Closing out 2015

The last couple of weeks have been pretty fun with Christmas, time with family and friends and time in the train room. Yesterday, Lisa and I took Nicholas, Adam and Angie to the Cincinnati Museum were we saw The Art of the Brick exhibit but also the year round Cincinnati train display, the seasonal holiday train as well as a look out Tower "A".

The display of Cincinnati is open year round

Quite the inspiration. I was looking at some of the details and determining how I could use the ideas on the PRR Irwin layout. Today, I spent some time tweaking some scenery in Herminie but spent the majority creating coal loads for the hopper cars. I have 4 or 5 cars that do not have coal loads which is confusing While in principal, I know how to do this - I've read enough articles - I've never done it before. Also, I am trying some materials from Michael's Arts & Crafts to simulate the coal in various sizes. As the glue is till drying, we'll have to wait until the New Year to see how things turn out.

The Holiday train exhibit is more toy train but very exciting to watch

Another task I finished today was creating a backup of the blog. While this website allows you to export and XML file of the content, there are no photos so I used a custom Lotus Notes database to log all the entries. Maybe I'll publish it in book for someday! Reviewing the entries, I started 2015 with the trains more-or-less running and very basic scenery. As I look to the New Year starting tomorrow, I have most buildings in place (although some are mockups), the two tunnel areas and about 70% of the basic scenery completed. There are now trees, bushes, people and cars bringing the scenes to life. And, of course, real operations based on a a published freight schedule. Not too bad.
Wonder what 2016 will bring?

Cables and Fast Clock

About a month ago, two of the Digitrax UP5 panels stopped working completely (under the P&LE Interchange in Herminie and under Vic's Bait & Tackle in Keystone Lake) and the infrared panel between these two was intermittent. Strangely, the other UP5 between these worked fine. This was a puzzle since the panels are daisy chained Uniontown -> Herminie -> Infrared -> E McKeesport -> Keystone. I checked all the cables to ensure they were tightly connected but still no luck.
Not sure if  I wrote it before, but  I created all the cables myself using a couple of telephone crimpers I had laying around. The challenge was the LocoNet cable is 6 wire and the crimpers were not that good. Still, I tested all the cables before installing and only used the ones that passed the test - meaning about 1/2 of what I made! I spent a week trying to figure out what went wrong and doing some research before I decided to buy the Digitrax LNCMK LocoNet Cable Maker Kit that comes with 50' of DCC tested cable and, more importantly, a good set of crimpers.
I ordered from DCC Train and it took a couple of weeks because it was on backorder. It came in right before Christmas but I did not get a chance to try it out until last night. I decided I would replace the cable between Uniontown and Herminie and see it that resolved the problem After I created the 3' long cable, I tested it and for the first time got all 4 lights solid green, instead of the flickering light or two on my original fabricated cables. Feeling good about this, I replaced the cable and now ALL of the panels are working again. YES! I plan to go back and replace all the wires with new ones.
Also yesteday, I remembered the that Digitrax throttles have the ability to set and display a fast clock. I was curious if I could run the schedule based on a fast clock and use that to build the time table. It worked really, really well and I may have to see about getting a Logic Rail Tech LocoNet Fast Clock to mount on the sky fascia above the peninsula.
Wonder if Bruce is ready to run trains on the clock?

Busy Christmas Season

It's very usual for me to be able to work on the layout or ran trains much before the holidays but this year has been a little different. Not only did I get a lot of basic scenery done around Uniontown and Herminie, but I was able to go through 3 complete cycles of the operating session. The weekend before Christmas, Bruce came over and the trains were running exceptionally well. Based on the feedback from the Car Card & Waybill group on Yahoo, we picked up where things were left off with the cars in the yard in between their destinations. All the other cars in the sidings and staging were flipped to the next step in the 4 cycles.

