Forum Question: Value of a Clinic Topic on Operations?

[rickb773]

I would like to ask the group if they think a topic on Preparing for Operations is interesting enough to generate adequate attendance at an NMRA regional convention?

Background: I have never attended an NMRA convention and therefore never had the pleasure of attending one of their clinics. I recently did a series of 3 articles in N Scale Magazine. The third article was entitled “Preparing for Operations.” A member of the NMRA MER convention saw the article and asked me to consider doing a clinic at the October convention. He thought my “customer based operating concept vs. the more traditional car-card system” might be helpful.

My questions to you are:
1) Is this a valid/interesting topic?
2) Do you think it would generate enough interest to attract a decent size audience?

Any feedback would be helpful since I have to decide if the trip is worth the cost (speakers pay to get in, pay for a hotel stay, and the roundtrip is 250 miles).

The required 2 paragraph clinic summary would be:

Building a model railroad is one thing . . . operating a model railroad is another? How do you find answers to all the questions needed for setting up operations? The Trial and Error method works, but takes and wastes a lot of time. We will deal with several topics needed to set up and implement operations.

The processes we will cover include:
•   How many freight cars were appropriate for the capacity of the layout (yards and sidings)
•   Ratio of railroad companies represented
•   Analyzing the customers along the line (what kinds of “stuff” did they ship and what “stuff” had to be delivered to them)
•   Frequency of the deliveries and shipments and how that effects operations
•   Supplemental materials/equipment needed to operate the railroad (uncoupling picks, lights, shelves, etc.)
•   Finding a crew & crew assignments

[pdx1955]

I would say definitely as this would be a great topic at any convention. I've attended a number of operational clinics over the years and I would say the room is always pretty full. I think your topics are things that would apply to almost anyone who was into operations - from the beginner to the expert.

[C855B]

I like the customer-oriented approach in that it adds a layer of "why stuff happens" rather than rote following a switchlist or card deck, just 'cuz that's "the game".

[GaryHinshaw]

I do think this would be a good topic.  You could also cover topics that might be special to your layout, such as:

* how is car demand generated?
* how do you keep track of cars?
* are there special challenges in N scale? (e.g. identifying car numbers, crew size and ergonomics, etc.)
* what is the profile and length of a typical session?
* how do you find crews and schedule sessions?

You might find new recruits to operate your layout in the process. 

[milw156]

Then record it and put it on YouTube for us! I definitely like the customer based aspect-what IS in that box car, covered hopper, tank car ?

[mark dance]

I would say..."quite probably". 

(Disclaimer: operations is a focus of mine. I have done several clinics in a variety of forums on Ops. written articles for main stream mags and made videos on it all because I would like to promote ops heavily both to our "modeller" brethren and beyond to the general population.  I see the collaborative gaming side of MR ops as a valuable differentiator of our hobby against other modelling and maker hobbies)

I believe from emails with the editors of both MR and MRH that operations is a small but passionate side of our hobby.  (MRH told me that ops articles have been "the kiss of death" for them...).  An estimate is 10-20% of the MR community.

We have just finished the RMMBC regional meet in Vancouver so I have some relevant but limited feedback. 

• Clinic-wise, we were to have one clinic of 18 on ops - but the clinician had to cancel.  I think one or two in 20 is probably about right. In a follow up survey our attendees were polled on topics or future clinics.  There were two requests for ops out of 50 respondents.  The overwhelming requests were for more electronics, and scratch building.
• This being said the op sessions portion of our meet was in high demand and attended by about 30-40% of the attendees, many of whom were brand new to ops and curious.

Interest is slowly growing I think with modellers curious as to whether they will enjoy it and then how to start. 

hope that is helpful...good luck!

md

[C855B]

... (MRH told me that ops articles have been "the kiss of death" for them...). ...

The ops articles I recall tended to be pretty clinical - as in technical and dry - so I wouldn't be surprised if they were not well-received by the broader audience. I think Rick's top-down approach of "customer-oriented", frankly, is genius. Setting the stage as a reduction of the 1:1's business logic takes "operations" out of the realm of a geeky (...sorry...) strategy game where the game is the objective, as opposed to a compressed model of the real thing.

I've participated in very few ops sessions since the "this is the game, here are the rules, and this is the script" doesn't appeal to me, in the same way that role-playing strategy games never appealed despite that I've been a computer geek since forever, and, gee, isn't strategy gaming supposed to be in my DNA? Anyway, I find the business-modeling approach attractive, so I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes.

[mark dance]

The ops articles I recall tended to be pretty clinical - as in technical and dry - so I wouldn't be surprised if they were not well-received by the broader audience.

Perhaps.  Joe specifically said they have polled their readership and operations does not poll well enough for them to invest in it.  This is in spite of the Jack Burgess' article in MRH on TT&TO which I think maybe the best I have ever read on the topic.

