Here's train ELSE (Elkhart, IN to Selkirk, NY) just after midnight, running several hours late as it arrives at Onondaga Yard on May 7, 1994. It is passing eastbound through the plant at CP 282 before making a set out and pick up, and continuing on to its destination:
With reverence to those long nights, operations on the Onondaga Cutoff run on a continuous 24-hour schedule, which comes complete with a simulated sunset, overnight, and sunrise. The layout has just enough lighting to make night operations possible, and more lights will be added as more scenery is completed. Admittedly the lack of light adds complications for trains working in the yard or on darker, more 'rural' parts of the railroad, but that is in itself prototypical.
Operators seem to enjoy the additional aspects of this, especially as it seems night time operations are rarely modeled. The variety and challenge it presents adds to the operating experience. Most sessions, given the 3:1 fast clock, see both daylight operations and overnight operations. That means crews get to experience both sides of the coin, each time the railroad comes to life!
~RGDave
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