Time-Table

 I chose to use TTTO to control traffic on the AIR. When you do that you must have a time-table. I used prototype time-tables (TT) as my template. I used Word to design and print my TT. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE recommended I use Excell, but I had already put in the time learning Word and was happy with the results and my ability to produce a TT document.

The TT went through numerous up grades, I think we ended up with TT#18 on the last few months of operation of AIR1 (TT#1 through TT#18 in ten years).

The primary reason for so many changes was that I started with SO MANY trains on the schedule, and gradually reduced them over time(*1). I believe I started with 25 or 30 trains on the schedule and ended up with 12. At first it was like killing off my children, kicking trains off the schedule. Passenger trains were really hard to eliminate. By the last few years I learned to relish “Train-offs”.

I think on AIR2 I have 12 trains on the TT. 

What information needs to be in the time table. Primarily schedules for regular trains.

The meeting points of scheduled trains are listed in bold type. I added to this by putting the number of train to be met in parentheses. 

Regular and flag stops for passenger trains. Regular stops were marked with a Capitol “S” as well as an arrival and departure times (*2).

Siding size. Main track speeds. Services at each station, like  phone (p), turntable (t), a Wye (y), water (w)…

Yard Limits might be noted.

Two main tracks and the rules they are operated under (151, 251, *3)

On the back cover of my time-tables I listed all the rules from the condensed code I was using on the AIR.  Because I do not think the safety issues of TTTO are a concern on a model railroad, I actually have only a few orders, I believe around twenty, but I’m not sure right this second.

On AIR1 and I believe again on AIR2 I’m calling every coal branch a “Sub-Division”. I listed each of these on a separate page of the TT. I also listed all the make believe, un-modeled stations of these coal branch sub-divisions. I’m not sure if these caused confusion. I do know that listing all these sub-divisions caused my guest dispatchers great concern. They thought they’d be getting a lot of traffic off these branch’s. They weren’t. 

I named the Western Maryland trackage  the same way I did the coal branch’s. WM trains stopped at WM JCT and contacted the AIR DS and got orders to enter and travel over the AIR. going the other way I had an ABS Semaphore signal protecting the WM track beyond WM tower. When a WM bound train was going to exit the AIR he would call the DS when he was at WM Jct. Then got a signal to proceed over the WM and on into WM staging.

Finally I included a line drawing of the AIR main line.



(*1) This was a lesson I personally had to learn the HARD way. Do not put every train in the schedule. Start with a VERY FEW then build up. I am relatively stupid, and MUST always learn the hard way as opposed to learning from others mistakes.

(*2) Normally all times are departure. Requesting arrival times is micro-managing, only poor dispatchers request arrival AND departure OS times.

(*3) Rule 151 is current of traffic, on the AIR “Keep to the right”. Rule 251 is control under signal indication, ABS I think. But you still need a clearance and orders if necessary. For example my Grade on AIR1 was going to get ABS signals. Helpers would receive orders at Summit and then look at the signals. If they get a green signal they can head down grade.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wingedfoot Paper Part 2: Pulpwood

 On AIR1 a large, centrally located industry, was Wingedfoot Paper. As Jon Cure is fond of saying, a paper mill is the perfect Model Railroad industry. The major raw material is wood pulp. In 1952  pulpwood, cut and stacked like cord wood, was shipped to mills in a variety of cars. Nearly any car you can name was used, or modified in such a way as to become, a pulpwood hauler. Generally pulpwood was not valuable enough to travel far. The collection of pulpwood racks I have,  needs a great deal of repainting and re-lettering.  I just don’t think it’s likely to see Atlantic Coast Line cars hauling pulpwood into central WV! I have been toying with the idea of repainting cars from distant foreign roads and just adding a simplified lettering, using the premise that they are not for interchange. We’ll see. [4/19/22 this afternoon I went through the box of pulpwood cars. I think with only a few exceptions I’m going to have to repaint these flats and letter them for the AIR....
Read more

Freight House Operations: LCL and Freight Houses

 LCL is a huge source of revenue, car loading, and tonnage for railroads of the steam era. By the end of WWII numbers dropped fast, mainly due to trucks and roads. But to be honest LCL continued to be a big part of railroading. Today all that UPS traffic is LCL. There has been a lot of discussion of late about how to implement LCL  on a model railroad. My feeling is I do not want to perform a function by simply standing and counting off the seconds, pretending to off load LCL packages. What I did on AIR1 was to print up Waybills that simulated packages of LCL.  The peddler car was placed in the consist of a local, the car card for the peddler car had multiple bills in it, and as the local got to each depot, the train crew would check their LCL bills to check for a set out. You did not set out the car, you set out the BILL.  I extended this procedure for REA packages, US Mail, passengers, and now I plan to add this function for loaded milk cans, but more on all that l...
Read more

Freight House Operations: LCL from Foreign Road Freight Houses

 On AIR 1 while WM , N&W, CRR, and VGN trains had trackage rights over some or all of the layout, there were no freight houses for these foreign roads. Often in towns served by two or more competing lines one will find a freight house for each of these roads. In Winchester, VA the freight houses for the PRR and the B&O still stand today. On AIR 2 I do not plan model the extensive trackage rights as on the first layout. I plan to have these foreign roads to come on to the layout via either a short run of their track, visibly modeled, terminating at an interchange point, or simply a transfer from an off layout staging yard. In short fairly limited presence. However at each of these interchange points there should be some foreign road structures in their colors to give strong visual clues that these tracks do indeed belong to someone else. In a few cases, WM and N&W  for sure, some of these foreign road structures will be a freight house. Again, relying on the Kalmbac...
Read more