Autumn Progress

Well, the first two operating sessions are now on the books for the Onondaga Cutoff - both were great successes, and a lot of fun.  Ops sessions have taught me a lot about the railroad that I would not have realized myself, and so there are some things that need to be changed as we go forward.  Thankfully, though, they are minor, and the general design of the railroad works very well for heavy-duty mainline operation. 

More on that later.  There has also been some good construction progress on the railroad - first, the final benchwork, trackwork, and wiring of track was completed with the installation of the major online industry on the main line.  Iroquois Paper is now operational, with space-holder structures coming soon to represent the big paperboard plant.

The main line is off to the left, and you can see the lead, which comes into the runaround immediately.  The switching lead comes through the curved turnout in the foreground and runs out about 8 car lengths to allow for building the outbound turn from Onondaga Yard.  Likewise, an east lead does the same thing to allow the turn to switch the industrial tracks on the right.  Iroquois will receive loads of clay slurry, paper scraps, and coal (for the onsite power plant), and ship out loads of finished cardboard and paperboard.

Another big development is the installation of masonite backdrops, seen here at CP 282 - not much to say about it except that it dramatically makes the railroad seem longer, since you can no longer see across the room!

This will eventually be painted as distant horizon and sky, which will be a major improvement.  But for now, especially for operating sessions, it is a good view block and really helps to give the sense that the railroad goes somewhere.

Also visible above is a tool I installed to assist with operations after some suggestions that came during the firs operating session - a manual block system.  During the first session, crews had trouble seeing where interlockings started and stopped, and were unsure about where to stop trains when the dispatcher ordered different moves.  Therefore, I fabricated signal masts from leftover sprues, colored paper, and paint; now each interlocking is 'signaled' which allows the dispatcher, during ops sessions, to route trains by signal indication.  While fully manual, it does allow crews to easily identify the limits of an interlocking, and so far has been beneficial.

Another exciting process has been the set-up of some new power for the Onondaga Cutoff - among others, freshly delivered to the railroad is SD60I 5544, with a builder's date of 1994.  It and a sister will be among the newest power modeled on the railroad.

Here's a roster shot:

And a shot showing the locomotive leading train SEIN:

New power is something everyone can get excited about!  I like how the 'clean' paint on 5544 contrasts with the weathering on 6789 and my other Conrail power.

Now, we're entering the holiday season, which is a busy time for all - but as winter comes, the time spent on the model railroad will increase.  Plenty more to come soon!

Happy Thanksgiving!

~RGDave

A Success!

The first operating session on the Onondaga Cutoff was a success!  We ran trains from about 7 until about 11 p.m., accomplishing all the work I'd come up with for the crews to do, and having a lot of fun in the process.  One of the great things about the session was that I learned a lot about about the layout!

We ran with a crew of 6 - a dispatcher, two-man crews for the M&E and for the road local, and one-man crews for the road freights.  Based on feedback from the operators, we will likely post someone full-time in the yard to assist road freights for setting out next time.  There are also a few infrastructure issues I will work to address.  There was only one collision, a rear-ender that was a simple mistake and that we have now taken steps to prevent - from now on, every move needs an engineer for a full trip on the head end after turnouts are thrown to ensure proper routing.

From left to right, we have Scottie, John, Nick, Jack, me, and Mark.  I appreciate their help and enthusiasm!  One thing I realized very quickly is that this model railroad is a LOT more fun when there's an operating session, so we're already scheduled for the next one! 

Let me know if you might be in NJ anytime, with a few days notice there's a chance you can operate too.  It only gets better from here!

~RGDave

Operation

With the fall come many activities that keep me busy and away from the model railroad.  However, I have had time to keep pushing forward on a few more decoder installations as well as some other 'below the layout' items.

The biggest news is that I have three separate cabs now for my DCC operations - the NCE controller (PowerCab) that came with my PowerPro 5-amp system, an NCE Cab 04ER, and the most recent addition, an NCE Cab 06R.  All are full radio controlled and can work simultaneously, which will be a lot of fun as we begin to do some operating sessions on the railroad!

For a backup, I also installed three separate plug-in UTP ports around the layout.  Each radio cab is battery-powered, and all have worked very well so far.  However, should the batteries fade during a session, or should the radio have issues for any reason, I wanted a hard-wired backup so that trains could be controlled either way.

So, operating sessions will begin soon - informally at first, taking some notes and making things up as we go along, and then more formally soon with regular symbol freights working specific tasks during a session.  Exciting!  Photos to come soon!

Onondaga Engine Terminal

The work is coming to a head at the Onondaga Locomotive Facility - shops are complete, track is in place awaiting wiring, and most turnouts have ground throws!  While I am planning to add on a shop office to the main shop building and a moderate sand & fuel facility, we are getting close here - finally.

