Good Afternoon and Welcome

How many have layouts DCare planning a new one DCC; NCE, MRC, DigitraxWhat scale? HO; O; N; other Started Operation4 X 8 to 10 X 10 Have Operated LayoutsScenery

The hand out is just an outline. My presentation is 99 slides with an 18 page narrative. If you would like a DVD copy of this clinic that includes the slides and the narrative plus the intro video, email me.

This clinic is not about layout design; bench work; height; width; laying track; wiring etc. It is about operation ideas and suggestions for the enjoyment of your layout.

Part 1 Foundation

Operations 2 ( slide #’s)

The very first thing I would like to say about operation is don’t wait until the layout is finished. We all know when that will be. (4) We started the GLN at the marshaling yard so we could start operations. As soon as the yard was done ( it is four tracks holding 96 34 ft coal hoppers) we laid main line in both directions and started operations in and out of the yard. Get operating because you will learn as you operate and that will influence what you build as your layout grows. 4 X 8 get a train running !!

What is operations ? Some say running a real railroad in miniature simulating the movement of freight and passengers over a distance

between towns, manufactures, shippers and stations. In reality it is YOUR railroad and operations can be ANYTHING you want it to be. Today I'd like to look at the room size layout and how its track plan components can facilitate operations and compare it to a full-size basement layout so we can see how to do some selective compression. I’ll be using operations on my GLN as examples of various types of operation and trains. In each case the size of the train is NOT important. What I want to convey is the various types of operations that are possible and think about your layout and its possibilities. As all of our layout have selective compression, you have to decide on two things. First the number and types of industries on your layout ( how much switching do you want to do ) thus the consists of the trains. And second the size of the trains. My mainline trains are 30 – 50 cars but a smaller layout could have the same operation format with less than10 car trains. The GLN has many large industries but a smaller layout could do the same basic operations with smaller and less industries. Look at what we are going to show today in terms of your layout and the possibilities that you may have overlooked for operations .

A train is an engine and a car ; a caboose is optional. You don't need a 3 engine lashup and 40 cars. The daily local can be and usually is less then 10 cars.

A small shelf layout, for example an 18” to 24" x 10 to 12 feet could be linear or L shape around the corner. A layout of the size will hold 30 to 40 cars. Plenty of room for a yard at each end and some sidings an interchange track, even an engine facility. Put John Allen's switching problem module in and you've got enough railroad to keep 3-5 operators busy for an evening

Let's start with a basic track plan with point-to-point movement. Draw your track plan and lay it out linear, even if it's a loop. One very important concept to keep in mind is that the size of the trains, its consist and the number of trains may increase as the size of a layout but the basic operations can remain the same. One very important decision you need to make is the amount of switching you want to do as compared to just running trains. As we will see later, operations is moving freight and passengers between towns and manufacturing complexes and switching within those complexes. Even a small layout can have multiple destinations for commodities and people. Should you decide to have passenger service a station or two will be needed. Simple small stations require the same servicing as the large union station complexes and take less real estate. The small whistle stop stations can be put just about anywhere and gives that daily passenger another stop on its run.

All railroads and layout need real estate. Your room is 10’ X 10’ and finding a place to put that storage track or two is a challenge. Under a mountain, behind that row of buildings all work. Don’t over look what is behind the walls of your “designated space”. Is it next to a closet, attic or otherwise non living space. A simple hole in the wall ”tunnel” and you have a storage or fiddle yard. You can still have shelves above and storage cabinets below the yard. This yard could be a terminus yard at either end of the layout or an interchange yard coming onto the layout.. It could be a fiddle yard for the “mole” yardmaster. Be innovative and creative in your thoughts and design.

Jobs 6

Engineer; brakeman; conductor; yard master; dispatcher; trainmaster; engine hostler; Clerks;(10) Two man crews; If you find that you have more operators than trains then two man crews are the answer. While one operates the throttle as engineer the other is the conductor and switchman. Have

them work together really helps new members learn the layout. It also works well if you are using car cards or track warrants. We have found that some of the runs are better served with two man crews with the amount of switching required.Also consider switching jobs during the op session. 2-3 hours of passenger runs might get boring for some.

