Large Scale Central

TrainOps 2012 post mortem

General Discussion
#1

Now that TrainOps 2012 is in the history books, I thought I’d start a thread for discussion of various issues that cropped up, both track-wise and software-wise.

The most glaring error software-wise was car pickups at Franklin Falls. We noticed that the switchlist didnt have the right pickups, yet it thought it had the cars because there were schedule dropoffs for cars. That’s strictly on me, and Im tracking it down. Still, was frustrating. Other than that, car loads were ok, but not very balanced, which has been an ongoing issue.

Trackwork, there were two main problem areas (Franklin Falls Yard, and Pearce) and a couple small issues (the benchwork under the runaround at Dead Rooster Gulch needs some belt sanding)

Franklin Falls yard is getting a redesign, with a longer runaround, and a couple more tracks. The yard will take up the entire benchwork there, and will have a couple industries just for interest. The intended trackwork for 28th Street will go “somewhere else”.

Pearce has given us trouble since day 1, and Ive rebuilt it twice. The curves just dont make it, they’re VERY tight, and when the ground settles, the track gets VERY un-level. I have a plan to extend it across that short section of yard to the garden under the walkway to the side door. That’s a project for next spring, I think.

It was also suggested that a runaround (and maybe a single spur) where the track leaving Majestic, and goes under the viaduct, would be a good idea. Add a meeting place, and yet another town.

Other critiques and/or suggestions for trackage?

#2

Well, first of all, it was sure a LOT of fun!

Once the pickup problem was discovered, it was necessary to look ahead on the switch list to see what you had to pick up first - a minor inconvenience.

I think what would have really helped is to stagger the trains. We basically had 4 trains starting at the same time and this led to some bottlenecks. I can see two trains starting at the same time - one at each end. But, I think a 15-30 minute delay before the other trains start would have helped a lot.

#3
Bruce Chandler said:
Well, first of all, it was sure a LOT of fun!

Once the pickup problem was discovered, it was necessary to look ahead on the switch list to see what you had to pick up first - a minor inconvenience.


I’ll had my 2 cents worth and echo what Bruce said. I noticed the car problem on my first train out of FM. The first car I had to drop off wasn’t on the train, and then I started looking at the other drop offs and seeing what I had on, but that just added to the challenge.

I never did get into Pearce so I can’t comment one way or the other about that situation, but I did notice problems that others seemed to be having there. (maybe a small boxcab stationed there to handle the switching duties?)

I did miss that switch back Bob had last year at Majestic for the company store and Mine 2, which was just one more puzzle to figger out, so I couldn’t tell if the clearance under his new bridge there was OK…:wink:

For the amount of people and the amount of trains that we ran, other then the congestion at times, I thought the Ops went pretty smooth. The set out trains first thing were a new addition, and I thought it a good idea, especially for any new people who were unfamiliar with the layout.

#4

I’ll start by commenting on the set-out train. This was a very good idea and it’s something I do on my RR as well as a sweep train when done. I have the advantage of having on-line storage inside, but having all the cars in the yards accomplished the same thing.

The only problem with the set-out trains were making them up. With a long list of destinations finding the cars that didn’t belong in the yards was a bit of a challenge. I don’t know if there would be any way to make this easier. I never did grab one of the location reports sorted by car - that may have helped.

Our first train out in the AM was led by Al’s Accucraft C-19. It was not happy at all with your track - especially the pilot. We ran it in reverse for a while and it helped, but still too many derailments. Later we switched to my 45 Tonner and it had no trouble at all - so I think the Accucraft engine is just not tolerant of less than perfect track.

We derailed cars several times at Pierce and even without that challenge it was the toughest puzzle we worked. We didn’t have the luxury of switching the car ferry and Al had no trouble figuring out Franklin Falls where I was very happy to be the engineer :slight_smile: