Weekend Update 6/26/11

[up1950s]

I think most ran away from home this weekend so I suspect posts will be light till Monday . We will see .

UP 2888 progress

[mark dance]

Most of the hobby time this week was taken up preparing for and conducting an operating session Thursday evening.  The C&W session hosted a dispatcher and 7 crew which is 1-2 short of full load so I got to run a few trains!  PGE N scale modelers and Railwire members Tim Horton and Greg Kennelly were in attendance.  Here are a few photos from the session:


Tim Horton (back) and Scott Calvert (front) work Nelson West and East yard jobs respectively.  Looks like lots of cars for Cranbrook to the East.  Behind them on the upper deck is the new scenery that is going in.


Len Thompson working the Boundary wayfreight West in the newly scenic'd Fife area.


Colin Dover (front) and Bill Dixon (back) work the Kraft switcher and Boundary wayfreight East jobs respectively.


Extra 4052 East, the Phoenix ore freight for Tadanac/Trail, departing Cascade.  Out of sight to the West are the two FM pushers which have been cut in ahead of the wooden caboose to make conductor Greg Kennelly a little more comfortable on the 25 mile push up to Farron summit.  Looks like the crew of this extra are Canucks fans! 

The classification flags are something I am toying with to add before the big September visiting op session.  I would welcome feedback from people on both the appearance and the value of class flags in TT&TO operation.  Most often the flags will be used to designate extra trains but I do have 1-2 trains which may be run as 1st and 2nd sections.

Scenery-wise some progress was made including carving the trunk/root system on some very large pines at Slide bridge and putting in the dirt access road at Coryell.

That's it for this week...

md

[mark dance]

Sorry 'bout that all.  The photos are in one of my albums on Trainboard which appears to be down for a "small upgrade" which I hadn't counted on. :'(

If their site is not up and running - and of course the link properly working in a few hours, I will move the photos to some other site and try again.

Thx for the patience.  Teaches me for posting on Saturday mid-day rather than waiting to the end of the weekend!

md

Update: moved photos and links to photobucket so hopefully they work for you now.  I can see them anyways...

[John]

Sorry 'bout that all.  The photos are in one of my albums on Trainboard which appears to be down for a "small upgrade" which I hadn't counted on. :'(

If their site is not up and running - and of course the link properly working in a few hours, I will move the photos to some other site and try again.

Thx for the patience.  Teaches me for posting on Saturday mid-day rather than waiting to the end of the weekend!

md

That's why I don't host pictures on RW ..

[Bendtracker1]

Awesome!
There they are....Very Nice!

[John]

I would like to know more about the stickers on the freight cars ...

[BCRail_FSJ]

I discovered that, from the right angle (if you squint and ignore the bare plywood and exposed wires), my model version of Taylor sort of captures the feel of this prototype photo.  Static grass and a chip loader are definitely required.

[mark dance]

I would like to know more about the stickers on the freight cars ...

OK John...you asked for it.  Hope you don't regret that

On the C&W train movement is controlled with TT&TO while car movement - where each car should end up - is governed by sticker-on-car.  Given the small text on N scale car sides, lack of unique numbering on my predominantly 40' XM car fleet, and 13' track centers, I did not feel using a car card system was workable.  Instead I looked at what local Vancouver N scalers like Steve Stark and Brian Morgan were successfully using and made up a variant of their Avery dot systems.

On the C&W each direction and subdivision has a colour and for industries modelled on line there are short town and industry acronyms.  These colours and acronyms are what are printed on the labels.  Here are schematics for the car routing colours and industry designations.





I print the stickers out on my Epson and attach them to the cars as needed before sessions.  I only need to change out 10% of the stickers in practice between sessions as mostly the cars are rerouted.

While the stickers leave lots to be desired in photos, they work well in operations.  The operators only need to carry their radio throttle in their hands as they follow their trains.  I provide small clipboards which can be used to hold the tri-fold train instructions, pencil, the time table, clearances and train orders.  The clipboards have lanyards so the operators can hang them around their necks if they wish leaving their hands free.  The combination of the clipboards and car-on-sticker means no car cards or paperwork to drop and sort but each train and car can be specifically routed.  However with the stickers re-staging cars between sessions is not automatic like it is with car cards which is a significant drawback

Hopefully that all makes sense.

md

[John]

Thanks for the description .. a couple of us are starting to set layouts up for operations .. this is an interesting variation ..

[mark dance]

Thanks for the description .. a couple of us are starting to set layouts up for operations .. this is an interesting variation ..

No problem...if you would like a copy of the C&W Employee Timetable which covers all the operational stuff like this, then please just email me through railwire.

md

[eric220]

During my previous work session, my work crew erected the supports for the coach yard.  The room is 12 feet wide here, and that window is almost 8 feet wide.  Coming up with the benchwork to span that gap was quite a creative challenge.



Last weekend, my work crew came over and we got most of the supports installed for River City.  The also enjoyed the latest addition to the train room, which was stocked with potables just in time.



Here you can see the grooves that will hold the upper staging yard.  This will allow off-layout traffic origins and destinations to/from "points west".  Laying the track up here is the next step.



Finally, after a couple of weeks' visit, I bid farewell to the NScale.net and Trainboard traveling cars.

[chuck geiger]

Saturday evening kicked back and replacing wheel sets on rolling stock from plastic to metal.
Next out comes the weights....

[bbussey]

Finished the M&StL modified AAR 1937 double-door boxcar.

[davefoxx]

I finally received an order from Fast Tracks that I placed over a month and a half ago.  Since it's also been several months since I built my first code 40 turnout, I spent the evening following along with Fast Track videos and just finished my second handlaid turnout.  This one is a code 40 right hand #6.  I need three more turnouts (two curved and another #6) to be able to finish the track for the Aberdeen and Rockfish RR layout that DKS designed for me.  After flirting with handlaying all of the code 40 track, I decided to use code 40 flextrack and handlaid turnouts for the A&R track.  For contrast, the neighboring SAL/SCL/SBD trackage is code 55.

DFF

EDIT: This morning, in honor of that railcam that has clearly become a RW favorite, I lettered one of my C&O 10-6 sleepers as the City of Fostoria.  This sleeper is being shipped today to the WM Western Lines to run in Lee's A$$hat Express.

RE-EDIT: Oh, and Bob Bufkin has a connection to both the Fostoria railcam, which he brought to our attention this week, and my C&O sleeper.  Bob gave me his leftover decals (Walthers shorted decals in the initial shipments of the 10-6 sleepers), which I finally got around to putting on this car.  Thanks, Bob!

[BCR 570]

Here are a few photos from the session:

I dont see the photograph of the wayward chip cars . . .   


Tim