Mike Oates came over today and we had just a great operations session. We started with Train #1, a 2-8-0 out of Lexington. It was running with only 2 cars when it hit Jackson. Here we spent quite a bit of time switching. We first had to pick up 3 cars from Mills Fuels.

Naturally, the cars we wanted were at the other end of the string of cars, so we had to pull all five cars from the siding. Next, we had to drag them up to the passing siding so we could run the locomotive around them. The problem with the passing siding is that it’s on a 4% grade, thus the cars don’t want to stay put. Last year, I used some old railroad spikes to hold the cars on the grade. It’s a neat idea that I picked up from Goodson’s sessions, but it does have a big drawback - it’s VERY hard to see the spike as it lays under the car; while focusing on switchng, one does have a tendency to forget they are there! I struggled with a better solution and finally arrived at these survey flags. They cost a whopping 10 cents each at the local hardware store…and they work! In the picture below, one flag is hold the string of three cars while the locomotive runs around them while another flag holds the gondola that we just dropped. We’ll pick it up and put it in front of the loco to deliver to Matheson Textiles - located on a facing switch.

They go in easily and they’re rather visible. I have my main passing sidings on grades and these come in handy. I keep a couple of flags at each location and store them in Matheson Textiles in between sessions. By the time we got to Occoquan, they really came in handy as we ended up moving a LOT of cars at once. Remember, this is also a 4% grade, but the 2-8-0 handled them all.

All in all, a great session; lots of interesting switching. We ran as a team, Mike the engineer and I was the conductor/brakeman. The first train kept us occupied for almost two hours.

I like the flag idea, Bruce. I’ll put it to use myself.
Everything here, except the yard, is on a grade.
Ralph

Aren’t those flags typically blue?

They come in lots of colors. Around here, I generally see yellow and red. I don’t recall if they had any blue.

I guess you could also make your own, with custom colors or patterns…but for 10 cents each it really didn’t seem worth it.

Ten cents each? I thought you might have been pilfering them from Miss Utility -

(http://k43.pbase.com/o6/82/667482/1/77582015.G9Z7itMX.JULIEsGarden041.jpg)

-Brian

Hmmmm, interesting picture! And not a blue flag in sight! Hmmmm?

Good idea Bruce.

Most all of my track is on a grade. I’ve been using the little blue track hex drivers that come with Aristo track as my Blue Flag to hold cars. They are just the right height to fit in a coupler and provide some resistance for coupling at the other end. I can see how when operating as a team they might get forgotten. I know if you try and run them over it usually results in a derail.

I’ll look for these next time I’m at the Depot or the local hardware emporium.

I took a whole bundle of those flags out to Bart’s last fall. I use the wire end for all sorts of things. Never though to use the flag end. I only have one place I’d need them to hold the cars. Burns Jct, but there’s an Alberta Spruce there that does a good job holding them when I don’t trim it back.

Blue marks the water line which usually runs in the middle of the street. Electric, gas and communications usually run in the ROW between the street and the sidewalk.

Judging by the amount of flags on that corner, someone’s got a bit of hand digging to do…

Good stuff Bruce. I guess you finally had some nice weather for a change as well.

Nice run, Bruce, and great pictures…

A farm store in Macomb used to hand out bundles of them on “Customer Appreciation” day. That’s where I learned to put salsa on a hot dog.

Ten cents each??? Lowes charged me 15 bucks for a bundle of 100. And 100 was the smallest I could get… and the green ones I wanted commanded a premium price! As I’m still laying out my lines, I actually use them as survey stakes.

Bruce,
Thanks for posting your recent ops session. I’m like Jon, I use the blue hex drivers from Aristo. Have about 10 or so which is plenty for me as only a few places where the train stops 7 switches is on a grade. They are blue & just the right height to hold a small cut of cars.

I’ve been collecting RR spikes for a long time. I use them as brakes where needed. They are painted mostly white so they stand out in the dark. I got the idea from TOC.

I like Red, it’s prototypical. As a matter of fact, some railroads required a red flag on both ends of a standing cut of cars. Blue flags indicate personnel working on the equipment and it may not be moved, and the flag not removed by anyone other than the employee who placed the flag.

I’m a HUGE fan of switching and prototypical operations, I built a small Inglenook in my Living Room last week because it was cold and snowy outside, and me and my son, The Switchman" spent hours shuffling five cars around three tracks. K-27, bell ringing, smoking, horn blowing when stopping and starting, yeah, it was a blast! Anyone want to do switching and operation around Denver, count me in!

Robert

I almost forgot that I had 2 bundles of orange flags out in the barn. I grabbed a couple of flags for my operating session yesterday. The only place I need to use them is in Mancos. It’s on a grade. The rest of the layout is fairly flat.

Hans-Joerg Mueller said:
Aren't those flags typically blue?

Those are the Conservative ones, Hans. These are Liberals.

Dragging up this old thread again to share another idea. I never got around to buying the suggested flags and my blue Aristo hex tools are too small for my FN3 stuff, so I was thinking about cheap screwdrivers. Was at Harbor Freight and found this Pick & Hook set on sale for $1.99…

(http://lsc.cvsry.com/Post3/PickSet640.JPG)

Straightened all but the right-angle one and dulled the points on all using my bench grinder. The nice bright orange handles will make them easy to spot. Price was right and I think they will do well. Planning a test tomorrow Link to product page: http://www.harborfreight.com/4-piece-pick-and-hook-set-66836.html