos will be assigned to a train.
• Crew Initials - for when a train commences it's run.
• Completed column - indicates if a train has completed it's run.
• Movement Description - where the train starts, ends, etc.
• A column to indicate which trains require a Form T1.
• A column for other notes.

The Train Sheet is generated for each session by a software package I designed.

Under a General Yardmaster / Restricted Speed arrangement, the General Yardmaster is responsible for safety of all train movements over the whole railroad, similar to a Dispatcher under TT&TO or TWC. But with a General Yardmaster, directions to trains can be verbal, and therefore there is little or no paperwork required! Sounds good to me...

To notify operating session personnel of changed track conditions, I also designed a Track Bulletin, which allows track conditions to be passed on to train crews in written form. Mostly, I would just tell operators verbally, but the written Track Bulletin adds extra operational interest, especially as the Track Bulletin is normally only used for ACTUAL track conditions (for example; a section of warped track, a faulty turnout, or similar).

The Timetable

Originally, I designed a timetable for the layout which worked well for both single and multiple person operating sessions. A full session lasts about 2 to 3 hours, depending on experience of the operators, and whether a Fast Clock is used.

More recently, I replaced the Timetable with a Train Sequence, meaning there is not so much clock watching necessary now in order to run trains - helpful where operators are not that familiar with the layout and the trains that normally run on it, or for when the operators want a more laid back operating session.

There are 3 basic Train Classes on the C&SFT:

• Timetabled - highest class, would be on a timetable, if there was one. Mostly these are trains that run every operating session.
• Extras - Trains that are run, often quite regularly, but that would not be on a timetable. These might run one way one session, and return the next. Or they might only run a few days a week.
• Switch / Yard Jobs - Local switching moves between the Interchange Yard and industries on the C&SFT. These are always run by C&SFT crews, and use C&SFT motive power.

Fast Clock

I found a Fast Clock program on the internet, and have installed it on my laptop for use with operating sessions. I will have to experiment with the settings to see what speed is best for my layout.

The fast clock program was found at:

http://www.StansTrains.com/Software.htm