Through Freights 11

These are the easiest as they can leave a staging yard, travel the layout and exit to a staging yard. They can start in a yard on the layout and then after moving on the layout exit to a staging track. They can start in a staging yard toward the end of a session and terminate in a yard on the layout. This could be your major yard, an interchange yard or that small yard. These through freights are great for that new operator that is not yet comfortable with the layout or switching. This same type of running is also done with passenger trains. Coming onto the layout, stopping at stations and then exiting. Unlike way freights the passengers can run that reverse loop and then exit into the same track they entered

Interchange Yards and Bridge Traffic 13

One of the big advantages of an interchange track is the introduction of other railroads coming onto your layout. This can be a yard or even one track that a passing freight can drop a car or two for a train to pick up that is headed in a direction that this train is not. Even one track can hold a few cars that give you an operation schedule that would otherwise not be available. To accomplish this you will need a track plan that either includes a north south and east west routes. Another way is to have a branch line off the main that has an interchange yard or siding that the through freight can drop a car or two for the next train that is headed up the branch. In the same way a branch line train could drop a car or two for the next through freight to pick up headed in a different

direction than the branch line train. The same thing can be accomplished out of your main yard but one of these short interchange tracks opens up great possibilities. The interchange track does not need to go anywhere if you don’t have the room for a long branch line. Just head it into a tunnel and make it a staging track.

The Large Yard 15

This can be the main focal point of the railroad. Your trough freights can come in for a crew change, engine servicing and new caboose. Classification can take place and then way freights or dailies can originate. Lots of industrial switching can happen off sidings. An engine facility will be needed and maybe a MOW siding or RIP track. Don’t forget your passenger trains. They need more than a station for people. What about the mail and those REA cars. That dinner needs a commissary to resupply. All of this is switching potential. The large yard does take a large piece of real estate but look at all that is going on here. The yard can be run by a yardmaster but the engineer can have yard duties when he brings his train in.

The Small Yard 21

The small yard or even a storage siding is a very prototypical place for a way freight to store his train while he works the industrial sidings close by up and down the main line. These sidings may be a few car lengths away or a mile or two. Look at locating this track so the engineer can work both directions. It needs to be accessible from both ends as you can then have your siding switches facing and trailing. This will give your operators more flexibility and challenge and is good for the engineer and dispatcher to work around other through traffic

Staging Yards 23

Now is a good time to mention staging. On some point to point layouts they have large staging yards at each end of the line for trains to come onto the layout, do some running and or switching and continue on to the other end of the layout and exit to the other staging yard. I feel that there is an alternative to the terminus end staging. Find places to put staging between the ends of the mainline run. A two track staging hidden yard will serve four trains. Two out bound and two inbound. The big advantage to this is that more trains can start at the beginning of the operation session. I have operated on layouts that have the traditional two staging yards and experienced watching operators sit for a half hour or more waiting for their train to come on the layout. The layout was large enough to have multiple trains on it but the design would have one train after another just follow each other. If there were other places on the mainline to start trains others could start in both directions creating traffic all over the mainline. Remember a staging track will service two trains, one outbound and one inbound. That inbound train can come from another staging track or a train that started on the layout.

(24) Instead of that large staging yard, look for several 1-3 track staging yards that can be hid under a mountain, put behind a city scene or started in a factory entrance. Multiple staging yards also enables more trains to enter the layout at the same time instead of all lining up at the throat of a large staging yard. Get trains running and let the dispatcher deal with the traffic.You have acquired more cars than your layout will hold “ does this sound familiar”? A fiddle yard ( off site) is where a ‘mole’ yard master actually picks cars off the track and replaces them with new ones from a shelf or drawer. He has a list of train numbers and their consists to get ready to go out on the layout during the session.

Engine Hosteling and Servicing 26

An engine facility doesn't take a 16 stall roundhouse to do engine servicing. Remember that interchange yard? All trains into the yard can have engine switching and crew changes requiring new cabooses. Any kind of simple engine facility with water, ash pits; diesel fuel etc. will do. Even one track can work. A spare engine for the first train in to switch with. After he leaves the next train in can switch with the engine and caboose from the first train and so on. This does take some time and so the dispatcher will have to keep track of the inbound and outbound trains as well as the mainline trains so the bottlenecks are minimize in the yard. Between these trains and engine hosteling and the car transfers it is easy to see how even a small yard can keep a dedicated yardmaster very busy.

