Tehachapi, BC

[ristooch]

Very belated congratulations on the silver spike. i particularly like your vertically-laminated scenery base.

Paul Ristuccia

[ednadolski]

A bit too "G&D" for me given hyper realism is the objective.

it disturbs the reality that these locations are actually miles apart.

On Tehachapi, those flowing, multi-level mountain scenes like that actually are prototypical, indeed even signature:

http://www.railpictures.net/showimage.php?id=563927&key=9867762
http://www.railpictures.net/showimage.php?id=483027&key=9867762
http://www.railpictures.net/showimage.php?id=612741&key=7551960

Ed

[GaryHinshaw]

Ops session #7

Our second session in two weeks is now in the books: 2017 April 22.   (I didn't cover session #6 here because it was a "does this thing even work?" session more than an ops session.)  I was away for one of the last two weeks, so for this session, I focused my limited prep time on staging a proper train line-up with corresponding power.  No new layout work. Here is the crew for the session:



Back (l-r): Brian Dobbin and yours truly
Front (l-r): Bill Dixon, John Green, Timothy Horton (BCR 570).

Bill and Tim observe a meet at Summit:



John and Brian drive a grain train through the Loop (the only train of the evening with live helpers):



And, in a long overdue moment, proper modern containers finally arrive on the Hill:





Some reflections on the evening:

* The main focus this time was on testing throughput: how many trains can we really run over the layout and at what cadence?  To start the session, I had 4 trains staged in Bakersfield and 4 in Mojave (the Vortex) each with power on the ready.   I also had 4 more trains set up in the storage yard, without power, to back-fill the main staging later in the session.  I served as host/trainmaster/yardmaster/mother-may-I-dispatcher, while the 4 guests were the road crew.  We got through the 8 pre-staged trains in about 90 min without too much fuss, so if my goal is a full 3-hour session with no repeats, I should plan on having ~16 trains on the ready.  I can comfortably stage 6 trains each in Bakersfield and Mojave, so 4 more in the (9-track)  storage yard is fine without clogging the system.

* A full crew is probably 4-5 road crew, 1 yardmaster, and 1 dispatcher, plus myself as host/trainmaster.    The room can (just) accommodate this if the dispatcher is in another room (the dining room) or another state/province. 

* With the advent of the lower deck main, the multi-purpose role of the Vortex has become much less confusing (thankfully).  However, there is still an issue with pushers in the Vortex: specifically the one-turn helix the line makes around the Vortex between the lower and upper deck.  The pusher crew must fly partially blind in there, which causes a bit of discomfort.  We minimized pusher ops this time because of this, and because of the smallish crew size, but that is still intended to be an important component of the ops plan.

* I need more decoder-equipped power!  With an average of 3 units per train, I need at least 24 units to get through the first half of the line-up, and double that to be really comfortable with the full line-up.  For this session, I had 24 units in service...  I have about 6 more units that I can place in service for RMMBC, but I'll need more for VanRail in September.  Until then, I'll recycle power during a session.

* I need more intermodal platforms! With the appearance of the Scale Trains containers and the Trainworx trailers, my need for platforms has suddenly increased.  If I want roughly half of the trains in a session to be intermodal, and I have an average train length of 30 cars (platforms), I'll need about 240 platforms to properly stock a session, and ~70% of these should be 53' platforms.  Right now, I have maybe 70 or so 53' platforms, split between Maxi-IV wells and BLMA spine cars.  Unfortunately, I don't have any of the spines in regular service yet because I don't like the reliability of the BLMA hitches, so we run a lot of manifests still.  (I do have a stock of MLE hitches I can assemble for the spine cars, but that takes time.)

* Managing staging properly really does require a full-time crew member.  This doesn't need to be the same person for a whole session, but it should be a home-road member who is familiar with the layout.  The tasks are to:
1) assist arriving and departing road crews at each end,
2) shuttle arriving trains into the storage yard as necessary to keep the terminal yards fluid, especially in Mojave, which only has room for 3-4 arriving trains,
3) shuttle new trains out to staging in the later parts of a session,
4) and manage power, especially on trains that are too long to fit with their power in place.
It's a manageable task, but it does require constant attention.  The host can pitch in as needed. 

Thanks for looking,
-gfh

[sp org div]

Looks like good times.... just throw more money at it and everything will be fine.   
Jeff

[Cajonpassfan]

Lol, looks like Jeff has all the answers...
Otto K.

[GaryHinshaw]

Trust me, money is being thrown!  But don't tell my wife.   

[James Costello]

And, in a long overdue moment, proper modern containers finally arrive on the Hill:

Hooray!

[jagged ben]

Holy donkeys, I thought I had a lot of intermodal platforms.   

Anyway congrats on everything.  There's a reason this thread is so popular.

[Scottl]

Gary, the backdrop looks very effective.  I think I see a few seams- is it the test version still?

[GaryHinshaw]

Thanks Scott.  Sadly it is the same test print that I first tacked up 4 years ago...  However, I do rather like it still, so I probably won't change much when I get it professionally printed, whenever that is. 

-gfh

P.S. In scanning through the archives to find the above link, I came across this pre-Vortex photo where I was trying to picture how the Vortex would fit under the Loop shelf:



Here's how it fits:



(For ops sessions, it is very helpful to have the Vortex visible like this.  I need to move the tall cabinet that currently blocks much of it.)  It's been a long haul, but with track and wiring almost finished, I'll finally be able to concentrate on more cosmetic projects.  That's when the real fun begins.

[mark dance]

I'm sorry to have missed the most recent session Gary. 

What are your current thoughts as to the helper "district" following that session?  Does it look like a full run through from Bakersfield to Mojave will work or is a safer reduced Caliente to Monolith preferred?  What was the feedback?  (I have to admit that after spending most of last Friday on Grant Eastman's SAR - with construction and rolling stock comparable to yours - I am wondering if I am being too paranoid)

md

[lajmdlr]

"Helper district" depends on what era is being modeled. Back when helpers were manned they were cut off at Tehachapi. But in the DPU era, they are run through to a major division point w/ no major grades to be encountered afterward.

[GaryHinshaw]

Mark, we didn't really test the pusher scenarios very much: just one grain train with a live helper between Caliente and Summit.  I was mostly interested in testing overall throughput (main line and staging) and deciding what to set up for RMMBC.    I think 4 road crew will be good for keeping the line busy, but not clogged, and that the yardmaster and dispatcher can manage that throughput pretty well.  In that case, my preference would be to have run-through dpu's like they run today (as lajmdlr notes).  If things work very well, these could be consisted to the lead and run with 1-person crews, leaving the occasional live helper as a bonus job. 

I need to have more sessions to refine these ideas!

[Santa Fe Guy]

Gary, your layout is turning into a dam fine model RR.
Rod.

[jagged ben]

Gary, you may find that DPUs consisted all together work okay if you do a lot of speed matching work ahead of time.   But I've always run them separately controlled (which is prototypical).  Going uphill it's not too big a deal with speed matched locos, but going downhill the train gets compressed more readily and in my experience you really want the rear DPUs running at slightly lower RPMs so they are pulled just a wee bit and keep the train stretched out.   At any rate, separate control gives you leeway on the fly if your speed matching isn't perfect or even if a loco develops a slightly problem during a run.   Also when you go over crests and sloughs you really want the two ends transitioning push and pull at different times.   Maybe your layout doesn't really have many of those, but it only takes one important one.   

I don't know what you're using for throttles but at least with some systems it's no big deal for one operator to handle two throttles simultaneously.  I don't really think it's harder for one person to handle two throttle controls than for two people to communicate changes in speed.