Tehachapi, BC

[GaryHinshaw]

Very nice Chuck; thanks for posting.

Work continues on the central peninsula, with some more foam carving and some additional "state-of-the-art" kraft paper scenery. 



It really helps to reduce the visual clutter, as this before & after comparison shows:





Of course this now makes the tunnel shelf above it the biggest remaining eyesore.     I think I'm going to give that section the kraft paper treatment too - it's a fast way to cover the scene and get a better sense for what looks right without all the carving.  Meanwhile, the foam shaping was far enough along to justify making a fascia for the peninsula.  This shot shows a section of it, and also shows how Bakersfield staging lies below it (now in relative darkness):



I'm curious to see how the next ops session goes (this weekend) with Bakersfield covered over like this.  (Note also the new beer shelf.   )

[wazzou]

Nothing a rope of LED's can't solve.

[ednadolski]

Looks good!  Are you going to wrap the backdrop around the opening to the lower staging, or perhaps do a sceniced lift-out hatch?

Ed

[Cajonpassfan]

Oh yes, must have a beer shelf!
That paper sure makes a difference..
Otto

[GaryHinshaw]

Right, LED lighting for the lower levels is definitely on the list - just not the top of the list yet.  (Had to get the beer shelf done first!  )

Looks good!  Are you going to wrap the backdrop around the opening to the lower staging, or perhaps do a sceniced lift-out hatch?

Ed

Good question Ed.  I'm leaving it open for now to give operators some top-down visibility into Bakersfield.  I might wrap a backdrop in front of the opening, but not make it so high as to block the view of the tracks.  Or I may just put a pop-up hatch in there for derailment access but otherwise leave it closed.  It will depend a bit on how operators feel about running in & out of Bakersfield with only side views.  Hopefully this summer's sessions will give me a better idea.

[GaryHinshaw]

It's been a long time since TBC hosted a "regular" session for the locals, but I finally have another one in the books.  For last night's session (only #17 by my count) I had over a dozen trains staged up and ready to go, but somehow we only managed to run about 10 of them despite having a 3-hour session with a full crew of 7 (5 road crew, 1 yardmaster, and 1 dispatcher).  As a general rule, it seems to take through freights about 45 min to an hour to get over the road, so 5 crews should be able to get 15 trains over the hill in 3 hours, but by the time you factor in pusher crews, locals, and mistakes, the time disappears.

One of the early mistakes was my fault, but it was fun to correct: the (anonymous) dispatcher ran two trains into Mojave on the wrong track because I failed to tell him that SB trains need to be on track #1 between Cameron and Mojave (Cameron is the last RH crossover before Mojave yard limits).  This meant that both trains had to back up a stretch of hidden track on an upgrade curve, so we had to send out two helpers to help drag them back up to Cameron.  It took four people about 20 mins, but no one got hurt.   

Here are a few photos.  The 5 road crews: Mike, Scott, Tim, Brian, and Victor.



My crack yardmaster Eva (appearing to enjoy herself ) while Brian manages a meet with Scott at Allard (note the Laurel Valley hoppers):



Scott, John, and Victor winding down with a final train coming around the Loop (note the tail of the train at the bottom of the photo):



The crew hangs on the dispatcher's every word, via the domed speaker in the ceiling (photo by Scott):



Finally a railfan shot: a meet about to occur at the Loop (photo by Tim):



There are two more sessions planned for the summer, followed by two more for an invitational meet in September.  These events are a sure fire way to spur progress!

[GaryHinshaw]

P.S. I'm pleased to report that there were no issues with Bakersfield being covered over.   That was a bit of a relief.  However, there are still comfort issues with four control points not being easily visible: Bealville, Woodford, Cameron, and Mojave.  I'm thinking that streaming video to the fascia tablets might be the best solution for most of those situations.

[Cajonpassfan]

The real question is: will they come back?
I’ll bet they will!
Otto

[C855B]

Gary, you posed some thoughts in my thread about your control architecture, noting you had a Mac doing the JMRI processing and using a Raspberry Pi for LocoNet comm conversion. Have you tried running the RR on the RPi only? Yes, converting the configuration files from one to the other would be a large task, but I am curious if you tried it. I suspect not; you've had your control architecture for a while and my guess is you have an RPi 2B.

The reason I ask is it has been mentioned [somewhere] the RPi 3B+ in primary JMRI duty smashes into a performance (or memory) wall at six WiThrottle users. You host about that number of operators. This is one of the issues driving my interest in the 4B with its increased power and memory.

[GaryHinshaw]

Well, yes and no.  I have everything except CATS* installed on the Pi so I can run it standalone, but in practice, I never do.  Since I need a console to display a jmri panel for turnout control, and since I always have my laptop with me, the quickest thing for me to do is just start jmri on the laptop with the Loconet over TCP profile that automatically connects to the Pi and the layout.   It takes about 30 seconds to be up and running.  (I leave the Pi booted up 24/7 with the Loconet server on, so I don't have to fuss with it.)  I could use a tablet in place of the Mac, and leave the Pi's jmri web server on all the time, but I'd still I have to turn a tablet on and make sure it is charged, etc.

I have served Withrottle from the Pi with no issues, but I've never had more than 2-3 users connected at a time.  In practice I find most operators still prefer to have a Digitrax utility throttle over a phone.  That will likely change with time as more wifi throttle options become available.

*Unlike your situation, CATS presents additional constraints for me.  While I could run CATS on the Pi, the console still needs to be in the house, so I still need a wireless connection between the Mac and the Pi.  The alternative we looked at was a VNC window from the Pi to the Mac with CATS running on the Pi, but the response was sluggish, and the graphics were less than stellar.  In the end, there was no compelling reason to keep everything (or much of anything) on the Pi.

[C855B]

..In practice I find most operators still prefer to have a Digitrax utility throttle over a phone.  That will likely change with time as more wifi throttle options become available. ...

There will be no Digitrax wireless here so I don't have to defend against the guys with "bring your own" DT402Ds, etc.  No UR92 = no risk of having every locomotive on the layout have their road number reassigned by somebody with fat fingers (or who doesn't know just how dangerous ops mode programming is). Anyway, I pre-ordered the TCS WiFi throttle to try out, with the hope that it and its future little brother will placate crew members who don't like phone throttles. 

[Ed Kapuscinski]

There will be no Digitrax wireless here so I don't have to defend against the guys with "bring your own" DT402Ds, etc.  No UR92 = no risk of having every locomotive on the layout have their road number reassigned by somebody with fat fingers (or who doesn't know just how dangerous ops mode programming is). Anyway, I pre-ordered the TCS WiFi throttle to try out, with the hope that it and its future little brother will placate crew members who don't like phone throttles. 

F that. Go Protothrottles or go home!

[davefoxx]

F that. Go Protothrottles or go home!

This Protothrottles look great, but, damn, they’re expensive at almost $500.00. On top of that, you need to also purchase a receiver to connect to your layout at an additional $99.00.  Yikes.  Still tempting, though.  But, yikes.

DFF

[C855B]

^^^^^ This.

[rodsup9000]

F that. Go Protothrottles or go home!

 Ed, they look super nice and the thought behind them is good, but I didn't like using it when I had the opportunity to try one out. I think after you use one for a ops session, you'll have a different opinion. There heavy and cumbersome. Then if your using it in a yard to do switching, it takes what seems twice as long to get your work done. The braking seems like it takes forever to stop and the same for throttling up to get up to speed.  Just my opinion and most of the people that I know that has used one. Maybe if the braking and throttling up was adjusted better to what most of us are used to, then might have a different opinion. Also need to get the weight down so it is so much of a strain on the neck.