Wordless Wednesday #11

Mid-April Update

So I was hoping to have photos from the op session on April 10th for this post, but due to life and work travels will have to wait till the end of month post. What I did decide to showcase was all of the job aides /operational resources used to make a ops session successful, and there is a ton so lets get started.

Locomotive Cards

Small laminated card that provides info for the operator such as model data, road #, dcc address, and functions. 

If the engine has sound the "locomotive card has a gray background as shown above.

Switch List / 

Train Manifest

Used to report the consist of a train. The manifest includes a blocking cheat sheet for the YM to use when switching the train. The switch list advises the local crew of work to be performed at their customer "First/Final Mile" services. These sheets and their roles will be changing between and the Q3 ops session with the implementation of a modified car card/waybill system.

Station Diagrams

The station diagrams help operators become familiar with the station or area they are working.

          Diagram for Bay Yard Industry

Not only does it show customers, tracks, and spotting instructions but also where you are in relation to the rest of the modeled railroad.

             Diagram for Bay Yard

Train Card

This laminated card was taken from template used by Steve Rodie up in Omaha, and tailored for the MCIS. Information on the train symbol, type, size, and work that it completes is clearly made available and helps the operator during the session.

                 Front of train card

          Back of card with train details

Session Line-Up Sheet

As the host I manage this sheet which helps us navigate our train lineup as we operate in sequence. Info on the sheet allows me to ensure we have a staging track, power, and someone to "mark up" and operate the train.

    Line-up with notes from last session

DTC Block Cards / DTC Block Signs

There is no dispatcher at this point on the layout as we currently operate on a first come first serve DTC block authority process.

     DTC sign and block card for "UPPE"

The layout is divided into DTC blocks which are noted by signs on the layout and by Velcro DTC block cards on the fascia. To operate in the block the operator pulls the card which now implies  he has authority to operate and no one else can. We practice pulling block cards for 2 to 3 blocks at a time to allow fluid train movements and ability to make a meet/pass at one of 2 locations on layout. As the train clears the block the card is put back in the fascia for another operator to use. I used this system after reading about Chip Cole's CSX Plymouth Sub and seeing it in practice on the ARR and SP.

    View of the "Begin UPPE Block" sign.

Each DTC block is a 4 letter abbreviation for the station it's in. For sidings it's the 4 letter abbreviation plus SDG denoting siding. Mainline switches are not in the blocks as they start or end on each end of the switch.

I hope you enjoyed seeing some the resources needed for a successful operating session. Please let me know if you have any questions.

- GM

Wordless Wednesday # 10 (Day Late)

Early April Update

So it's April 12th, a little late for a early month update but there is ton to discuss and showcase this month so lets get started. With ops session #4 quickly approaching on Friday, April 10th there was much to be done on the layout. This post we are going to showcase the work completed on the layout.

Layout Work Completed

One of the biggest pieces that I had been wanting to complete was industry trackage so we could test during the ops session. We will walk through each area of work and talk about the setup.

Bay City, Michigan (Industrial Spur)

Reworked this area from the last session and now has alot better configuration. The Fort Mackinaw Corrugated Plant was moved forward and will allow the operator to see inside the plant for spotting the two track (6 car spot). In the far corner will be a switch for Saint Gobain Glass which will receive soda ash, sand, and recycled cullet. In the foreground is GEM Bakeries which has three tracks for spotting cars of corn syrup, flour, sugar, and vegetable oil. This facility is trailing point but for the corn syrup unload its a switch back requiring some planning before making switch moves. Using concrete ties gives the facility a more modern appeal.

Upper Huron, Michigan

I finally finished installing the west leg of the wye at Upper Huron meaning the trains coming to or from Bay City to Port Belle (staging through backdrop) will no longer have to go east and run around their train at Grays Lake before heading back west up the branch. Polarity reversing is accomplished with Digitrax AR-1 module.

Grays Lake, Michigan

View west 

View East

Alot of work was accomplished at Grays Lake adding in the spur which supports three different customers and the need for a road switcher to be based here. In the photo (View East) two customers; Cooperative Elevator and AmCan Polymers are located here. For readers who have been following the blog over time, you will realize this is where I originally had planned to have a salt mine. After many configurations the mine while plausible did not fit. I had built up a small fleet of 4600 Accurail ACF cubic covered hoppers for salt service but these have now been dispersed to the food grade fleet hauling sugar and malt.

On the west end of Grays Lake in the (View West) photo we can see the industrial lead off the mainline and Suburban Propane spur along the backdrop. The road switcher ties up on this end as well.

Gerhard, Michigan

The last area of work completed was at Gerhard. Bring there was no industry here, I looked through my customer base to see if I should model an industry that is well established or instead take some modelers license and add a new industry to this region. Recently I had read about Michigan micro-breweries looking for local malt suppliers which could help them expand their operations and I figured that creating "Huron Malting" would help fill that need to provide regional breweries and beverage producers with a malted barley supplier. This industry receives inbound barley and ships malted barley by rail. The facility also produces malt syrup as a byproduct which ships by tankcar. While the building layout is still being worked out, there are two tracks with the possibility of adding a third.

Thanks for stopping by - stay tuned this week for the Mid-April Update which will recap Fridays ops session with plenty of photos.

GM

Wordless Wednesday #09

Happy Easter

I wanted to wish everyone a happy Easter. Hope you have the opportunity today to spend time with family and friends. On a side note spring is flying by so stay tuned for more updates, special subject posts, and Wordless Wednesdays.

While out railfanning on the "Clair" yesterday I caught MCIS 4059 with M-PHBA-04 tied down at Upper Huron awaiting the completion of an eight hour surfacing gang absolute MOW window.

Wordless Wednesday #08