Helper Service 28

Getting up a grade will require that extra amount of power. Now on a small layout you may say that there isn’t enough room or long enough trains to justify that helper engine. Well consider reevaluating that distance and grade and I believe you will come up with a short section that will need a push up the hill. Weather you have a dedicated helper engineer or have your mainline engineer MU the helper and run them together. We assign new operators to some helper service due to the careful control necessary on the throttle. Also look at the different ways for that helper to consist onto the train. Is it a metal or wood caboose? How will the pusher hook onto the train and disconnect at the top and return to the bottom. All of this is operation and takes planning. Now let’s look at some specific trains and industries.

Part 2 Industries

Passenger 34

Passenger service needs only an engine and one passenger car. A station or two and you have the basics for service. You can increase the traffic with two trains running opposite directions. Besides increasing the traffic you also give your dispatcher some real challenges. Remember that passenger trains also carry baggage and the mail. You can schedule an REA car, a mail car, a baggage car, pickup that sleeper car and get a diner from the commissary. All and all your just passenger trains can become very busy trains on and off schedule. Run an a clock having your dispatcher keep the other traffic holding in yards or on passing sidings will keep the passengers on time. Say it only takes two actual minutes to get from staging to a station. Using an 8:1fast clock that's 16 minutes and one way to stretch the layout size. Any additional consist switching of baggage or mail cars will greatly increase the time that passenger train is on the layout. Reverse loops are an excellent track design at either end of the run as they lead to out and back passenger services. A passenger train that starts in a staging yard comes on the layout, stops at a couple station and maybe a yard to switch a mail car then continues to a station then a reverse loop and back to the yard to drop a baggage car an on to the staging yard maybe stopping at a station on the way. Even on a small layout with communications to a dispatcher and all those stops and switching with a fast clock you’re looking at several hours of running time.(40) My last comment on passenger trains is get some passengers in them.

Coal 39

Coal mines and tipples are normally set up so the different tracks load coal of various sizes. These sizes range from very small pea size coal to very large chunks the size of microwaves. Let's say your mine has two tracks and there are two cars in each track another mine is larger and has

three tracks and three cars per track. Normal coal traffic is from the mine to a collection point known as a Marshaling Yard. (42) This Marshaling Yard can also collect trains from off line interchange storage tracks. We have three shorter trains that come to the Marshaling Yard from hidden staging tracks. (I’d like to point out here that when a train comes into the Marshaling Yard with his fulls then the engine and caboose go to the nearest engine servicing facility. It will be here for a period of time until a cut of empties are delivered to the Marshaling yard. The engine and caboose then proceed back to the Marshaling Yard, pickup his allotted empties and proceeds to his original location.) Now all 13 cars have arrived at the Marshaling Yard. They are mixed with other cars that have come in from off-line mines. All these cars are consisted into a train headed to the Classification Yard. Here all the lump size loads are classified into a train headed to a power plant. Another train of various size cars are headed to the interchange yard. There the cars will be consisted with others to head out as a way freight to service power plants and local coal retailers. This classification process will require at least one yard lead and one empty make up track. We run five different sizes of coal. To accommodate my operators I have each of the five different sizes in different Road Name cars so when the train comes in from the Marshaling Yard with four sizes of coal and the engineer needs to make up a train with all the same size coal all he needs to do is look for all N&W cars in the yard, classify them into a train on the make up track hook up a helper engine and he's ready to go.

There is a process of washing and cleaning the loads that may be done at the mines, Marshaling Yard or Classification Yard. This washing facility can be set up as a fulls in and fulls out process. The GLN has six mines on the layout holding a total of 68 cars on a dead-end branch line with three track holding switch back yard. The branch line ends at the four track Marshaling Yard at Flat Top that holds 96 cars. (43) The classification and washing facility is at Williamson and has a long yard lead at both ends holding 190 cars. Helper service is required westbound to Huntington so an engine facility is there also. Trains are classified according to coal size with 30 to 35 cars requiring that helper service

from Williamson. They continue to the major yard in Cincy. This is the major yard of the layout holding about 350 cars. Here there's crew and engine change for continuation to the Gary steel mill. Some coal is stored in Cincy yard for smaller customers in way freights. All traffic requires empties for the fulls at the mines and fulls are traded for empties at the end points. Consider leaving a few cars from the through freights; coal, grain, box etc for consisting into the way freights, daily locals etc. This gives that yard a real purpose and focal point for many trains. Don’t forget that the mines need wood.

