The term "operations" as it applies to
model railroading is certainly not a new concept. Nor is it necessarily a higher level of
model railroading, as some would claim. THE BOTTOM LINE OF ANY INDIVIDUAL'S
MODELING DIRECTION IS TO DO WHAT IS PLEASING TO HIM/HER If you enjoy
putting a train on the track and sitting back and watching it run around your layout,
then, by all means, do that.
My first layout was a small loop with several passing sidings and very few industrial
spurs. After a while, I got very little enjoyment out of this. I would only run trains
when a visitor came by or when I got a new piece of equipment. Running trains in circles
was not what I wanted to do.
Simply defined, "operations" is running the trains on your layout in a way to
simulate prototype railroading. This simulation can take any degree of complexity,
depending on the abilities and desires of the designer. The size of the layout will also
effect the complexity of the operations, but it is not necessary to have a large layout to
run trains like the prototype.
About this time, I read Allen McClellan's book on his Virginia and Ohio layout. He
described the concept of modeling just a small segment of a much larger `transportation
system' where trains came on and went off the layout. Some just passed through, but some
stopped to do local switching at the industrial areas. Some trains were locals which did
not leave the layout at all. The more I read, the more excited I got about the
possibilities.
Frank Ellison once compared this type of modeling to a stage play, where the layout is
merely the setting, the trains are the actors, and the staging area is the
backstage. The
plot involves the movement of trains around the layout.
As I began to design my `super layout' I realized that there were several elements that
had to be included in order to be able to operate in a somewhat prototypical
manner--Industries on spurs which needed shipments of raw materials and which shipped out
finished products; passing sidings at which trains could meet and pass one another; an
offline staging area where trains could be stored before and after they entered the
layout. runaround tracks in the local switching areas so rolling stock could be delivered
in either direction; lead tracks so local switching did not have to tie up the main line,
a system to tie the operations together, etc.
This is not a simple matter, but the individual modeler is the one who controls the
complexity. I designed my layout to do what I wanted to do, and I encourage you to do the
same! I can run trains by myself, or with a crew of a half dozen. We can go real serious
with headsets, dispatcher controlling movement, and a fast clock, or we can just putter
around operating as we go.
Designing a layout to simulate railroad operations may not be everyone's goal, but it has
worked for me, and I encourage you to at least give a serious look at it.
Feel free to ask any questions...
Bob Batson
TEXAS CENTRAL RR
Lubbock, TX