Bob SHABBONA is a secondary main line system where (at least for now) trains meet at the terminals. During the open house in April, that was Mooar yard. A second operator covered yard operations at Terminal District to turn trains and get them headed in the right direction for the next trip.
By the same token, the RR does not use car cards, etc., for car spotting. The trains are made up with the general Idea that the heaviest cars (loads) are on the head end, and the empties are on the rear. Thus loads on the head end Westbound become empties Eastbound. The only variation to this is hopper loads of coal. One direction they are loads, which are removeable and interchangeable, in the opposite direction they are empties. A variation of this is what I have planned for the flat car fleet I put together last summer, where I want to load one car with John Deere tractors, and another with Caterpillar tractors, and pair them with corresponding empty cars. This way, using the KUD interchange, the loads can run consistently over the route in one direction, while the empties can run in the opposite, as if returning for another load. More on this as it develops. Most other cars are switched "by eye", in other words the car type designates the final destination. I just don't have time to work with car card systems, etc., in my circumstances, otherwise. Right now, I'm trying to overcome this overwhelming urge to acquire an E8 in Rock Island colors so I can run at least one of the passenger train pairs with Rock Island power, but I'm afraid to commit to that, knowing where it could eventually lead. boB Nicholson _______________________________________________ --- In [email protected], Bob Werre <bob@...> wrote: > > boB, > > glad to see things are getting back to normal, both with you and the RR. > > It's been very hot recently as I know most of the country seems to be > experiencing--but locally we're a lot better than last year. I've > actually used my lawn mower this year. Haven't been in the train-room > too much lately, it takes too long to cool the place down to get much done. > > In regards to operations, I wish I had some of your thoughts to apply to > my RR's operations. I have the RailOps program that does a nice job of > routing cars to various locations, keeping track of cars and engines > etc. (I also understand that the folks at JMRI have introduced a > computer based program that does much of that also. ) > > However, I have yet to get into deciding how trains should actually run, > when you have 3-5 guys using essentially the same mainline trackage. It > seems to me most guys have put in a lot of trial and error to get things > right. It's hard to run thru freights while someone else is trying to > do some local switching. I've operated on friends layouts where we've > had two trains meeting in one location to add to the 'fun'. My fear is > to have all four in the same location so I think at that point the fun > is gone! > > Bob Werre > PhotoTraxx > > > > On 8/6/12 1:43 PM, shabbona_rr wrote: > > > > SHABBONA operations slowly getting back on track. I have been > > assembling the Walthers Power House I've had on hand for about three > > years. This will be the power house for The Humongous Company. > > > > The new spring switch is working well at Terminal District. The next > > project on that end is a better way of interchanging the solid reefer > > "meat trains" from Mooar Yard. I'm working on a procedure where I > > double up a couple of yard engines at Mooar and pull them to the > > interchange. That will mean tossing the inbound waycar aside, then > > grabbing the train and pulling it over, then maybe have a couple of > > terminal District engines pull it back at the proper time. It sounds > > better than it works, currently, but I'm working on the "bugs". > > > > The passenger trains have been running fairly consistent, and I've > > been running the Mooar Turns, though not always on a daily basis, and > > I've been doing a little switching at Humongous. That's about it for now. > > > > Bob Nicholson -__________________________________________________ > > > > > ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
