Transfers: Coal?

 We are not, as a general rule, going to interchange coal on AIR2. Yes some foreign road coal will travel over the AIR to the rail to barge transfer, but most of the coal moving on the layout will be home road coal.

But as I have discussed before I hope to allow each operator to regulate their work load through the use of transfers from off layout staging yards.

I also hope to utilize this idea for my coal operations.

One of the very biggest problems I experienced on AIR1 was imbalances created by the differing skill levels of the crew. One session the coal marshaling yard would be MTY, the next it would be choked.

Let’s assume the Pettigrew Yardmaster (PYM) job is chosen by a crewman who has a better that average skill level. He will finish all his work early. Directly adjacent to Pettigrew Yard is a prep plant. If I build a series of “Coal Branches”* that are in reality small staging yards, that feed the prep plant directly, a PYM who has a high through put could tap these branches for additional coal loads, as needed. Eventually these coal loads would make it through Pettigrew Yard and be built into loaded coal trains.

Admittedly the movement of these trains is dependent on the skill of the dispatcher and the capacity of the main line. Any imbalance of loaded trains could then be addressed during re-staging.

I have already resigned myself to the eventuality that many things on my layout will need to be re-set during staging. But I would rather re-stage some trains than have operators stand idle during a session.

What are your thoughts?

Can your op session be assisted by allowing each crew member to adjust his own work load, to some extent?


*My plan for the feeder branches for the prep plant are two staging yards, one diverging to the right, East of Pettigrew , and concealed behind second deck scenery, and one diverging to the left, West of Pettigrew, likewise concealed behind removable back drop scenery of the second deck. One of the branches would be called the “Line Fork Sub-division” and the other the “Kyles Ford Sub-division”. Both names from prominent locations on Gary Siegel’s layout, a sort of homage to Gary.



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