Ops Session Setup

I held pretty-regular monthly operating sessions most of last year and right up through January of this year. And I just realized that with everything going on these past 5 months, I never did a post/debrief on the January ops session which is too bad since it included two women plus my next door neighbor (and former Saybrook tower operator - you'll want to click here for that story if you don't know it already). I even got to join in on the fun, operating the west end of the Shoreline. I'd planned on a post, but other things diverted my attention. Life and Work happened and - bing bang boom - here it is toward the end of June.

But work has settled down, my dad is doing really well, and the Missus' dad is holding steady. So, with the half-year mark highballing up the track, I thought it high time I host another ops session.

It's been a long time since the layout's operated - although some trains did run during the NERPM open house - so this next session will be a "shakedown" session. Nothing formal (e.g. no crew email), it'll be limited to core/regular operators only (those that know the layout best), and we'll likely stop the clock frequently to identify and fix problems as they pop up (or maybe not have the clock on at all). This session will be all about just putting the layout through its paces and creating a punch list of items to be sure and fix before "formal" sessions start next month.

But the first step, as with any operating session, begins with a "pre-ops ops session." So that's what I started tonight:

• Located all the cars at all the industries
• Ran the car movement spreadsheet
• Created switchlists for each town
• Started wheel reports for each train
• Filled-in supplies & noted what more is needed

There's still a lot to do:

• Pick the right cars needed for each of the four locals and complete the wheel reports
• Stage the locals, as well as all of the Shoreline trains
• Complete the remainder of the paperwork/packets
• Check throttles (they were buggy during the open house)
• Decide which locos to run, and assign them to the locals

If there's any interest, I don't mind actually posting the "Ops Session Checklist" document I created to keep track of it all. I've found that list super helpful in not only remembering what all needs to be done, but since I don't have to waste time wondering, I can motor down the list fairly quickly.

Heh - but it still takes about 3 hours or so to set up. About as long as the session itself. Sometimes longer. But it's all worthwhile not only to see the layout come alive, but to have another excuse to get together and spend some time with some great folks who share a similar passion and appreciate the fun escape as much as I do.

So here's to the first ops session of the 2018-2019 season - and here's hoping the resulting punch list isn't too long!

Friday Fun: Ops Session Setup

I've said before that it's ironic that layout owners seldom operate their own layouts, often playing host for operating sessions instead. Seems the only time we really get to participate in any way (other than by acting as dispatcher, trainmaster, or troubleshooter) is through a "pre-ops ops session" - aka ops session setup - where you get to act as freight agent, yard clerk, and transportation manager all at the same time.

Now though, with so many ops sessions on hiatus for the duration, many layout owners are taking this opportunity to scratch the operating itch by - gasp! - actually operating what they've built, all by themselves. And while I've been enjoying (and not enjoying) doing some modeling and making more progress on the layout where & when I can lately, my favorite aspect of the hobby - right after research - is operations.

Before you can operate though, you have to get things set up. The links above provide an overview, but I thought it'd be fun to document my process in a bit more detail here.

I start by consulting my Ops Session Checklist which lists all the steps required:

Remember, you can always click on the image for a larger view.

The first step is to grab a bunch of blank switchlists and go to each town to record the cars, their location, and where they're headed. Since the New Haven was basically a large terminal railroad, most of the cars going out are empties.

Here we are in Saybrook where we record 4 cars - 2 tanks & 2 boxcars - all headed back west to Cedar Hill yard in New Haven.

Another example: Wethersfield, where there's a car on the bulk track, in front of Gra-Rock and a boxcar at the house track. Both of these cars are also bound for Cedar Hill yard, but since Wethersfield is served only by the Valley Local (HDX-7) and it doesn't go to Cedar Hill, these cars will have to be transferred to HDX-12 (the Airline Local) in Middletown for further forwarding. They're headed ultimately to Oak Point and off the property to the PRR.

Once I've recorded the cars in each of the towns, the next step is to tell the spreadsheet what spots are occupied. Keeping with our Wethersfield example, I've entered an "X" in two spots which stand for a boxcar at the Wethersfield bulk track and a boxcar at the Wethersfield house track.

