Building and operating the Atlantic Inland

 I have a fairly substantial fleet of Passenger cars. My theory on passenger equipment was always to switch with it as much as with freight cars. This is not exactly true, but I have my passenger trains do a great deal of switching. The job,  I created, to deal with the terminal switch work is the Passenger Foreman. This guy pulls trains out of staging; does all the terminal switch work that needs to be done; switches the Post Office, REA, and creamery as well as the Diner and Pullman, and Business car service tracks; and the passenger car RIP tracks. What else? He makes up several westbound mail and express trains (On those op session days when there are no through passenger trains on the schedule). He’s pretty busy.  On AIR1 several key car positions, RPO’s, Mail Storage, and Combines, are filled with Riverossi brand passenger cars. These cars are nice enough looking to serve my purposes, but mechanically they are junk. The trucks are held in with a friction fit bolster...

 The West End of AIR2 is where most of the industrial switching is concentrated. The plan is to have the freight houses first block of the day be coordinated with the schedule of trains so that this block makes a connection with an expedited freight train. That’s simple enough. However the industrial area around the West end of the layout has THREE (3) switch jobs located there, each feeding a certain percentage of cars into Littlerock yard. If the first block from the freight house is 15-20 cars we must add to that blocks of cars from the East Charleston Switcher (which works those spots within Littlerock itself as well as those immediately surrounding the yard), and the Jay Yard Switcher.  If crewman are diligent, Littlerock might get 60 cars early in the session. Additionally if these cars are all billed in the same direction, either the freight train they are connecting with becomes a behemoth, or a Second Section is created.  But what if the switch crews aren’t sharp...

 What is the feasibility of hosting two sessions per month? I’m retired. I built, or plan to build, this thing with the intention of playing with it. I understand that many layout owners have so many other interests and DEMANDS on their time that they can only operate a few times a year, or less.  Now this is not an enviable admission, but I don’t.  So how about operating twice a month?  One session on a weekend day and one on a weekday. My thought is that these sessions would have to be flexible. If “She who must be obeyed” has conflicting plans, that session would have to move or be cancelled. While I think that will be a troublesome proposition, operators like things they can “schedule” and rely on, that could be one way to handle it. Obviously the Weekday session would be targeted to the retirees, while the Weekend session would be the “Regulars”. Also a partial crew one session could do “Clean-up”, that is working those jobs that did not get finished during the ...

 This is the one problem I DID NOT THINK I’D HAVE, when I moved to Virginia. In California I was a mindless social butterfly, comfortable in nearly any situation. Able to converse with any stranger. And easy to make friends. Here in Virginia, that is not working out.  I will be the first to admit that I am an acquired taste. The problem is obviously mine. But I’ll be damned if I cannot BUY an invitation to an op session. (That’s not true either, I just went to three in quick succession). Let’s just say I’m not have the luck (Finding op sessions locally) I’m accustomed to. As the plans proceed on AIR2, I’m rapidly coming to the conclusion that I’m going to have to build this thing if I’m going to get to play trains anywhere.

Please, let me state right off the bat that often one person will find something easy, while another will find it impossible. I cannot repair even the simplest thing on an automobile, yet I can build a four-car garage. I’m certainly a terrible modeler. I’m going to repeat that with emphasis, I’M A TERRIBLE MODELER. Having said that…  I  recently read somewhere where the layout builder bought a CNC machine to cut the radius pieces for his helix. (I’m certain this was not the ONLY reason why he bought this tool). His justification was he wanted the wood perfectly round, and not jagged like when using a jig saw. Believe me, I never miss an opportunity to buy a new tool for my shop, but this logic is a little flawed.  I have no doubt that the above layout will be head and shoulders above anything I accomplish, but a simple, straight, piece of plywood, any thickness, will allow you to cut perfect radius pieces. You mount your router at one end, on the center line, and measure ...

 I have a question regarding RPO routes.  RPO routes are the route a Railway Post Office covers between two points. These routes were set by the US Post Office, and did not necessarily correspond to a specific railroads passenger train route.  Additionally, In the east railroads are so intertwined, and often small towns are served by multiple roads. My point is a RPO route might extend over multiple roads.  My friend, John Barry, suggests that if, for example, three railroads are involved in carrying a RPO over a particular route, that they might each contribute one car to creat a “pool” of cars. Thus on Monday the RPO of railroad A covers that route, on Tuesday the RPO of railroad B covers the route, and so on. I’m wondering if railroads changed RPO’s en route? This seems cumbersome because it necessitates unloading one RPO, then loading another, AND the majority of these cars were combination cars, carrying mail AND express. So there was a lot to unload. Who can sh...

 I use Car Cards and Waybills (CCWB) to forward my freight cars. I’m in the process of printing a new batch of Car Cards for the entire fleet. I agonized over the format, and in asking around I received a lot of very strong opinions. In short each car card gives the cars reporting marks in large, legible type. It’s Road Name again in large, legible type.  And finally a short description of each car. My goal was that when an operator was faced with a sea of similar cars, he is able to find the car that matches the car card, easily. I know it’s popular to put a photo of the car in question on the car card. Personally I would rather be in hell with my back broken, than do that, besides my life is already hell, and my back is already broken! This process gave me a chance to see the fleet. Catalogue the damages from prolonged storage. Re-pack them a bit more carefully. Cull out some cars that are too modern. Over the time I’ve been away from a layout I’ve spent learning about cars ...