Iron Ore 49

Both Hematite and Magnetite iron ore comes out of the ground at about 35% ore. It needs to be refined before shipping to the smelter. It is commonly shipped from the mine to a processing plant by rail. At the processing plant it is crushed, heated mixed with a binding agent called Bentonite and rolled into balls called Taconite Pellets. These pellets are now about 65% iron and moved by rail to an ore dock or shipped directly to the steel mill. By the way these trains are the heaviest trains in the world. On the Great Lakes Northern the ore trains are 30 cars long because two of Walter's ore docks will hold 30 cars. They come into the Marquette yard and drop the mainline caboose. From Marquette yard to the Taconite Plant in Ishpeming is all considered within the yard limit so no need for a caboose. That is a switching move in itself. At the Taconite Plant the 30 empties are switched for 30 fulls in a three track yard. These 30 fulls are taken back to the Marquette yard where 15 cars are hauled up to the Ore dock with one engine on the lead and one pushing. At the dock the 15 fulls and 15 empties are exchanged, now back to the Marquette yard to drop the 15 empties and pick up the other 15 fulls and back to the dock. Now the 30 empties in the yard will go back to the Taconite Plant and be switched for the 30 original empties left at the plant which have since been filled with taconite. These 30 fulls go to Marquette, pick up a road caboose and proceed to the steel mill. This steel mill can easily be an off line staging track. More on steel mills later.

Meatpacking 52

The cattle, pigs, sheep etc. can be collected along the mainline at local loading pens or from hidden staging track yards. Cattle cars are only one of the inbound cars. Tank cars for tallow, boxcars for packing materials etc. and the all-important reefer cars. Now reefers can come in iced and go directly to the packing plant or they can come in empty and go to an icy platform by the packing plant. This facilitates some switching within the complex, not just an empties in fulls out switch. The boxcar at the plant has fresh hides that need to be switched to the nearby tannery. The one at the tannery has tanned and prepared hides that are ready for the outbound way freight. There's also a tank car in the consist that needs to go to the tannery and switched for the empty one. There is also a full coal car that needs to be switch for the empty one at the power plant facility. All of these cars are in addition to the cattle cars.

Refinery 55

Refineries are one of those industries that are just fun to kit bash. The tanks and piping can be made out of so many things. You can put together almost any combination of cylinders and tubes and it looks great. Obviously there is as much inbound and outbound tank car traffic as your sidings can handle. Don't forget propane cars. Refineries also can ship 40 gallon oil drums and boxes of 5 gallon and quart oil cans in box cars. (58) A small building was some pipes going into it and a loading platform on a siding will facilitate an inbound and outbound boxcar. As a tank car can be used as either a full or empty this will be a good time to talk about using Road Names for switching. If the way freight come in with two shell oil cars and there is two Shell oil cars on track three then that is the switching assignment. This makes it very easy for the engineer, even a novice. This can also be done for the box cars and propane tanks. Refineries have extra storage tracks so even one

will increase the switching options. Not all car movements need to be empties in fulls out. Sometimes those empties come in and are put into short time storage until track space at a filling dock opens up. This also adds to the switching options for the next passing Way Freight. This is also a great place to have both trailing and facing point tracks with a runaround track for switching complexities.

