Wednesday, June 29, 2011 Lethbridge

5:50 am

The temperature is +15 C, with a high predicted of +27 C.

From the Environment Canada website:

Today Increasing cloudiness this morning. Wind southwest 20 km/h. High 27. UV index 6 or high. Tonight Cloudy. Becoming cloudy periods this evening. Wind west 30 km/h. Low 13. Normals Max: 24°C Min: 10°C.

12:30 PM Model Trains

This morning I ran Train #601, a local freight, between Coaldale and Jasper. Here is my report on this run.

CN 1720, a GP-9 diesel locomotive, left Coaldale on time and headed west to Jasper. The original consist was 8 cars plus CN 78447, a caboose. All 8 cars were empty.

• Leave Coaldale at 12:35 am
  • travel 1 outer mainline circuit at a speed of 5 in order to check the track for possible derails or improper switch alignments.
  • travel 1 outer mainline circuit at a speed of 10
• Arrive at Wild Rose
  • no switching required, do not stop.
• Leave Wild Rose
  • travel 2 outer mainline circuits at a speed of 10
• Arrive at Queenston
  • perform switching
    • set out 3 empty boxcars at Queenston Cartage
    • pick up 1 flat car (loaded with equipment for Jasper) at Queenston Cartage
• Leave Queenston
• travel 3 outer mainline circuits at a speed of 10
• Arrive at Prairie Dog
  • perform switching
    • set out 1 empty boxcar at Alberta Wheat Pool elevator
    • pick up gondola car (loaded with sand for Jasper)
• Leave Prairie Dog
  • travel 3 outer mainline circuits at a speed of 10
• Arrive at Pine Ridge
  • perform switching
    • set out 2 empty boxcars
• Leave Pine Ridge
  • travel 3 outer mainline circuits at a speed of 10
  • enter reversing loop behind Jasper (this orients the train so the locomotive can travel in reverse while switching in Black Diamond)
• Arrive at Black Diamond
  • perform switching
    • set out 2 empty hopper cars
    • pick up 1 empty hopper car
• Leave Black Diamond
  • enter reversing loop around Pine Ridge
  • travel 3 outer mainline circuits at a speed of 10
  • enter reversing loop in front of Black Diamond (this orients the train so the locomotive can travel in reverse while switching in Jasper)
• Arrive at Jasper
  • perform switching
    • set out flat car (equipment) and gondola (sand) in Jasper Yard
    • pick up empty reefer from Parkland Meats

Comment: A very satisfying operational run. I like the balance between mainline travel and switching. I have a couple of questions about the Ship It! reports. Why bother to set out 2 empty hopper cars and then pick up one empty hopper car? Why not just set out 1 empty hopper? Also I am not sure about the order to pick up a reefer in Jasper as this is the end of the line for this train. Perhaps I will see the reasons as I consider to run the remaining trains. This particular run took a little over 2 hours to complete.

10:00 PM History

I am continuing to find time in the early evening for a little reading. "Champlain's Dream" is an excellent biography. It reads like a novel.