As I'm noting ("X"-ing) what cars are where, the spreadsheet is determining which cars are to be picked up, which cars are to be left alone, and what industries/spots need cars (and what type of car they need). In the photo above, you can see that one of the boxcars at Hartford Rayon won't be picked up during this session.

I then just go back and erase those cars from the switchlists.

I build my four local freights with the cars in the "Deliver" column of the spreadsheet.

• HDX-7 originates in Hartford Yard and serves Wethersfield, Rocky Hill/Dividend, Cromwell, Middletown, East Haddam (where it exchanges cars with PDX-2), and East Berlin. It then returns to Hartford.
• HDX-12 originates in Cedar Hill Yard and serves the towns of Somerset and Mill Hollow and also leave cars for - and picks up cars from - HDX-7 in Middletown. It then returns to Cedar Hill.
• PDX-1 (the Shore Line Local) originates in Cedar Hill, switches Old Saybrook (leaving westbound cars for - and picking up eastbound cars from - PDX-2), and terminates at Fort Yard in New London.
• PDX-2 (the Haddam Local) originates in Fort Yard, swaps cars with PDX-1 in Old Saybrook, and serves Essex, Deep River, and East Haddam - where it exchanges cars with HDX-7. It then heads back down the branch to Saybrook and continues west to Cedar Hill, where it terminates.

The cars to be delivered go into the trains that serve the towns the cars are going to. But there are exceptions. For example, based on what I know about my prototype's operations, I know that most of the traffic coming into Middletown comes via the Air Line Local (HDX-12). So you see noted above that two boxcars are destined for the Middletown house tracks via HDX-12. So even though HDX-7 serves Middletown, these cars being delivered will be placed in HDX-12's consist for delivery.

I keep track of the number of cars in each local - but note that HDX-7 and PDX-1 each got one car added . . .

Like the Middletown example above, you see in this photo that the hopper of coal consigned to the Essex Bulk Track is coming via PDX-1. Coal tends to come from the south (so through Cedar Hill yard) and not from the east (Fort Yard/New London) nor the north (Hartford Yard). So the best routing for coal to Essex is for PDX-1 to bring it from Cedar Hill and transfer it to PDX-2 at Old Saybrook. I also have a load of utility poles going to Deep River, but they're coming from the north - through Hartford Yard and down the Valley on HDX-7 to East Haddam, where they'll be transferred to PDX-2 for their final delivery.

Fun, eh? Actually, using your prototype research to imagine all this traffic is pretty fun. And we haven't even started the ops session yet!

Here are the component parts of HDX-7's paperwork to illustrate further. On the left, you see the note about the poles. On the right you see HDX-7's wheel report, which is a listing of all the cars in its train to be delivered (gleaned from the spreadsheet), blocked according to town. The last entry is the last car in the train - a gondola load of poles. Also, since this car will be left for a subsequent local freight for delivery to the final destination, I've completed a waybill that will be left with the car in East Haddam. The waybill replaces the old (and unprototypical) "Car Transfer Form" I'd been using to accomplish the same purpose (providing paperwork to go with the car which instructs the subsequent local what to do with the car).

And here is HDX-7 staged and ready to go . . . 11 cars . . .

plus the gondola makes a total of 12 cars in its train.

Then just "rinse & repeat" for the other locals:

1. See the spreadsheet for what types of cars need to be delivered and where.
2. Create trains with those cars.
3. Note swapping between trains as required.

Here's the Airline Local (HDX-12) staged with 9 cars from Cedar Hill yard for delivery - a whopping 6 of which will be transferred to HDX-7 in Middltown. Per the prototype, the Airline local just drops and picks up cars in Middletown and the Valley Local does all the switching. I didn't bother writing up waybills for the 6 transfer cars since HDX-12 will be able to just leave this list with the cars.

Here's PDX-1 staged at "Cedar Hill" staging, track 2. There are only 4 cars on its wheel report, including that hopper of coal for PDX-2 to deliver to Essex (and its associated waybill). The remaining cars in the train are ostensibly destined for Fort Yard having been picked up from towns between New Haven and New London.

Finally, here's PDX-2 staged in Fort Yard/New London. Seven cars, all being delivered to towns it serves, so no transfers (or waybills).