Granaries 59

Grain starts in the field and goes to a silo. Then shipped by rail to storage silos, then to a ship or customer. These cars can also go to a transfer yard. On your layout this train could be from a hidden track to the silo and onto another hidden track. If you have more room additional silos and customers can be modeled. In the 50s boxcars were used for hauling grain. The door was opened and a sheet of plywood was put up inside the door and a shoot was put into the car to deliver the grain. Full cars have the doors closed and empty cars have the doors open with the plywood showing. If you're shipping from silo to silo either online or off-line this operation session will haul empties for fulls and in the next operation session can return the fulls for empties. Also remember the interchange yard is a great place to go from silo to yard for a short time storage, then make up a new consist for shipment to an off-line track. This interchange yard is the perfect place to drop a car or two for a later train to pick up and continue this journey. On the GLN the main silos have a separate four track yard that holds 60 (40 foot) box cars. Remember that if the switcher is transferring cars from your yard to another yard online or off-line you should have a transfer caboose. These little beauties can be at the end of the consist or between the engine and the consist. Don’t forget those grain storage facilities on the river or ocean front. (62)

Reefers and Icing Platforms 63

Besides the obvious use of reefers at the meat packing plants, remember that produce is shipped in them. If your layout is a bridge line then the through freights that come online will need to stop at the icing facility either in your yard or a separate track, spend some time getting iced and then continue on. Again this train may be only the size of your icing rack. If it is larger then the train will have to broken into cuts of cars to be iced one cut at a time with some down time for the engineer or he can go service his engine or head to the crew lounge or do some rail fanning until the icing is complete. By the way having some down time during the op session does two things. One it will extend your operation session and two it will give your operators some rail fanning time on the layout. No matter the size of the layout there are usually new thing to see between sessions and this may be the best time to notice them. I have had regular operators mention things on the GLN as new that have been there for a year or more. They come in, concentrate on operating their train, switching and continuing to the next stop and finish their assignment. With out pointing out the new structure, track, scenery etc. this may be the best time for the operators to see your layout.

Chemical plant 66

Inbound tank cars, cover hoppers, boxcars, outbound tank cars and covered hoppers and boxcars. Here is another great example of using empties and open box car doors. The chemical plant can be a single siding or a multiple facing and trailing point complex. There are tank cars, propane cars, boxcars to ship out oil products and grease, box and flatcars for machinery. The GLN has a 6 siding three building complex with a short and long run around track and its own switcher. The 12 car consist of empties ( open box car doors ) comes in from the Cincy yard with a switcher and transfer caboose. The chemical plant engineer now

needs to switch the empties for the fulls by using the like road names of the cars. Sometime during the switching process that usually takes and 8 hour day on the fast clock, a tank train arrives with 3-4 cars that are dropped off for the plant. As the chemical plant is close to the Ohio River grain silos a daily local will drop off 3-4 grain cars for the plant switcher to work. This is a job that takes an evening of operation. Your chemical plant can be one building with a few storage tanks and a single siding but have multiple cars in and out during the session from different direction with different trains. Create some switching challenges within the complex.

Logging and Paper Mill 69

The logging can be a siding with a pile of freshly cut pulp wood or a switch back up into the highlands serviced by a Shay. The distance to the paper mill can be next door or across the layout by way freight or a daily local. The paper mill will receive many types of raw material in addition to the wood. These will come in tank cars, covered hoppers, box cars and others. Most of the finished goods will be shipped in box cars but there is also those wood chip cars and the empty log cars and gondolas that need to be returned.

Rock Quarry and Cement Plant 13873

Both of these industries now have Walthers structures that are easy to kit bash to fit the small layout. They are easy to fit into small spaces in a corner or on a hill with those cool looking conveyors down to the tracks. (75) The cement plant again can be a single track or a major complex.

Steel Mill 76

Few small layouts have the room for the steel mill complex unless you want to have a steel mill layout. Remember the one or two track staging yard can be a complete steel mill with raw materials going in and products coming out. Remember the iron ore and Taconite plant ?

Part 3 Conclusion

Round-Robins 80

Do not feel that your layout is to small to be included into a round robin group. Committing to regular operation sessions from once a week to once a month commits time to your layout that you may not otherwise do. Plus the time it take to stage and get all the paper work in order gives you a new look at what you have created. An op session also gives you the opportunity to display your latest projects. Don’t wait to have a session until everything is perfect, that may never happen. Remember Allen McClelland’s “ good enough” motto. Sometimes” most of the time” have the session and you and your operators will find what needs to be done for the next session.

