AC&Y - Ohio's Road of Service

[SAH]

The trestle may show up on the backdrop to the left of the GY Plant 2 structure.  Not sure what yet, but something will have to be done to the backdrop in that space.  A photo image of Plant 1 my be just the thing.  After I check the GY trackwork I want to mock-up Plant 2 with all the view blocks and such and run the jobs again to make sure the spots are accessible.  Then we'll see what makes sense for the backdrop.

[SAH]

The Road of Service reached a milestone of sorts today.  The first Spur 4 General Tire job ran, with paperwork supporting car forwarding.  Here's a shot of the MTYs being placed after pulling the loads from the outbound dock.  You can see the paperwork in the lower LH corner of the photo.


The car forwarding paperwork is generated with a spreadsheet.  It worked well for the General job and I'm tweaking things as I go.  For a small layout such as mine I think it will work just fine.  I've operated on layouts using Ship It!, JMRI, Car Cards and Car Tabs.  I prefer using switch lists and conductor's wheel reports but didn't really want to deal with a canned program.  I also wanted to include the use of simplified car service rules for routing LDs and MTYs out of Brittain to add a little bit of thought and chance to the yard work but still minimize the "clerking" aspect yard work so I don't drive guest operators away.  Here's a shot of Brittain with the next three Spur 4 jobs ready to go and cars classified by outbound road freight, Mogadore Valley, B&O transfer, Erie transfer and home road storage.



When I did my car inventory spreadsheet I found I had 200 cars ready to go, meaning lowered with body mounted couplers and weathered.  I was pumped, until I realized it was the result of 20 years of work.  10 cars a year.  Not so hot.  I will say that after drilling cars in the yard and running the General job I learned a LOT about the differences between the theory of lowering cars, trucks, wheel sets and couplers and the reality of same.  I think I'll run the other Spur 4 jobs to gather more data and then perhaps start a new thread on the subject to get some thoughts from the TRW crew.  I will say that I'm beginning to question some of what may be widely held beliefs.  Some perspective from others would be valuable.

Steve

[Philip H]

The rounded front of your tire Co is really well done.

ANd I like your thinking about the spreadsheet.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I love it man.

I think you're hitting on something that many of us often forget. There's a lot to be thought about when it comes to the mechanics of aesthetics.

I love my 905 couplers. But I like them on cabooses. I'm not convinced I'll ever be installing them on engines, especially when I'm thinking about helper ops. I'm sure this is FAR from the only thing I'll be realizing.

I'm looking forward to your learnings with this too.

[DeltaBravo]

This is a great build. I wish I had found this thread two years ago before I started my build, several great ideas.

[MDW]

Great modeling and pics, as always!

I think I'll run the other Spur 4 jobs to gather more data and then perhaps start a new thread on the subject to get some thoughts from the TRW crew.  I will say that I'm beginning to question some of what may be widely held beliefs.  Some perspective from others would be valuable.

Steve

I’m about ready to embark on fine tuning my own rolling stock and more formal operations so will be looking forward to your and the rest of TRW’s “lessons learned.”

Michel

[SAH]

After running all the Spur 4 jobs out of Brittain the outbound cars kind of backed up, with no way to get them out of the yard except for using the trusty 0-5-0.  That changed this afternoon.  The crew for #97 is on board and ready to depart with cars for Spencer, New London, Bluffton, Columbus Grove and Delphos.  Places steeped in railroad lore no doubt.   


Heading West, through the hole in da wall.



I didn't say it was pretty but we made it.  A good day.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I like the sequential ops scheme you've got going there.

Also, I bet this is all INCREDIBLY gratifying given how long it's taken to get to this stage.

[wm3798]

Your yard makes me pine for additional real estate.
It's fun to swap stuff in and out of boxes, but not nearly as fun as swapping it out of a fully functional yard!

Lee

[SAH]

To get to this point has indeed taken years.  More than I care to think about.  With many false starts along the way.  So yes it IS gratifying.  The best part:  So many more adventures to look forward to.  Next up is to get the Goodyear Plant #2 view blocks mocked up so I can see how they impact the mechanics of switching.  Then put the place name and spot labels on the fascia so I can have a test subjec, er, guest operator over for a live trial.  Is this a great hobby or what!

[SAH]

The mockup for Goodyear went up yesterday.  A bit crude but it shows what is possible.  The North end is pretty straight forward.  The tall white board will be sky color.  A proto photo from the same general orientation follows.  I think I can make it work.




The South elevation will be a bit trickier.  SO much to see in the proto photo.  From right to left is the Reclaim Bldg, Boiler/Powerhouse, and Production Bldg.  They are not connected.  I will try to do that as well.  The reclaim and boiler will essentially be building flats mounted on 3/4" ply, with a partial sky board above.  Partial in that it does not go as high as the center board in the prior photo so the lighting to the back of that scene is not blocked.  The carbon black hopper is represented by the gray pipe.  It somewhat distracts the eye from the A&BB interchange tracks, which did not really go under the building.  I think it may just work out.  I'll live with the mockup for awhile and see if a better idea comes to light.  When I brought all the cars back to their spots it was so cool to see the little trains moving between what will become massive factory walls. 

[DeltaBravo]

This entire thread makes me want to scrap my layout and start over.

[Chris333]

1952 before the freeway

[mu26aeh]

This entire thread makes me want to scrap my layout and start over.

For me, That's most of the threads in this section David 

[DeltaBravo]

For me, That's most of the threads in this section David 

Adam your layout is terrific, can’t wait to see the expanded version.