So there you have it! I'm all set up for another session (actually, if you paid attention to the Ops Session Checklist above, you'll note that I also had to stage 7 Shore Line trains, but those are easy and outside the scope of this post). Writing it all down, my process may seem more complicated and time-consuming than it is.

Or maybe I just enjoy playing the role of freight agent - drinking my coffee and listening to big band music as I imagine all the different freight traffic coming into, and leaving, the Connecticut River Valley during the late 1940s.

It's that type of immersion that really starts to transport you to a different time and place and is where prototype modeling shines the most. Ops session setup - especially what I go through - may be a bit overboard but it's enjoyable in its way. And it literally sets the stage for my favorite part of the hobby - actually operating all these local freights and doing the "retail railroading" that was an everyday part of the Mighty New Haven.

Operator's Helps - Bill Boxes

How things used to look - notice the switchlist and the "car transfer form"

Long time readers may recall that my operating systems have varied over the years - from switchlists, to a hybrid using "car transfer forms" to, now, waybills. 

While I - and many of my operators - prefer switchlists, I never could figure out a good way to deal with cars that have to be handed off from one local freight to another during a session (hence the contrived "car transfer form" above). And as fun as the "pre-ops ops session" was (honestly!) - it would also take me just about as long to set up the session as the session itself.

Switchlists are certainly a great - and usually the fastest - way to get ops going on your model railroad, but I think I've finally settled on a version of waybills to move cars on my railroad.

Of course, that means I need bill boxes. Enter Josh from Cohn's Custom.

Josh had seen me mention on the Valley Local Facebook group what I had been using for waybills (wooden box below, with pencil/pick tube), and what I was going to start using (cheap cellphone holders above). He offered to help, but needed a design.

I started the design process like I do everything on this railroad - by consulting the prototype. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, I couldn't find out what a New Haven Railroad bill box looked like. So I improvised by finding the closest match I could to a font on some NHRR paperwork, and basically made up the rest . . .

And here's what we came up with:

During the course of developing these boxes, I decided on a car card/waybill form factor based on a 3x5 index card. So these boxes will accommodate those, as well as include a tube on the side for a pencil and an uncoupling pick.

The "N.Y.N.H.&H." is as close as I could come to the font the NHRR used on its paperwork at the time - "FetteEgyptienne" - and the word "BILLS" is just a regular sans serif font that looked right to me. I guesstimated the sizing as well.

But I think you'll agree that they look "right" - especially with some prototype-looking NHRR bills in them. And they look even better installed on the layout.

Now that I've installed them, the only thing I'd change on these is the mounting holes. I planned to mount them with regular #6x1-1/4" drywall screws . . .

But the tapered head didn't allow the screw to fit flush . . .

Josh graciously agreed to do a little redesign and the final product is perfect, allowing the screwhead to sit nice and flush like you see on the left screw in the pic below (I'd reamed out the test print to get the effect):

Unfortunately, when I mounted the boxes to my 1/8" masonite fascia, I discovered that the screw - now that it sits so nice and recessed - no longer had but one or two threads biting into the fascia(!) It's really easy to overtighten slightly and strip the hole in the masonite, preventing the box from being mounted as tightly & securely as you might like. If I had it to do all over, I'd probably just live with the un-countersunk screw heads - or choose screws with a different head (or screws with threads all the way up to the head).

But none of that diminishes by one iota how FANTASTIC these boxes are and I can't thank Josh enough not only for reaching out with his offer to help, but for all his patience through the design process and for creating a product which truly sets my layout apart from many others. There's certainly nothing wrong with the MicroMark boxes, but I think you'll admit these are a step WAY above (and when was the last time you could even get the MicroMark boxes?? They've been out of stock forEVer!).

Now, you may have noticed a few more "helps" mounted on my fascia in addition to the cool bill boxes. Waybills need a place to be sorted, clip boards need a place to hang, and - if you're so inclined - beverages need a place to sit. As you might have guessed, I've been all-in lately on creating "operator's areas" on my fascia in time for my next op session, so stay tuned for a couple posts on the things I've built and installed to help my operators. . .

In the meantime, be sure to check out Josh's website to see what wonderful products he has to offer!

Pre-Ops Session

Saybrook Tower Control Board all tested and paperwork ready to go.

Well, I'm all set for another operating session on the CT Valley Lines of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, circa October, 1948.

