I don’t think so…
No Bruce , I do not , and I’ve tried looking online to find a picture , no luck yet .
Actually the B&W pic in Bobs post , isn’t very wrong as a suggustion for a scale figure , just equipt him with flag , buglight , radio …different time periods .
Early Indiana government railroad laws
IC 8-9-2-3
Full crew law; freight train of less than 70 cars
Sec. 3. It shall be unlawful for any carrier to operate, or permit to
be operated, any freight train consisting of less than seventy (70)
cars, without a crew of competent employees which crew shall
consist of not less than one (1) engineer, one (1) fireman, one (1)
conductor, one (1) flagman, and one (1) brakeman.
(Formerly: Acts 1937, c.58, s.3.)
More than 70 cars required an additional brakeman , , and switching yard crews required the additional brakeman as well .
Bruce,
I already commented on your ops session and fine looking railroad in your post at the other place so I’ll refrain from further accolades lest your head swell. 
I’m considering every possible kind of solo ops for the POC. You got an idea of what it’ll be like from the train you ran while you were here. Only trouble is that while I can come up with all kinds of theories I can’t really prove them out until the railroad is closer to completion. I really need the yet to be built “Port Orford” terminal with its yard, lumber mill and turntable for complete ops.
Any innovations you can come up with I’ll keep in my pocket as possible ideas to try once the line here is completed so please post your thoughts not only for the J&B but from your observations on the POC as well.
I envision the POC’s traffic as primarily lumber products and supplies with some livestock movements in Spring and Fall. General traffic probably won’t amount to more than 25-30% of traffic. There will be a morning mail train but otherwise most passenger service will be by mixed train with an occasional dedicated weekend tourist train in the summer.
The above will result in certain general patterns of train movement into which I want to insert a bit of randomness. I think that rather than schedule X number of trains of so many cars that I would rather generate X numbers and types of carloadings and empties and then schedule the number of trains needed to move the freight. This will hopefully add variety as well as presenting a challenge to get done on some days.
Great idea to post this Bruce.
Richard,
Neat thoughts.
I’m leaning towards “scheduled” trains, thinking that my randomness will come from the number of cars in the train, plus different random shipments that are called for. I’m hoping to get variety, because each industry will randomly generate supply and demand requests. It things back up, I might call out an extra to handle the load.
The next thing I’m struggling with is the best way to operate when I have a few folks stop over. With my small layout, it’s not very easy to implement operations for more than one.
If you have a main yard one possible job would be a yardmaster/switching job for making up and breaking up trains. Requiring outbound cars to be blocked in stop order could provide extra challenges for such a job.
A single passing siding should allow for two trains on the mainline bringing the total jobs to three. One train could be a wayfreight switching industries enroute while the other could be a shortish mixed passenger that handles any express cars or reefers that require expedited handling.
Don’t know if its possible on your RR but just some generalized food for thought.
Richard,
Those are some good ideas. My layout is an out and back, so I could have one train start in the yard, the other at the loop. The one in the yard has to be made up; the one in staging would be ready to go.
The problem is that there’s not all that many sidings to switch, but I suspect that I could at least give both trains something to do.
Since I won’t have a dispatcher, I could assign them a siding to meet at. Once finished switching one location they could go there until the other train arrives. I might have to provide some cold beverages to tide them over.
Another idea is to allow the railfans that visit a chance to run a passenger train around the loop, creating times when the main must be cleared. The only problem with this is that during operations sessions, the loop becomes an interchange track. Or, maybe it just runs from one end to the other - and has to be turned on the turntable when it gets to the yard.
Interesting ideas, indeed!
I may have to come up with some scenarios.
One solution would be to follow what that other guy in the northwest does. Dave Goodson has a very simple format of 13 or 14 switching lists concentrating on car types instead of individual cars. By having a “next switching list” to work, you would automatically have a generation of work to be performed.
Another idea is that I use “RailOps” for our twice a year OPs Sessions. I don’t use it other times and with a young grandson wanting to move cars, plus rolling stock being taken off the railroad for trips to various railroads or maintenance, things get mixed. Any time we want a random, thrown together OPs Session. We just print off a RailOps car location report and work like crazy trying to get the rolling stock back to the proper locations or the storage spot nearest to the industry where it is suppose to be stored.
To me - Operations is really just moving trains with a purpose, instead of randomly throwing trains on a track and watching them run. Neither is superior to the other, but if there is a master location list as RailOps provides (any other inventory list would also work) just getting the cars back to those locations by rail and not 0-5-0 sky hook, becomes an OPs session.
