Comment: This was a continuation of Session 1. The plan was to run Train 401, the Distillery Row Through train which travels from Coaldale to Distillery Row with one stop at Wild Rose. This is the first time that I have actually tried running this train from the Ship It! schedule.

Session 1e:

Diesel switcher CN 7985 began by forming the consist for the train in the Coaldale Yard. This involved a fair amount of switching as a number of cars had to be moved to get at the required cars for this trip. These switching activities are rapidly becoming the highlight of the sessions. The train itself was a short one: a flat car, a boxcar, and the caboose.

Train 40, powered by CN 9408, an Alco FA-2 diesel, then left Coaldale heading west (clockwise) to Wild Rose. However the locomotive was having operational difficulties and soon a call went out for a replacement unit. CN 1720, a GP-7, arrived and took over the train.

The train soon arrived at Wild Rose where an empty tank car (UTLX 8715) was picked up. This involved some thoughtful switching as the siding was a head-on and I had to figure out how to pull the desired car out and then get it into the consist. Fortunately the track layout included a turn-around loop so this was possible but it still took a few moves as there were other cars on the siding as well. Great sport. My admiration for real train crews continues to rise.

Once the tank car was picked up the train made 6 clockwise loops (i.e. west bound) on the outer mainline before taking the siding into Distillery Row. Once there, it set out the flat car and the boxcar at Distillery Row station and the tank car at the Husky Refinery loading platform. All three cars were empty.

Comment: Engine 9408 was a real disappointment. It simply did not run smoothly at all and was continually stalling. I doubt that I have ever tried running this in an operational manner (i.e. with slow switching moves) so it was a surprise. The locomotive is also much lighter than my other locos so that may have been a contributing factor. Part of the problem were the wheels - they were definitely dirty but my efforts to clean them didn't seem to make much of a difference. I will remove this loco from the layout until I can figure out what to do with it.

Once I switched locomotives, the entire run went perfectly. Great.