Friday night MikeR (of spreadsheet fame) came over to help set up the layout for the next operating session and to further tweak the spreadsheet that generates my car movements. Since it had been originally developed for just one train on a switching layout, he, Randy, and I have been further developing the 'sheet to work with my four independent trains. I really like how it's been evolving and the latest version is already a significant improvement over something that was pretty darn good already. Even with the spreadsheet though, it still took about 3 1/2 hours to do all the paperwork and setup, but future versions of the 'sheet promise to automate the process even more.

But I don't really mind the paperwork - it's like "an ops session before the ops session" where I, as the Agent-Operator (the most realistic job on a model railroad, IMO), do all the work-a-day tasks of keeping the traffic on the railroad running smoothly. So, once the spreadsheet is printed out, and I further massage it with additional info (car numbers, cars to be transferred between trains, off-spots, etc), it's time to complete the switchlists, train orders, and clearance cards for each of the trains.

Remember, you can always click on the image for more a more-detailed view.

I also have to produce an up-to-date Bulletin Order indicating any changes to the layout, as well as to highlight any special operations notes for the session. And - finally - I have the fun of finding an era-appropriate calendar - in this case, one from October, 1948. I'm still trying to find an original 1948 calendar (I have ones for 1947 and 1949), so in the meantime, I grab what I can off the 'net. Fortunately, this one has Missus' full approval (unlike the calendar for last month's session, which barely made it).

And, new for this session, is some additional paperwork for the A-O to complete . . .

On the left is a listing of all the local freights and the towns they work. I'll use it to record the time each train enters a town (both "prototype" (fast) time as well as actual/real time), and the number of cars the train has at that point in the session. This info will help me balance the work for each of the trains and ensure 1) that my crews are all working about the same amount of time, and 2) that my trains aren't TOO long or unmanageable (the typical "local" freight on my layout is 12-18 cars long!).

The paper on the right has a listing of ALL the trains that go through Old Saybrook during the session. This is just a subset of the 71 trains that go through during a 24hr period. I use this sheet - along with the fast clock - to know when I, as the tower operator, can clear local freights to foul the main. As each train passes, I'll mark through it simulating the operator's duty of "OS-ing" trains - as well as simulating the traffic through Saybrook until I have actual trains running through there on schedule.

Now that all these tasks are done, the Crew Call has gone out, and everything is set up, all I have to do is wait for the guys to arrive and sign the register. Should be another fun day of railroading in the CT Valley.

Setting Up...

The January ops session is coming up this Friday and so I'm neck-deep in the "Pre-Ops Ops Session" - which is to say, I'm setting up...

This is the "paperwork" portion of the prep - I already set up the trains. Now comes the "fun" part - filling out all the paperwork(!). Thanks to MikeR, the traffic is generated by a cool spreadsheet, but I still have to fill out all the switchlists (and clearance cards, and orders) by hand.

One of these days, I think I may just bite the bullet and convert to car cards - or at least something more automated. But until then, I'll keep my pencil sharpened...

Train Time Tuesday (Worknight)

There's a lot of good advice out there that if you don't set aside some specific, regular time to work on a large project, you won't get as much done, if anything.  I'm nowhere near as disciplined as I'd like to be with time management, but at least when it comes to the Valley Local project I've set aside one evening per week as a regular worknight - call it "Train Time Tuesday."

Tonight's session was especially important since my next operating session is this Thursday and I still had a few "punch list" items to do.  So, right after dinner I headed to the basement.  When it comes to pre-ops-session worknights, it's best to prioritize operations-related items: dead tracks, inoperable turnouts, etc.  I'd staged the layout over the weekend & last Thursday before the guys came over for Photo Library night Randy temporarily fixed the south switch at Rocky Hill.  But I still had to power some sidings and fix a broken throttle.

Check Suitcase Connectors

During the shake-down ops session, the sidings at the slaughterhouse in Middletown and the tank track at Dividend had decided to go dead.  The feeders had come unsoldered at the slaughterhouse, so that was just a matter of re-soldering them.  But both of the wires at the tank track seemed fine - all tightly attached, but there was still no power getting to one rail, the one with the white feeder wire.  As the photo above shows, the culprit ended up being a loose (or at least not-tight-enough) suitcase connector.  I clipped a test light to the track and squeezed the connector with a pair of pliers until the light came on bright and steady (see it shining in the pic).   Lesson: Dead tracks don't always mean the feeders need to be resoldered.

