Well are you into the whole "lets run it like the real thing" stuff? I am. Running my stuff in loops doesnt please me, the freightcars behind me have to a destination. I can spend a good hour switching out an industry. Well I know not all of you are into the whole waybills, time table, train order deal, if so why not?
I love it, and only get to do it maybe 6 times a year. Trainorders, a dispatcher and 3 tower operators can get kinda hairy at times, but I thoroughly enjoy operations and LOVE switching .
I am. Dark territory, (ABS is OK), timetable, train orders, bulletins, CCOR. Trains with a purpose. Today's dehumanized, no interaction with a real person, depotless, monotonous miles and miles of miles and miles, with no shippers, just bores me to tears. It may work for stockholders. But we're model railroaders. We don't need to cut jobs for temporary profits.... We can have towers, operators, customers, etc. I enjoyed following the V&O in it's earler years. The AM when Tony K backdated. And so forth. Boxcab E50
Well I was seriously looking at applying for Operations Controller..... but my knowledge of the NSW network isn't quite up to that level yet so I passed it up, plus I like my moving office..... oh your talking about little trains!!!!! yes, me and another guy from the club have a bunch of commuter train sets so we've been thinking of getting the pin board to put together a timetable, we also want to introduce NSW safeworking onto the layout so you have to be qualified before you can operate, so there will be no excuses for when your train runs the accept and plows into another train. Actually the last bit is more a are you a reglulator guy.
My recently torn down 18 yr old SAY RR was an operational type HO layout based on the Ann Arbor RR from Toledo, Ohio to Elberta/Frankfort, MI. Frt trains had symbols running from assigned origins to assigned destinations carrying specific blocks. All cars had card-type waybills and an operating session took 4 hours employing anywhere between 4 & 10 people with 6 being the best to keep everyone active for the 4 hours. I'm currently in the process of building a lardescale railroad in the backyard that will use the tack system for car forwarding bills rather than the cardtype waybills acc't being outdoors I don't need to be chasing paper all over the backyard! Always enjoyed reading articles by Whit Towers, Doug Smith, Bruce Chubb, Allen McClelland and Tony Koester.
I want to be an operations kinda guy. NO layout to di it on yet. I read all the operations articles I can find, and also save web sites for future reference.
I enjoy operations.... On our N Trak layout.,, (club), I enjoy the chance to mimic prototype operations, especially bi-directional running (DCC) Harold
Heven't gotten that far with mine yet, but I aspire to. Not sure how "hard core" I want to be, but it makes sence to give reason to moving freight.
Both: The Grey and Grandure is a shortline serving industries Then there is the main line leading to the G and G with room to strech out and run. // Er: Will be. I now have 1/3 of the bench work done. Pics to follow soon I hope.
I like operation. Though I run my trains mostly by myself I write my train sheet. You can see information about my operation style at my site. Like I wrote, one session takes weeks. But now, my trainsheet tells I'm in session 40 since May 15! Better operating sessions I have at FREMO meetings like the last one Unna summer 06. Happy toooot Wolfgang
I like operations (switching, making / breaking trains, meets & passes on the main line, loco servicing) but I'm too infatuated with scenery to build in any operations track into my scheme. I can't say no to the chance for more curves.
I am pretty much like Wolfgang. I operate by myself and I am primarily a flat switcher. I do make some car deliveries, but I like switching the yard.
I use a card system, my inbounds I have cars coming from various mfgs or yards, then to the interchange, go from the interchange to the yard, and the yard out to my industries. I use postits for added information. This setup seems to work for me, I am trying other types of card systems also.
My layout isn't sufficiently finished to "work" it. However, two of my friends having ops sessions I am invited to. I enjoy them and prefer operating a layout rather than just running trains on it. It becomes more realistic and the jobs that have to be done bring the layout to life. Even the "stress" of a hectic job is fun, the time flies by, the shirt becomes wet, I lose a little weight (a good thing), and I have a ball. When I just "run" on a layout the dynamics are different and stress free, but I find I don't enjoy the layout as much, even though I do enjoy it.
When all the track is down on my new layout, I'll have some form of operation. Haven't decided on a system. I do enjoy switching; the layout plenty of industries. Only a one-track fiddle yard because of space shortage. Many of the freight cars and locos will be on the top of a bookcase fiddle yard. I could have had a larger yard but this would have eliminated a few industries. I'm more interested in switching industries than running a yard.
I've built a large layout with operating potential in mind--at least eleven sites for switching. I don't do much operations yet, as I'm still in the running through scenery stage--and it's a long run of some 20 scale miles. When I get everything ship-shape, I'll implement truer operations. I have a terminus--the port--and destinations along the way that would receive/ship many different types of freight. There's about 7 scale miles of sidings, so I'm not looking at many "clogs"--although there are a few deliberate ones Downtown. I'm thinking of a staged approach. First I'll mostly switch blocks of cars--let's say 4 to 20 cars--to major industries. Then I'll get down to the nitty-gritty of single cars.
My layout is designed for yard switching, milk trains and thru freights. Those days that I don't want to work I can just let'um rip but for the times I want to get core I can
I have gotten into where sometimes I will just work the roundhouse by bringing engines in off the running tracks, turn them, run each in its stall. Other days I may "go" to the RH and be the engineer to take a switcher out to the yard and get a couple or so cars, pull them together, park on a ready track, take switcher back, put it in its stall, then "walk" over, get a big 2-8-8-2, back it out onto the turn table, then take it out, get the cars on a ready track, and on and on till its time for bed. Pure relaxation, no way bills, no worries, all the automatic uncouplers work, so it is just like when I used to "play trains" when I was a kid. It brings back memories of the days of my youth when we had real steamers and real whistles that could raise the hair on the back of your neck! The main thing is to enjoy yourself, however you like to.
