I was finally getting my house
reconstructed into a model railroad empire format as it was always intended to be.
But now I needed to design a layout. No problem, just get a massive amount of track
together and talk to the Layout Design Special Interest Group. Their first question
was a stumper. How did I plan to operate the layout? Operate? All I wanted to
do was switch a few cars and run some trains. Wow! I had no idea about how to operate a
layout. This is probably directly traceable to my never having operated any layout
of any kind other than running Lionel around in a circle. Not a very good credential
to be in a heavyweight discussion of "on sheet" techniques with the LDSIG.
But no problem with the internet around, right? I'll ask Bob Batson if he has ever run a
railroad. Bob quickly advised me that we would probably not get this done on the internet,
and that the best thing to do is to go to Lubbock to operate on the Texas Central. I
gladly accepted the invitation and finally made the arrangements to be there on my
vacation. As an extra plus, my daughter, Brandi Lee, went with me to operate trains,
too. There is just no end to the things teenagers will do to amaze you.
We arrived in Lubbock in the morning of the evening operating session. Bob gave us the
cook's tour of Lubbock on the way to his house from the airport. I spent about
thirty seconds telling Bob of my past operating experience, but Bob was undaunted.
It appeared that he had heard all this before. We spent the afternoon doing basic
things getting ready for the evening operating session. I was hoping Bob would go
sort of easy on me as I didn't wish to cause the most massive train delay foul-up ever
seen in west Texas outside the UP-SP merger (Just a little humor, there!). Not to
worry. Bob showed me the throttle types, the different TC towns, blocks, sidings,
staging yards, industries, etc. My head was spinning!!! How was I ever going to get
through this? Panic set in again. Only two hours to go until the operating
session! Maybe I could call in sick!
Bob gave me the switchlist that he had generated for an operating session and let me
practice switching Busich. Piece of cake! Even I can get all those reporting
marks and numbers to the proper industries. It might take 12-15 times as long as anyone
else, but I could get the task done. My first success! I was now ready to PUSH
my train to Austin. Bob pointed out that he normally likes to have the engine in
front, and I said that I did, too, but I couldn't see how do that. Bob then showed
me the runaround concept. Great idea!
I point this out to show that as you operate the layout, you quickly become a critic of
the layout design. You know what you need to get the switching done, and you then
design your layout along those lines. For example, Bob said that Dorsay was designed and
built before he had much experience. The result was that you are unable to switch
Dorsay without fouling the main. Now, this is probably prototypical of some real
yards somewhere, but it is probably a geographical or land-use problem, and the real
railroad dislikes it as much as we do when we have to operate and foul the main. So
when we design our layouts, we should try to make them operationally as feasible as
possible.
The operating session finally began. There were five of us there, each operating a
different location. We just operated our particular town using our switchlists and
then went to Brazos or Austin. There were no restrictions except to stay clear of
the main, as would be the case with a real railroad. When the town was all switched we
called the dispatcher (Bob) to ask clearance to our destination. We then received
instructions and usually had to take a siding or wait for mainline traffic to clear. Then
we proceeded to our destination and followed the instructions of the yardmaster. All in
all, it was an excellent evening and a great group to work with. I must say that I
was pleasantly surprised. If you just follow the dispatcher's instructions on the main,
all goes well.
A few comments and observations are in order. First, the dispatcher's job would have
been far beyond me. Although we were pretty informal in the session, you have to
have a very detailed knowledge of the layout to perform the job. One afternoon of
familiarization was not enough for that.
Next, the learning curve for switching moves is very low. Takes a long time to do
anything. I felt I owed Bob a few sets of brush motors for his engines when I was
through. The switchlists are generated for each operating session. All
locations are switched before starting another session. With this system, it is OK
for the layout owner to switch a yard between sessions and not mess everything up.
Bob said that a higher level of operations using headsets, written orders, fastclock, etc.
has been done on the Texas Central but was discontinued after a few sessions. Bob and his
operating group prefer the more informal atmosphere as yardmasters get both to operate and
play dispatcher instead of just being the dispatcher.
Bob's layout was absolutely trouble free. We didn't have to stop one time to
correct, wiring, derails, turnout problems, etc. Problems were caused by `human
error'.
Finally, the session was over and we had to put away our toys. Oh, well.... Bob
spent the rest of the night before midnight answering my questions and commenting on the
evening session. I went to bed that night so excited from operating on the Texas
Central that I could hardly sleep. I have to keep reminding myself that this is only
a model. We sure had a great time!
Brandi Lee? She had a great time with Bob's family doing that teenage stuff. I
was just glad that she was there.
Flash Blackman
San Antonio Pacific RR