Chapter 3 Your Host: the Sunset Valley Railroad [p. 24 - 35]

• This chapter uses the author's model railroad to demonstate various prototypical operating procedures. [p. 25]
  • My first tendency was to skip this chapter and get back to the general principles, but I have reconsidered and will see if I can pick up a few good ideas from this chapter.
    
    
• "The Sunset Valley was to be semiportable. ... I believe that it is wise to plan your layout carefully, take your time building it, and build it so it can be moved." [p. 25]
  • I agree. I have already moved my layout from one room to another and back again.
    
    
• "The railroad is constructed on 26 portable sections or modules, each with roughly 10 square feet of surface area." [p.25]
  • I have a similar situation. My entire layout consists of sheets of 1/2" plywood in either 2x4' sections or 4x4' sections. I can remove track easily from the joins between sheets and nothing is glued or permanently fastened so it is easy to take apart.
    
    
• "The more detailed and realistic the models are, the more they enhance operation (referring to scenery).
  • My scenery is virtually non-existent. Since everything is on one plane there is really only an opportunity for ground cover. My ground cover is simply sheets of paper with a basic ground cover surface which I bought in a hobby store.
    
    
• "It is vital that structures be used to justify traffic for a layout." [p. 25]
  • I am okay with this. I have a number of structures such as a coal mine and a coal yard, a rural grain elevator and a modern flour mill and a seed cleaning plant, a lumber mill and a lumber yard, a stock yard and a meat packing plant.
    
    
• "The bridge provides a convenient duck-under area for access to the aisleways in the main railroad room." [p. 25]
  • I have this situation as well, but I would hesitate to call it convenient.
    
    
• "... trains northbound by the timetable have changed direction as they enter ... the reversing loop ... they become 'new' trains, southbound by the timetable." [p. 28]
  • Neat. I must remember this whenever I have a train that uses a reversing loop.
    
    
• "To minimize interference between yard switching and the arriving and departing of mainline trains, [the main switching yards] have switching leads at the end opposite the yard entrance. This arrangement allows switchers to work the freight and passenger yards without interruption from mainline trains." [p. 28]
  • I have a long lead at the entrance to my Coaldale yard that should allow a switcher to pull cars out of one track and push them into another without ever being on the mainline. But I have yet to actually try to make up consists in this yard. I may need to make a few changes to the track layout here.
    
    
• There is a superb description of a hypothetical run on a train run on pages 30 - 31.
  • I should read this narrative a few times and practice making such descriptions for some of my operational runs.
  • I need to practice using all of the sound features while my diesel is performing different tasks. I also want to try using a trainman that gets off and on the unit while performing switching maneuvers. This will take some practice but will add a lot of realism to the activity.
    
    
• "... the track curves around the shower on a removable section of track (for easy access to the shower) ..." [p. 32]
  • This corresponds to my double-track bridges at the entrance to my room. I need to get used to actually doing this instead of all the crawling that I have been doing the last month. I should only set up the bridges when I know that I am going to have an operational session.
    
    
• "The branch line can also be used for nontimetable, continuous loop-to-loop operation." [p. 34]
  • My layout has a continuous loop-to-loop option when the bridges are removed, but it includes have of the mainline (between Jasper and Prairie Dog).
    
    
• "A dimmer circuit is attached to the [fast] clock mechanism to automatically control the intensity of the room lighting throughout the 24-hour cycle." [p. 34]
  • This is another neat idea, but one I will put on hold for awhile. I am not yet sure that I will be using a fast clock.
  • Before pursuing this I need to convince myself that it is possible to operate the turnouts and perform other operational activities in the dark.

This chapter turned out to be far more informative than I had imagined. I am glad I slowed down and made a few notes on points that caught my eye.

Chapter 4 The Trains [p. 36 - 47]

• Passenger trains are primarily either 'limiteds' (express trains with few stops) or "locals" (short trains with only coaches that stop at every little station). [p. 37 - 38]
  • I have enough cars to run one of each.
    
    
• Passenger train consists usually begin with baggage cars, then coaches, diners, and sleeping cars. [p. 38]
  • This brings back memories of the trips between Jasper and Edmonton.
    
    
• "What is important is that each train has individuality and a reason for running, no matter what type of passenger operation you model." [p. 40]
  • I want to be able to move people between Jasper and Coaldale on a "limited" and I want to have a "local" that also stops at The Channon, Prairie Dog and Queenston. There must be both an east-west train as well as a west-east train.
    
    
• Freight trains are usually either 'through' or 'way' freights but there are also 'unit trains' (coal, grain). [p. 42]
  
  
• Here are a few principles for freight train consists:
  • tank cars should not be near the locomotive
  • empty cars should not be near the head end
  • stock cars and reefers should be placed near the head end for expediency in switching
  • way freights often has a box car in which less-than-carload (lcl) freight was handled by the train crew. [p. 44]
    
    
• "... the through freight should not be bogged down with unnecessary switching assignments and that the way freight should be kept short in length so that it can easily perform its assigned switching movements." [p. 46]

Tags: design, operations