Fixing & Improving Throttles

As I mentioned in my last post, one of my throttles took "shake down" literally and decided to take a header to the concrete floor during the last session.  Consequently, the antenna broke off - actually, the solder connecting the antenna connector to the PCB had broken.  So that connector needed to be resoldered and I figured while everything was apart anyway, I'd install a couple of lanyards to keep these throttles safe in the future.

So I picked up a package of lanyards & some small screw eyes and went to work.

Add caption

Four screws give you access to the inside - be careful since the two PCBs are connected with a wiring harness.

The PCBs are attached with double-sided foam tape so you can remove them with some care, though the smaller one is easier to remove (since the control knob isn't holding it in).  Bonus: the smaller one also has the antenna connector, which I needed to get to.  See above.

Here's a closeup of the antenna connector resoldered.  It ain't pretty, but at least I cleaned off the flux with denatured alcohol after this pic was taken.



Next, I installed the screw eyes by drilling a #43 hole in the bottom of the casing.  Be sure that the screw won't interfere with anything once it's screwed in.  Then attach the lanyard.  See above.

Now that that's done, all I have left to do before Thursday is re-print the switchlists and update the Bulletin Orders.  While we'll be doing the same session as last time, I noticed a couple typos.  Turns out having the wrong car number on a switchlist can be a problem.  Who knew?  Besides, I'm sure my operators will appreciate nice clean swithlists of their own.  The last session also highlighted a couple of close clearances that I'll have to note on an updated bulletin order.

But all in all, I'm in good shape for Thursday.  I know I'm not the first to say it, but I'm discovering how really true it is: having regular operating sessions really does motivate you to work on the layout.  If it wasn't for this coming Thursday, Train Time Tuesday would more likely have been TV Time Tuesday!

Operating Session - October 2, 1948

With the "pre-ops ops session" (aka "getting things ready") all done, I had only a few last-minute things to get done before the guys showed up (bring laptop downstairs and get WiFi throttle running, change some batteries in throttles, power up the railroad, stock "O'Rourke's Diner"). Randy showed up first to help out, but with everything done we were able to spend a bit of time flipping through my latest acquisition (which will be the subject of a future post).

This rare Sunday session was set up especially for guys who live too far away to make it to our monthly Thursday sessions and I was frankly a little humbled by the fact we had guys come from as far away as northern New Jersey and southern New Hampshire - a 5 hour spread(!). Fortunately, Saybrook is pretty centrally located. If you don't count the ocean.

For this session, we had a few regulars (Randy, Tom, Pete), one sophomore (Mike), and four guys operating on the Valley Line for the first time (Dave, JimL, and JimF). We were a little short on crewmembers, so PDX-1 went to Mike who gamely agreed to take the shortest train by himself, and we didn't run any actual mainline trains until that same Mike finished PDX-1 and wanted something else to do. When we do have full crews, the mainline through Saybrook is actually going to be a little stressful with all the trains and both Shoreline locals trying to work and stay out of the way. But it'll provide a really interesting contrast to being out on the branch lines.

For today though, the four locals would be plenty. I'll let the pictures help tell the story...

Mike, JimL, and Randy operating the two Shore Line locals (PDX-1 & PDX-2) in Saybrook. The drop-in will be installed at the north end of the wye when PDX-2 is cleared for the trip north up-river.

PDX-2 picking up cars for up-river towns which were left by PDX-1 the previous day session.

Once PDX-2 left town, and the mainline was clear of traffic, PDX-1 could cross over to pick up New London (eastbound) cars and leave westbound cars for PDX-2 for pickup later in the day.

Tom and JimF operating the Air Line local (HDX-12), powered by newly-shopped DERS-2b #0510 in Somerset. With all the cars left there the previous session, they certainly had their work cut out for them and spent 4 hrs switching there (about an hour of actual time).

 

Pete & Dave operating The Valley Local in Wethersfield. This time, I mentioned the F7 brake right at the start of the session. And, yes, I put the shortest and tallest crewmembers together on purpose.

