New "Operations" book by Opsig

[Cajonpassfan]

I just acquired a terrific new book, A compendium of model railroad operations -from design to implementation-, and I am so impressed with it and its content that I thought I'd share it here. And no, I have no relationship with the authors, other than subscribing to OpSig "special interest group" quarterly magazines.

Even if you're not into "operations" per se, don't let the long title turn you off. It's a very useful hardbound publication which covers a lot of information needed by anyone interested in designing and building a functional model railroad. And no, one doesn't need to be into replicating prototype paperwork to find most of the 300 lavishly illustrated pages and well thought out, organized, and concise chapters very useful and enjoyable.

At $45, it's not cheap, but definitely a better investment than a Bachmann passenger car...
Otto K.

[jpwisc]

How much of the book is focused on Transition Era ops (TT&TO) versus modern ops (TWC/CTC)?

[thomasjmdavis]

At $45, it's not cheap, but definitely a better investment than a Bachmann passenger car...

And that is a Bachmann passenger car marked down from $59. 

[jdcolombo]

Hi Otto.

Where do I get one?

John C.

[C855B]

Hardbound, too, and it appears to be professionally designed. I'm impressed. That alone is worth the $45, and indicates they care about the contents. I'm sold.

Yes... is there a link for ordering? Or are we to expect distribution through the normal hobby retail channels?

EDIT: I have a copy in-hand, and am compelled to retract that assessment. Hopefully the content will redeem it.

[Cajonpassfan]

John, Mike, I got mine through Bryan Bianco's Streamlined Backshop. Or you can google "Opsig Book" and order from them. I believe Bryan does their shipping.
Otto

[C855B]

Here's the info to order direct from Opsig: http://www.opsig.org/OPSigBook2.pdf

[C855B]

I just ordered from Streamlined Backshop. This thread jogging my memory, he sent a newsletter a few days ago with a link to his ordering page for the book.

If it matters, end cost after shipping is within pennies versus ordered direct from Opsig - Bryan's $5 discount over the "non-member" Opsig price is apparently to make up the difference of the higher shipping his ordering system adds. Anyway, it was easy enough to order from Bryan.

[Cajonpassfan]

How much of the book is focused on Transition Era ops (TT&TO) versus modern ops (TWC/CTC)?

Karl, both are but a small part of the volume in about equal sections. The focus of the book is on the big picture of railroad operations through several eras and on translating that to model form and the people to run them.
(As a sidebar, I've been participating in "ops" on a number of layouts, some quite complex, and the "people side" of layout design and operations cannot be understated. The social side of the hobby can be wonderful, but it too needs to be well thought out to work well).
Otto

[GaryHinshaw]

Thanks for bring this to our attention Otto.  I'll be picking one up too.  Ops is addictive.

[C855B]

>Ops is addictive.

I hope so. I'm looking forward to the book. My local experiences with ops have been less than satisfying, so I'm all ears to hear of other approaches.

...The social side of the hobby can be wonderful, but it too needs to be well thought out to work well.

Oh, that's easy. Doesn't a well-stocked fridge and delivery pizza fix everything?

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I've got a copy. It's really good!

I feel like I've been swimming in this stuff for many years, and I still have picked up things in the first few pages.

[p51]

I got their previous book and to be honest, it got away from me after a while. I'm a very intelligent, educated and well-read person in all humility, but reading about operations written by some of these op gurus... 
Well, let's just say I'm caught between getting lost and being lulled to sleep when I read books on operation. Most of what I've learned on RR ops has been in discussions with people at op sessions who work for RRs. I think I'd been to two op sessions before I found out what 'OS' stood for (I got right away what it referred to, but not what the acronym meant) and must longer before I understood what a lot of terms meant. These books are written, I feel, in the mindset of people who really already understand it all.
I think of all the instruction manuals I read when I was in the military. A layman in most cases could figure those out due to how they're written. Some of that mindset would do well for books like this, though the 'hard-core' ops guys probably wouldn't buy or read them written like that. Classic catch 22.
All this said, I'll probably be getting a copy because I at least want to see what I can learn from it.

I just ordered from Streamlined Backshop.
Anyway, it was easy enough to order from Bryan.

Easy enough, yes, but they wanted over $25 for shipping alone and I live in the US! 
With the media rate being what it is, that's highway robbery. I guess I'll have to order directly through them, assuming they too don't gouge on postage!

[peteski]

Sounds like we need "Model RR  Ops for Dummies" book!
 
I also need a bumper sticker which reads "I would rather be building models". 

[C855B]

... they wanted over $25 for shipping alone and I live in the US! ...

   I was charged $12.50 for Priority Mail, which is what elicited my comment about "equivalent" pricing to ordering direct from Opsig. There was no option for media rate.