Just setting expectations...those modellers currently interested in ops may be passionate but are a very firm minority of the hobby.  I believe the combined membership in the OpSig/LDSIG - which between them have an 80% overlap of their mutual members - is ~10% of active NMRA members.  We shouldn't fool ourselves...data speaks.

...but anything to get more people operating is a good thing in my eyes...it turns MR'ing into more than just railroad modelling and increases the social component.

md

[Santa Fe Guy]

I believe it is a no brainer to hold such a clinic.
We have been holding operating sessions on our N Scale layouts since the late 80's.
Whenever I had guests over to operate on my SFRSD that had not used car cards, have been enthused enough to start developing their own system.
During my layout planning way back in 1994 I made sure that the industries at each town made sense so there was a business reason to operate the RR from one location to another.
Several now close friends who primarily built their RR's for scenery and just running trains now operate with car cards and wish they had known how to do it years ago.
All good enough reasons to encourage folk to get into some operations on their RR's
Rod.

[thomasjmdavis]

My only suggestion is that perhaps you include an introduction “customer based operating concept vs. the more traditional car-card system" - because I think that is the key element to the presentation.  And while it would be covered within the presentation, if it is upfront, it clearly differentiates the session from previous ones a modeler might have attended.

This is a clinic I would go to if I were there- I think modeling the economics of a railroad is as important as modeling its equipment, or the scenery it runs through.  In some cases, railroads were built to serve particular customers or industries- coal fields, population centers, etc.  And also, in many cases, factories were located where they were because of close access to a rail line (along with other considerations such as labor pool, water, etc.).

[mark dance]

My only suggestion is that perhaps you include an introduction “customer based operating concept vs. the more traditional car-card system" - because I think that is the key element to the presentation.  And while it would be covered within the presentation, if it is upfront, it clearly differentiates the session from previous ones a modeler might have attended.

This is a clinic I would go to if I were there- I think modeling the economics of a railroad is as important as modeling its equipment, or the scenery it runs through.  In some cases, railroads were built to serve particular customers or industries- coal fields, population centers, etc.  And also, in many cases, factories were located where they were because of close access to a rail line (along with other considerations such as labor pool, water, etc.).

I agree completely..."Industry-centric" car forwarding versus "Car-centric" car forwarding.  Not much noticeable difference from the crews POV but it can lead to more prototypical car moves and train make ups as well as freshening the roster of cars on a layout instead of just moving the cars around on the layout.  This has been my experience.

md

[joelm]

Rick: I read your article in N Scale. It was very well done and informative. Coincidentally, I had just presented a Clinic at the Cajon Division of the NMRA fall meet (October 2016) with a similar focus titled " Developing a prototype based rolling stock fleet for model railroad operations".  There was some overlap between your articles and my Clinic, with your articles being much broader in scope.

The Clinic covered how I determined what commodities/industries to model on my New York, Ontario & Western Railway, a discussion of era and types of cars for the commodities selected,  then onto determining the number of cars for each industry/commodity and the percentage of cars in the appropriate road names based on connecting roads, nearby roads and large roads (ie: PRR)  and suggestions on how to research that information for a specific railroad.

The clinic was well attended, and well received.  We had about total 55 boomers at the meet, and 3 other clinics at the same time as mine, and I had 14 or so in the audience (20%).  I'll be repeating the Clinic at the PSR Regional Meet "Ontario Manifest" in September in Ontario, CA.  So, I would highly encourage you to present your clinic. Joel

[superchief]

Rick,
    Yes put the clinic on, people will love it. I too read your mag article and it was well done. I have put on a basic operations clinic and one on passenger operations ( a favorite of mine. Both times I had to be run out of the room because we ran out of time before the next clinic and continued to take questions outside. With your information in the article you have the knowledge to put on a great clinic.
     Gordon









 

[Blazeman]

Rick: By having read your blogs over the years, when I participated in your ops sessions, I was able to shorten the learning curve with that exposure to your layout and its' scheme. The various ways you have told the story of your layout will result in more than a few people attending your presentation having some background as to what story you are telling.

Perhaps you could do  pre-MER test runs. Phila Div has a meeting Sep 9 in Exton; NJ Div the next week in Millville (and go to Mike Trout's hamburger joint while there). Wouldn't be difficult for to get you on the agendas.

The concept of commodity-based reasons for moving cars rather than completing a series of moves generated by a computerized, random selection switch list is always more interesting. Being a rail shipper for 40 years, when I move cars around, it's for a reason as a result of an economic transaction. Just a different way of telling the story, but one that seems more relevant.

[JMaurer1]

For so many modellers, it's all about building the model railroad...and then you're done. I've always been into the puzzle aspect of operations (figuring out how to put those cars where they need to be). It's not just about the box cars, tank cars, hoppers, etc. It's about what is INSIDE those cars, where they are going and how they get there. I used to go to the PCR gatherings JUST to play with John Allen's Timesaver module (and I won with the lowest time most of the time). I just wish I had a model RR done enough so that I could do more operations.

Would I be interested: Heck YES

I'm also hoping you do record it and post it on YouTube. Wish I could be there...