 

Despite - or perhaps because of - how long the Air Line local took in Somerset, it and the Valley Local were both in Middletown at the same time, just like the prototype. Here Dave and Pete are switching Middletown Meat Packing while in the background Tom and JimF switch Middletown yard.

Randy and JimL made short work of PDX-2's up-river trip - due primarily to most of the switches being facing point northbound - but had their work cut out for them southbound. Here they are switching Essex.

Meanwhile, back on the Shoreline in Saybrook, Mike continued handling the parade of trains that makes this such a busy spot - but a great spot for railfanning! Here's Train 11 - the westbound Bay State - barreling through town without stopping.

All in all, the session went really well - even better than last time. 

• WiFi Throttle worked well. Now that I remembered to turn off the laptop's internal WiFi, the WiFi throttle gave us no trouble (I think Mike used that exclusively).
• Fewer shorts. The shorting issues seem to have diminished just as mysteriously as they appeared a few sessions ago. If I can get around to moving a couple of gaps (to make the reversing sections longer), I think even the remaining shorts will disappear.
• Some engine issues:
• But nothing will keep a derailing engine from shorting the line - and this session I got an audible reminder to tweak my I-5 steamer. It derailed a couple of times on the main and set off the "short indicator" (buzzer).
• The DERS-2b (RS-2) was acting a little erratically so needs to have its programming checked and probably redone. We'd tried to upgrade its ESU decoder to the latest "Full Throttle" feature, but I think we only got part way through the process. I tried to fix it with DecoderPro, but I think I need the LokProgrammer to get it really dialed in.
• The K-1 2-6-0 manifested its "sound but no movement" problem again from a few sessions back. DaveR suspects the decoder may be overheating - which wouldn't be surprising since we routinely have it pulling 15-18 cars(!!).
• Some rolling stock issues:
• Early in the session, the couple on one of the cars on the Valley Local decided to fall off. We pretended it was broken coupler face and just set the car out on a siding.
• A car on PDX-2 lost one of its coupler springs. So these two cars will have to be repaired in time for the next session.
• Speaking of couplers, a few of the guys mentioned difficulties mating KD #5s with "scale" couplers (KD 58s). My long-term plan has been to convert totally to 58s, but I may be accelerating that process.
• Finally, if I expect to have LOTS of mainline trains running in the future, I need to get around to modifying my passenger cars to make it around the (of course hidden) 24" radius west end return loop.
• Throttle issues:
• Fortunately - as mentioned above - the WiFi throttle performed like a champ this time (hope I don't jinx it!) and the other throttles did well too. I just have to remember to let folks know that the toggle on top of the throttle is an "on/off" switch not a reversing switch.
• While not a big problem, I'm seriously considering adding just two more cab panels - one at the end of East End staging and one in front of Rocky Hill - in order to prevent having to stretch the cords quite so far.

These are the typical ups and downs of a typical session, but one new thing I tried this session - or at least formalized - worked especially well:

Be sure to click on the image to see the detail

I created a train register which I used to record all the trains, where they were at what times (both fast time and actual time), and the number of cars they had at each point along the way. I developed it to get a clearer picture of how long (time) each of the trains take - and how long (cars) each of the trains is at different points in the session. An unanticipated benefit is that it also tells me where everybody is at all times - very useful for my dispatcher role (though, admittedly, this isn't as critical on the branchlines).

As you can see (or can if you click on the image above), three of the four locals finished all their work within 30 (real) minutes of each other: PDX-2 took 2hrs 10mins, HDX-12 took 2:35, and HDX-7 took 2:40 (but The Valley Local - as this blog's namesake - should take the longest!). Poor Mike was done after just 40 minutes, but he actually got to run more trains than anybody else. And we moved (picked up or delivered) over 90 cars over the course of about 2hrs 45mins (11hrs fast time).

All that work certainly earned the guys a treat, and - unlike past sessions when we'd do the debrief in the basement - we adjourned to the upstairs den (aka the train room, now the crew lounge) for cake made by the Missus, to go over the session a bit, and generally have a good time visiting. As awesome as it is to see the layout come to life, the best part of operating sessions is having a chance to get together with friends and enjoy each other's company. Many thanks to the guys who came from near and far for a great afternoon on the Valley Line.