The Kaskaskia Valley Railway will hold its 9th Annual Fall Operating Session on the first weekend of November. That is November 6 and 7, 2010. We use RailOps software for the control of car movement and radios for dispatching. It is a weekend ops session with both days starting around noon and going until nobody is running trains anymore. The setup starts on Friday and sometimes Thursday, but the actual event is Saturday and Sunday. Our goal is to run 18 trains to a schedule. Sometimes we succeed and sometimes some of the trains have to be annulled or extras have to be added. It is not really as regulated as it may sound, but there is lots of food and its a lot of fun. We will also have a portable live steam track set up for the Fall Ops, that connects into the KVRwy trackage. This will be the last year of the portable live steam trackage. This doesn’t mean that live steam won’t run in the future, but it will share trackage with everyone else. Its just that plans are underway for other use of that track and equipment. Anyway, if you can make it to 50 miles east of St. Louis, Missouri, you are certainly welcome to join us. There are usually about 25 to 30 people for the weekend. For more information contact me at [email protected].
Jean and I are planning to be there! Now you just need to talk some of those Canadians into attending. 
I’m going to have to check my calender… 
Andy Clarke said:Yes - make sure you have us down to run on the BS!
I'm going to have to check my calender..... :)
Tenatively, its a possible maybe fer me…Ken?
a possible maybe? …sheesh, I gotta make that drive all the way out there AGAIN all by myself?
Ken, get a crate so ya can pack da ““Rooster””…
Canadians are considering to make a run. We’ve got two saying yes and a few others on the fence.
Andy Clarke said::)
Ken, get a crate so ya can pack da ""Rooster"".....
I’ll be there. Bringing my own engine for a change…whoda thunk it?
I try that…and I end up leaving parts along the ROW…
Bart Salmons said:But Bart..... We offer to sell the parts back to you..... :)
I try that........and I end up leaving parts along the ROW........
Nah, I’ve got a kitbashed Bachmann 4-6-0 and an LGB 2-4-0.
By the way Ric, what experience do you have with engines surging from the gears “bouncing” on downgrades? Just wondering before I bring an engine that won’t run. The 4-6-0 only appears to do it on >4% grades, but I just want to be sure.
The slower you go the less surge seems evident. I’ve known heavy grease in the gears to help the surging.
Robbie Hanson said:Robbie, I might ask what version of the 4-6-0 you have????
The 4-6-0 only appears to do it on >4% grades, but I just want to be sure.
The earlier models… (8-10 years ago) had this “problem” because of the design of the gear box because they were made with just a worm on the motor shaft which meshed with the axle gear. When they “coasted” downhill, the weight of the train would over drive the motor and gears causing the surging.
The later models, like the Anniversary’s (Annie’s), had a couple of extra gears in the gearbox which took care of the “surging” issue.
Stan, it’s the second track powered version (what George Schreyer refers to as the third variant)–lots of gears, small motor, low power draw. It’s not the fourth generation, which I have two of (both dead).
Pics of the loco can be found here: http://www.largescalecentral.com/LSCForums/viewtopic.php?id=13431
George’s page on the 4-6-0, with the gears shown: http://girr.org/girr/tips/tips1/big_hauler_tips.html
I’ve secured the motor, so I’m not worried about wiping out the gears, but it still “bounces” downgrade. Ric, the slower I go, the larger the surges are relative to the speed of the train–it’s actually better at high speeds.
I’ll try the heavier grease. And if all else fails, I have a Connie gearbox here waiting for a locomotive
Bumping this to the top as we get closer to a month from the event. We have a “Wednesday Morning Gathering” of the Gateway Garden Railroad Club scheduled on 13 October at our house. Strange as this sounds it will be on a Wednesday morning starting at 10 am. Any and all are welcome. We’ll fiddle with train stuff for 3 hours and at 1 pm head for lunch.
HEhehehehe Last Run of BIG WV&K Steam on the KVRR…I’m finally going to have to build something small…
aaaaahhhhh I found the post! Hey guys, I am planning to attend of course and look forward to seeing you all again soon.
John Bible said:John,
aaaaahhhhh I found the post! Hey guys, I am planning to attend of course and look forward to seeing you all again soon.
Tell Noah, the dog and cat are kept apart, so he doesn’t have to get involved. Is Clayton going to give us some time or has he discovered cars and girls?