Page 8 - March April 2006

The most important realisation is to keep it simple at first, then evolve and grow. Let’s look at a couple of other issues as you move forward operations.
How do you avoid overloading an industry or yard? Normally, if any track is about 50% loaded it is considered to be full. An- other method that I recommend is create a chart with all your industries, yards and their tracks and their capacity noted on one side and the various types of car on the other ordinate. Then, move your trains through the four cycles and record what happens. A little overloading is not all that bad – as it does happen in the real world – but too much and you whole layout can come to a halt. Guess how I know that?
You will need to name everything on the railroad, every last track or siding. Real railroads do the same, and often the name is derived from some incident or prior use.
Start with one train and add others as you start to feel a level of comfort. One thought is to have one eastbound and one west- bound way freight (they make all the stops) and then maybe a through train that only drops cars. I would suggest that initially you operate a sequence of trains, each one following the other, until some
degree of order develops. Once you get to four or five trains, try and establish a time- table. Though these appear complicated, they simply list which trains are authorised on which days, and note their starting time and place, their destination time and place, and what stops are made along the way, if any. And you can always run extras.
Consider what information your train crews will need. You should be prepared to give each crew a packet that includes all car cards and waybills assigned to their train, along with a brief cover note telling them where to get their train and what their train does – its route and duties. This packet is then handed to the crews when their train is called.
Now back to that NP box car in St Paul Virginia. That’s a real long way from the Pacific Northwest! One of my research pho- tos had just such a car in St Paul Virginia. It took me a long time to understand that until the 1970s the Pacific Northwest im- ported huge amounts of hardwood, usu- ally slow growth white oak, for flooring, and found a large and reliable supply in Appalachian trees. Thus this car, when loaded, could have gone from the Clinch- ValleyLines to the Clinchfield and then to
the C&O and on to Chicago, where it could have been shipped to the northwest via the Chicago Northwestern which I believe connected – in 1959 – with the NP somewhere in Idaho. Thus the VIA line would read CVL–CRR–C&O–CMW–NP. Other routes would be possible, but that’s the fun part: finding out how these cars moved.
A couple final notes. Coal hoppers gen- erally did not travel very far at all. Thus an SP two-bay hopper would almost never find its way to Virginia. But boxcars, as noted above, could go a long way, but always with a reason. Thus if an SP boxcar is in Virginia, why is it there? Covered hop- pers, flats, tankers and gons fall somewhere in between these two extremes.
In sum, get started slowly, learn and then evolve. Ops sessions are a lot of fun as well as being a way to give back to the hobby. Now,IamofftogetmyhandsontheCVL Purchasing Manager. It seems he has just ordered three new N&W boxcars that really do look super but will have to be built and either added to the roster or used to displace some lesser
inhabitants. Have fun!
AMERICAN ‘O’ GAUGE LARGE COLLECTION FOR SALE
Including steam & diesel outline Viewing welcome
Send SAE to John Kelsey 11 Acacia Avenue, Mickleover, Derby DE3 9NL
Tel : 01332 512580
If you are interested in any particular item please ring and I will bring them along to the ‘DERBY EXHIBITION’ on 22nd & 23rd APRIL
 ROUNDHOUSE