Comment: Yesterday I placed the cars on my layout according to the Car Starting Locations report. Today will be my first attempt at running trains according to a set of reports produced by a software package called Ship It!

At the moment I have a total of 10 trains scheduled, 5 going east and 5 going west. Four of these trains do not involve any switching and only use the Outer Mainline track:

• Train 100 Super Continental. This is a passenger train that leaves Jasper and travels east to Coaldale.
• Train 101 Super Continental. This is the return train from Coaldale to Jasper.
• Train 200 Black Zephyr. This is a unit coal train that leaves Black Diamond with 6 loaded coal hoppers and travels east to Coaldale.
• Train 201 Black Zephyr. This is the return train from Coaldale to Black Diamond with 6 empty coal hoppers.

Although I have a timetable for each train the times at the moment to do not take into account the running of other trains. I now want to see if I can do better. The passenger train has priority over the coal train. Thus I should begin running the coal train first and then move it onto a siding and have the passenger train pass it. There is a passing siding behind Jasper that will allow this.

Switchlist for Session 1:

Session 1d: Train #501

Run Train #501 from Jasper to Black Diamond. The consist contains two empty cars: HHX 191 refrigerator car and CN 445531 boxcar. These are both headed for the Coaldale Yard.

Train #501 leaving the Jasper Yard

The first stop is Black Diamond, where MM 0002 is waiting with a full load of coal. This will be setout at the Dusty Coal and Cartage company in Prairie Dog. The switching involves uncoupling the caboose then picking up the loaded hopper, re-coupling the caboose and then heading on to Distillery Row.

Train #501 is backing into the Black Diamond Yard

CN 1706 is moving forward, leaving the caboose on a siding

CN 1706 moving forward after coupling with loaded hopper MM 0002

Train #501 on the way to Distillery Row

The switching at Distillery Row was similar to that at Black Diamond: uncouple the caboose, pick up the tank car, re-couple the caboose, and move on the Pine Ridge.

The caboose has been uncoupled (it is on the track behind the train) and the tank car has just been picked up

Train #501 is leaving Distillery Row on the way to Pine Ridge

The switching at Pine Ridge was straight forward. The train is left on the passing siding at Pine Ridge and the locomotive then goes into the spur siding at the Big Pine Lumber Company and pulls out the two boxcars that are loaded with lumber. The boxcars are coupled to the train and it then moves on to Prairie Dog.

CN 1706 is about to pickup the two loaded boxcars

Train #501 arriving at Prairie Dog

The switching at Praire Dog involved uncoupling the caboose and tank car, pushing the loaded hopper car onto the Dusty Coal and Cartage siding, then uncoupling three cars on the Prairie Meats siding, going to the Hillside Lumber siding and picking up CN 524270 (an empty boxcar), returning to the Prairie Meats siding to pick up CN 500899 (loaded with lumber) and pushing it to the Hillside Lumber company and setting it out, then returning to the Prairie Meats siding and picking up CN 210048 (the empty grey refrigerator car) and finally moving on to Queenston.

CN 1706 pushing the loaded coal hopper to Dusty Coal and Cartage

Having dropped off 3 cars, CN 1706 is going back to pick up the empty boxcar at Hillside Lumber

CN 1706 has just picked up empty boxcar CN 524270 from Hillside Lumber

CN 1706 pushing CN 500899 loaded with lumber to Hillside Lumber

CN1706 has just picked up the grey reefer car

Train #501 arriving at Queenston

The switching at Queenston involved settin out the reefer at Swift Meats. This involved some clever switching as the reefer was in the middle of the train, but my track layout made this fairly easy.

Train #501 leaving Queenston, with grey reefer on the siding behind it

The next step was to setout the AT&SF tanker car loaded with fuel oil at Coop Fuel in Wild Rose.

CN1706 pushing the AT&SF tank car onto the Wild Rose siding

CN 1706 leaving the AT&SF tank car on the Coop Fuel siding

The last step is to continue on to Coaldale.

Train #501 arriving in the Coaldale Yard

 

Comment: There were still a few problems during this session.

The track in the Black Diamond Yard needs more cleaning, particularly near the switches. The track near the Prairie Dog passing siding is low, causing the caboose to uncouple from the tank car.

Hopper car MM 002, boxcar CN 445531 (Manitoba), boxcar CN 524270, and boxcar CN 539027 all have a tendency to derail.

The door is off boxcar CN 524270.

The coupler height for caboose CN 74009 and tank car AT&SF 100801 should be checked.

The track layout seems fine. I am able to perform all of the necessary switching activities without too much difficulty. Great. But the minor problems of cars derailing or uncoupling is still annoying and unacceptable.

I also think there may be a problem with some of the couplers not being firmly attached to the center of the car, causing some problems with uncoupling over the magnets.

I seem to recall seeing a product in the Walthers catalogue where one simply passes a special magnetic wand near a pair of couplers to uncouple the connection. I would really like to see this. There are too many places where it is impossible to place magnets but where I need to perform an uncoupling maneuver.

But the bottom line is that this was really a lot of fun!