First, a shot of the shop complex itself:

I painted and weathered the structure and added hanging lights and miscellaneous details, but most of it is stock.  It is a complicated, time-consuming kit but very worthwhile when done. 

The shop tracks continue for a full two feet past the structure to a back-shop area.  Tracks in the foreground will be 'Ready' tracks that will also have the fueling and sanding racks on them.  The closest one is not glued in place so as to be adjustable, depending on the exact dimensions of the sanding facility.

Next, here's an overview of the whole engine terminal:

Far left is the MOW storage facility for snow-fighting equipment, MOW cars, and long-term locomotive storage.  Then we have the #1 lead, followed by the shop ladder that takes you to bays #2 and #3.  Ready tracks are to the right in this view, and in the foreground we have the mainline and yard throat at CP 280.

The shop looks pretty awesome at night...methinks there will be lots of lit structures on the railroad eventually:

Finally, a quick image of C36-7 6639, resting in the Park Yard awaiting a completed engine facility.  Once the wiring is in place, it's going to be time to add decoders to a bunch more locomotives to fill up the facility!



Enjoy - plenty coming soon as the weather cools and there is less outside work to do.  Over the course of the winter, we will start 'officially' operating the railroad, and major features will go in place - the backdrop, full lighting, etc.  Stay tuned!

~RGDave

Chasin' the M&E

Tonight, I'm home with a hurricane pouring rain down outdoors.  So, I finally got the camera out and made some images for you of the newly-finished track for the shortline, including a chase over the 'full' route from Euclid Yard up to Onondaga.

We begin at the Euclid engine house where our crew has started up the 19 and the recently-repainted 81.  The crew boards and lines the switches into the yard to put their interchange train together, which today is just 3 freshly-rebuilt cars from Central Car Repair.

As the lashup rumbles out of the house, we get our first good view of the 81 - the M&E ownership decided on a CN-inspired paint job for this ex-SAL RS-3.  81 will lead the run up to the interchange today.

It doesn't take long to get out to the storage tracks in Euclid Yard, and once they make the pickup, the crew does the brake test and heads out of town to the north.

We have a chance to scoot ahead to catch the train coming out of Smirnoff Tunnel, one of several summits on the way to the interchange.  The train has crested that grade here and is coasting downhill towards the lowest point on the M&E, Skaneateles Creek.

The two Alcos rumble out across the big thru-truss over Skaneatles Creek, coming out into the sunlight.  The engineer will throttle up now for the climb up Clarence Hill.

As is often the case upon arriving at the interchange, M&E this morning is holding for mainline traffic to clear before they can make their move across the mainline to interchange.  Conrail train TOSE, with a C30-7A/C36-7/C39-8 lashup, roars east on Track 2.

M&E spends some time setting their train out, and then pulls to the east end to make their move back towards home.  Meanwhile, TOSE had also stopped to drop and add locomotives.  C36-7 6639 had to be cut out, and NS SD70 2537 was added in its place.  Here we see M&E 19 leading the 81 back west through CP 280 on the North Runner while TOSE leans into the big turn east of the yard.

What a fun way to spend a night during a hurricane!

~RGDave

Another Big Step

Last night, the first train ran the length of the shortline - M&E 19, an Alco C424, led a flatcar and gondola 'work train' to the yard to 'assist in the clean up from construction.'  Actually it was just an excuse to test things out a bit, and all went pretty well!

As with other parts of the layout, the industrial siding alignment is not going to be finalized until I have assembled all the rail-served structures, which will take some months.  In the mean time, I am using mock-ups and temporarily located tracks so that operations can begin.

Photos and a full writeup coming soon! 

~RGDave

Thinkin' Like A Shortline

Yard design for the M&E was recently completed, at least regarding the general layout of the tracks.  The yard area will be dominated by the major industry, the 'anchor' customer for the short line:  the Doelger Brewery.  Named after the real Peter Doelger Brewery, which was one of the largest breweries in New York City in the 1800's, my version will recieve barley and grains via rail, and will ship bottled beer. 

I figure that's a great industry to have on a model railroad!

Here's a little diagram of the current plan for the track layout at Euclid.  The brewery, located on the north side of the yard, will have another turnout and two longer sidings; one will accept loaded hoppers, the other will load insulated and refrigerated boxcars. 

Designing a stub-end yard like this is challenging, due to the fact that as a train arrives, the engines will be at a dead-end and must run around the train before switching.  Therefore, you must maximize the length of the runaround - in this case, the first switch is part of the runaround, as is the last one.  This should allow two 4-axle units to run around a train of the maximum length - for me, I have just under 8 feet, with equates to about two engines and 12 cars.  I think that's longer than almost any train I will run on the steep grades of the M&E.

Tracklaying is under way, photos of the new yard coming soon!

~RGDave