Another thrown together “OPs Session” is to remove and replace the equipment used for travel or in need of maintnenance from only one location. Therefore, the equipment desired must be brought to the departure/arrival track by rail to be packed for a trip. As equipment is being put back in its “inventory designated location” after the “American Invasion”, there are still many pieces of equipment on the KVRwy not in the right location because of the need for battery charging or maintenance needs. Just another mind game, that keeps it all interesting.
Great subject guys!
Ric,
You undoubtedly have one of the primo ops railroads. I can see how RailOps could be a great help when you are going to have several visitors running trains all at once. I wonder though if it’s worth the trouble for solo ops or with just one or two other people. What’s your opinion?
I really doubt that even when the POC’s completed that I’ll ever have as many as four people (usually not even three) at once. I wish you and Bruce could visit together sometime. I would certainly enjoy your critiques.
Richard;
Just send the air fare, and book us into a fine room in your hostel, and Bruce, Ric, and I will be there to get you started with “Railop”.
I’ll even bring a fine bottle of Highland Park, and a rose or three for Helen…
What Bruce does pretty well sums up how I run mine. Certain cars go to certain places. Since it’s still just a loop I may run a train around the loop a few times till it’s back in the yard then switch out the cars that are on the train. I’ll use the shay on occasion to grab some more cars off the interchange track and bring them down, then grab the cars there and take them back to the interchange. Until I get a few more sidings and industries placed, I can spend an hour just switching cars in the yard area.
Richard Smith said:
Ric,You undoubtedly have one of the primo ops railroads. I can see how RailOps could be a great help when you are going to have several visitors running trains all at once. I wonder though if it’s worth the trouble for solo ops or with just one or two other people. What’s your opinion?
I really doubt that even when the POC’s completed that I’ll ever have as many as four people (usually not even three) at once. I wish you and Bruce could visit together sometime. I would certainly enjoy your critiques.
Richard,
Oh how I wish the KVRwy was up to the standards you say that it is. Thank you.
A program like RailOps makes you look at your railroad as part of a bigger picture. Some people, like Doug Matheson, can play it like a video game. It is more of a mind set than the software that creates the operations atmosphere. I have received a lot of help in gettting RailOps to work for what I need. It has not been without compromise, but it has certainly made me think. Sometimes I think Railops becomes the score keeper that reminds me that no matter where I have moved a car, the computer says it is suppose to be here. So I have two choices, change the location in the software or change the location physically.
So lets say, Richard, your operations is only yourself or you and one other. The last time you had the cars out of the storage shed, there was a reefer at the meat cutters. You want to run today, so you print the car location sheet. It says the reefer is at the meat cutters. So your first job is to move the reefer from storage to the meat cutters. It is now where the car inventory says it should be. You run a train manifest that includes moving this car to the ice house rack. You perform that move and terminate your train. Your time of peace is about up, so you put all your cars back in the storage shed for safety. This is done with a switch engine, not by picking up the cars. Isn’t that why you put tracks in that shed and made the doors removable. 3 weeks pass as you work on another excellant building. Bruce and Jean stop by for an unexpected visit. Might as well run a train, Bruce is here. So you print a car list, it says the reefer is at the ice rack, oh yeah, you did move that. So you move the reefer from the storage shed to the ice rack, plus other rolling stock at other locations. On RailOps you schedule the running of “The Daily Peddler”. It shows that reefer going to staging. You or Bruce performs the movement of putting the reefer into the manifest of “the Daily Peddler” and as the train leaves town headed for the staging storage track the reefer is now off layout and may stay there for weeks or months.
Next train on your manifest is the daily westbound passenger train coming through town. No time to run it, but you set it up on the staging track. Everything is secure and updated on RailOps. Next visit that comes by is scheduled to run that westbound passenger train and it is already set up.
It may take you an hour or 6 months to run a day’s worth of work on your railroad, but you know what is the next step. It is really no different than car cards or switchlists, but being stored in your computer it doesn’t blow away or get wet in an afternoon rain storm.
Caution - keep your computer and printer stored inside.
s
Ric,"Caution - keep your computer and printer stored inside. "
You mean I can’t just wrap my computer in plastic and use it outdoors!!? hehe!
Thanks for the in depth description of Rail-Ops. It sounds like a good program. I guess I’ll have to look into it further once the RR’s completed. As for the train cards getting wet in the rain, I would have missed those swell shots of Bruce getting soaked and holding a very damp and limp switchlist if I’d been using anything else.
Fred,
I’m sure your visit would be well worth the investment but I question how much would get done if we nursed that Highland Park!
Ken,
I know what you mean by just switching the yard. An hour goes by awfully fast.
Bruce, great post! Loved the “blow by blow” descriptions and pics. Beautiful layout too.