Comment: This was my second train of Session 2. Train #200, the Black Zephyr, is a unit coal train that takes a load of No 1 coal from Mercoal Mines in Black Diamond and transports it to the Coaldale yard where it will be picked up and forwarded to its final destination.

Session 2a:

Loco CN 8414 (0-6-0 steam engine) started up from bay 2 of the turntable. The locomotive eased onto the turntable and was then rotated so the engine was facing west. The locomotive then moved down the mainline and around the reversing loop so it could back into the Mercoal Mines trackage and pick up two sections of loaded coal hoppers (6 cars in total). This consist was then backed into track 6 to hook up with caboose CN 78213. The train then left Black Diamond and had an uneventful 6 loops travelling eastward to Coaldale.

Loco CN7985 (SW-4) then re-formed the consist for Train #201 in the Coaldale Yard. Once this was completed the track was clear for CN 8414 to return to bay 2 where i

t will wait until it is time for it emerge and run train #201.

Comment:

The movement of the locomotive CN 8414 and the switching at the Mercoal Mines in Black Diamond was very smooth.

However the switching of the consist of train #200 into train #201 was much too cumbersome. There would have been a more efficient sequence of steps if I had given it a little thought at the beginning.

There was also a problem with the track at switch #7 in the Coaldale yard. It was simply shorting out. I finally realized that the switch needed some additional support under the roadbed and added a couple of pieces of stiff cardboard. That seemed to solve the problem.

Comment: This was my 3rd and 4th trains of Session 2. Train #101, the Super Continental, is a passenger train that begins in Coaldale and travels west to Jasper, where it drops off passengers and picks up other passengers for the return trip as Train #100 travelling eastward from Jasper to Coaldale.

Session 2a:

Loco CN 6700 (5-axle C-Liner) was sitting in Coaldale ready to depart, heading Train #101 westward. After 5 loops around the outer mainline it moved onto the reversing loop and stopped at the Jasper station to exchange passsengers. It then re-entered the outer mainline travelling east as Train #100 and completed 4 loops. It then entered the inner mainline reversing loop returning to the outer mainline so as to enter Coaldale and then reverse back into track #7 where it will wait until its next run on the following day.

Comment:

This was a smooth session. This will be my last running session for about a month as I need to send my throttle and base unit back to MRC for a software and firmware upgrade.