Remember if the group has more members than you have jobs the two man crew is the best answer. While it may get a bit crowed, the operators will enjoy another layout to operate. Just getting together and enjoying the hobby and each others company is a major benefit of the hobby.

Extending Operation Sessions 86

Now for the real way to make that room seem like it is a full basement. There are many ways to extend your operating sessions. Car cards can be used at every juncture of your switching operations. Having your

engineers actually switch car cards as they do their switching will extend their run from just a minute or two to several minutes at each switching operation. There are many ways to make our cards; on the computer; 3 x 5 cards made by hand; you can purchase them already made up. Car cards and waybills; Model Railroader 1961. Old-line Graphic card cards and four waybills; Micro Mark

(87) These car cards have pictures of the actual car on your railroad so that way there's no confusion about what car is to be switched. Waybills are another way to extend your operating session. This is a way that engineers can have a list showing what cars are to be switched where. They can be used in conjunction with the car cards. Track warrants really extend your operating session. Your engineer must call into your dispatcher get permission to move from one location to another. Once the dispatcher relays back all the specific information of the track warrant then engineer can proceed. This extends any operating session by quite a bit. Train orders are similar to waybills. They give the engineer the specifics of where to go, what cars need to be switched and sometime a local map diagram of the sidings and industries. Fast clocks really stretch the layout run. (89) They give you a SMILE. (90) Even a small layout with two or three engineers need a dispatcher. He has to communicate and this could be done with telephones, two-way radios or just voice communication in a room size. It's nice to be able to have the dispatcher in a separate location which forces communication by radio, telephones and give the realism of him not being onsite. One more job that can be done is a CLERKS job. Remember those car cards and waybills. Set up a station say next to the dispatcher where all the car cards are handled by a clerk. When an engineer, using a simple switch list, finishes his assigned switching at that location he reports to the clerk or dispatcher who relays that he has completed all assigned switching. The clerk now distributes all waybills and files all car cards for that assignment. Even a small layout with only 3-4 engineers will keep a layout clerk very busy and you have created another job on your railroad.

I have not mentioned some freights such as auto racks and stack trains. There are an endless number of customers out there to be served; Milk and Dairy; Brewers; Ethanol Plants; Water Fronts; and don’t forget LCL which can be a simple freight building or even a small dock. All of these can be worked into your operations similarly to the ones we’ve discussed.

Look at the entire plan of operations not just running some trains. That through freight creates traffic that needs to be routed around the other trains. Have a purpose for each train. All of the trains are part of the entire scheme and need to play their part for the session. Cars that are dropped off need to be picked up by other trains. Consists are made up for yards, sidings, interchanges and other trains. Running trains is what you do around the Christmas tree. Operations is what you do on a model railroad layout.

Resources 92

Your spending thousands on your layout consider a few bucks on your library. A list of inexpensive books for potential Birthday and Christmas presents will probably have a better chance than that new sound articulated steam engine that you want. Unlike many other hobbies, a model railroad is a life long commitment and even if you move many things go with you like your library. My GLN library has regular patrons. Videos and CD’s are also a great teacher and idea generator. There are many articles in the journals and magazines; Ex; Model Railroader; November 1992 “operating a small layout realistically”.

Summary

Designing and developing an operation system for your railroad that has meaning and purpose will take many hours. These hours will be as useful and satisfying as the actual construction of your layout. The well choreographed session with many scenarios is what building a layout is all about.

Remember most important is that it is YOUR layout and you are free to do what ever you want. I’ve operated layouts where the owner wants everything to run on time and as smooth as possible so he assigns the same job to the same operator each session. This includes engineers and yard masters. That is one way to operate. On my layout I always ask for requests and then assign trains based upon each individuals past trains. I like for everybody to run different trains each time. Once staged there are over 50 trains and it takes two operation nights to get them all run. It may be a year before you get the same train unless you request it. Yes the switching does take a bit longer and there are always different challenges for the dispatcher but we enjoy the variety of operations as the bottlenecks always happen in different locations. AGAIN it is your layout and as superintendent find out what YOU like and what your OPERATORS like.

(98) Last but not least ; We all need to make compromises

Thank you for your attendance. If you would like a DVD copy of this clinic that includes the slides and the narrative plus the intro video email me.

dcglnrr@gmail.com