Recently an old friend was visiting from out of town (way out of town – Belgium actually, and she’s not really that old…. but I digress). Trying to better understand the differences between Model railroading and other hobbies she was familiar with, she started asking questions about model railroading. She understood the research, the desire to recreate history and all of that. But the she hit on the leading question….
" When you’re done building the models, what do you do with them?"
Well, I found myself trying – unsuccessfully - to explain just what we do with a complete (well, they’re never really complete, but…) layout. I’m not sure the message got across very well. So, for her benefit as well as those not really familiar with the concept of operating a model railroad, here’s a photo diary of a typical operating night on my version of the O&W. |
Every second or third Tuesday night a group of four or five people climb up into the layout room and for a couple hours immerse themselves in the task of running trains. Our operators come from a wide variety of backgrounds. We have a retired professor and music industry licensor, a computer programmer, a barber, a retired railroad brakeman, a construction worker (and ex-railroad employee), a video engineer, a civil engineer and others. They must enjoy it, they keep coming back!
A typical operating session lasts about two to three hours. We run a variety of trains, all based on historical data from the early 1950’s. There are a couple of passenger trains, an mail and express train, several through freight trains and a local freight that picks up and drops off cars to the local industries. The last is a favorite job for several of the operators, and most nights it runs with a two man crew, one acting as engineer running the train, the other acting as the conductor planning out the switching moves. Overseeing it all is the dispatcher (me) who’s job it is to keep all the trains going in the right direction and preventing them from running into each other. Some nights we use a "fast clock" – a clock with a sped up motor so that time passes more quickly – to schedule the trains. Other nights we just run the trains in sequence. It depends on the skill and stress levels of the operators and/or dispatcher!
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Sessions generally start with a couple of the crew coming over for dinner beforehand. We start running trains at 7:00. We end when all the jobs are done, the layout breaks down, or we all get too tired to continue.
Neil Offen and Gus Rancourt enjoy a little barbeque and vino before the start. You'll notice from the photo that railroad Rule G ("The consumption of alcoholic beverages… is strictly prohibited") is not enforced here! On the railing is Jeeves, she never misses a session!
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Now the work begins...
Neil and Bob Piccirillo have selected the local freight. Neil is acting as brakeman while the train is in Roscoe (on the upper level), so he starts by planning his work. He will need to figure out which cars on his train need to be dropped off, which cars need to be picked up, and what the most efficient way of doing this is.
He also needs to be aware of when other trains are due through town so that he does not block their progress.
On the lower level a coal train is pasiing thorugh Livingston Manor. |
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Meanwhile, down below Gus Rancourt is running that coal train.
Gus prefers the through runs, claiming that after 47 years as a brakeman on the real railroads (New Haven, Penn Central and Conrail) he's done more than his share of switching!
He also knows how to pick a comfortable position to operate in.... |
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With Neil directing him, Bob runs the engine on the local freight. The reason for Neil choosing to do the hard work on the upper level may be obvious!
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Gus has graduated to passenger runs now...
Northbound passenger train #1 stops at Livingston Manor on the lower level. |
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Gus has to stand up now - he's made it to Roscoe.
While the passenger train is making its stop Neil and Bob's local freight is sitting on the siding waiting for permission to leave town. I'm sure they will get it once the dispatcher puts the camera down.... |
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Now that the local has reached Livingston Manor Bob and Neil have changed jobs. Bob checks his switch list and plans his moves.
The switch list is generated by computer and tells Bob what cars are in his train and where each one goes. Getting them all into their proper locations with the least amount of work can be a bit like a chess match. These guys are good, they won't be here too long. Other crews have taken more than 2 hours to do this "simple" job!
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Just to keep Bob and Neil on their toes, here comes Gus with the southbound passenger train!
Bob has made sure that the track next to the station is clear before the passenger train arrives, it won't do to delay paying customers! Once the passenger train leaves he can go back to work. |
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The Superintendent of the Railroad has arrived to check on things - my daughter Kayleigh. Bob needs to be on his best behavior now!
Satisfied that everything is running efficiently, Kayleigh can (well, should) now go off to bed.
Kayleigh and her sister (both now 5) made many of the trees on the layout.
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Talk about knowing a comfortable place to operate.... Neil has found the bar stool. Its not the chair that's so comfortable, its the fact that he's sitting in front of the air conditioner! After a couple of hours in a small room with four guys and a lot of lights it can get a little warm in here!
Above Neil's head is the fast clock, turned off tonight. Our fast clock runs a four-to-one ratio, meaning that it goes one hour in fifteen real minutes. This allows us to cram a complete day's schedule into a couple of hours.
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The hand of God? Bob uncouples a boxcar.
We use manual uncoupling on my layout, so the crews handle the equipment quite a bit. I've been surprised at how few broken parts there have been.
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Bob checks his switch list to make sure he's done everything he needs to. Once he is satisfied he will ask for permission to leave town, and when he has done so the session will end.
We've run eight trains in a little over two hours. This night we had very few operational problems. Those we did have were minor and will be fixed before the next time. I've found that operating my layout on a regular basis helps make me keep up with maintainance that I might otherwise ignore, resulting in smoother running sessions.
Lights out.... |
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Would you close yourself in a small room with these guys?!
The end of an earlier session. In the center is Neil Offen, to the right George Adamo.
The rather shell-shocked looking fellow on the left is Phil Auger. Phil is a non-model railroader who was visiting Neil from Texas. We gave him the job of engineer on the local freight...
I understand he is recovering quite nicely now, thank you. |
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