Herminie scenery extended past the company hoiuses

Things worked out rather well. All the "running" problems were due to open switches or other operator mistakes - so that is a good sign about the trackwork and condition of the locomotives and rolling stock. As the yardmaster and dispatcher, I mixed up the sequence of trains a couple of times and once annulled one train because it would have left the yard with no cars but it should have picked up loaded hoppers at the mine. Oh, well, the prototype did that at times as well.
I just finished up the 3rd session, running solo this time, and again the session seemed reasonably balanced at the end of the complete timetable. One of the staging trains was at capacity and I left one car bound for the P&LE in the Irwin Yard because the interchange was at capacity. Other than problems with a single engine - 8604 was stuttering and stopping so I pulled it off - accidentally running the wrong train sequence and a few open switches, everything ran well. I am learning some shortcuts and options to improve the session for the operators.

Uniontown scenery adds much needed depth

I got some great gifts from Lisa and the kids for the train and I have an interesting story about a DCC issue I encountered but I will save that for the next blog,

Operations Run Complete

Over the weekend, I ran a complete operating session based on the waybills. At the beginning of the session, there were only a few cars in the East and West yards but the WCC Mine tracks were near capacity, the P&LE interchange was at capacity and most of the sidings were full.The trains runs were very smooth with only a single car derailing and being sent to the RIP track. During the session, most of the 9 scheduled trains were of the expected lengths of about 5 to 9 cars. One or two ended up being 3 or 4 cars - REAL short even for my layout! But, by the end of the session, some of my fears were realized.

Irwin Yard at the end of the operating session

First, the Irwin Yard was nearly empty. Of course, there were about 5 cabin (caboose) cars on the cabin track - I have way too many on the layout. There were 3 or 4 cars waiting for the next session to be sent to the coal mine for loading but the real problem is the complete trains worth of cars waiting for a westbound train. Keep in mind, all the scheduled trains have run so these 6 cars would have to wait for PGH-81 Pittsburgh Transfer which does not happen until the middle of the session, meaning there would be even MORE cars stacked up here. Not sure if I should run an Extra between the sessions to help clear out this backlog or just let it go.
Second, the WCC Mine is woefully understaffed/ The mine tracks have capacity for 14 cars but by the end of the session, there were only 7 on the tracks. All the other hoppers are either outbound (east or west, there were no hoppers on the P&LE headed north) or spotted for unloading (at Dailey's Coal & Fuel). While I did not expect 14 empty hoppers parked here waiting for loads, I was disappointed at how few ended up here. Does this mean I need more hoppers or have to balance the waybills better?

WCC Mine and P&LE tracks have few cars

Finally, as you can see in the photo above, the P&LE interchange should have a few more cars. When the session started, there were 6-40' boxcars waiting for pickup and they were replaced with only 3 ore cars which are 1/2 as long - iron ore being much, much heavier than other commodities on the rails. So the net effect is a rather empty interchange.
I posted some thoughts and solicited help from the Yahoo Car Cards Operations Group (
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/CarCards/info) and they all suggested patience and run the complete 4-cycles before making adjustments. Brice will be over this weekend, so we'll work on the issues together and see what we come up with.
Did I mention the trains ran really well? Yeah, sort of proud of that!

Waybills, Part 2 (Updated)

Last night I completed 61 4-cycle waybills and since each waybill has 4 routes, this means 244 separate directions. Mind...is....numb. So, I created a XLS and listed each one so I could be sure my Actual waybills was close to the calculated number. I was dead on ... in a few cases.

A couple over or under is probably not too bad, but the staging areas (East, West, North) are a bit worrisome. I have DOUBLE the number of waybills for points West (Pittsburgh, Dayton, Cincinnati, Chicago, and St. Louis) that I need. Traffic jam!! What is pretty cool is that it appears most of the industries will be serviced pretty close to plan.
Guess I'll just have to run a cycle or two so I can see how to fix it.

Waybills

Now I am finally, finally read for the first, completely choreographed PRR Irwin...disaster. Let me explain.
In previous posts, I talked about using the car card & waybill (CC&WB) method for moving the rolling stock around the layout with a purpose. To do this, each card has a manila car card that lists information about the car (railroad, number, type, and description) and has a pocket to hold the waybill. I have had the card cards for a while and used them for the 5 or so times I ran trains on the Restway layout. The waybill shows where the car is going, where if came from, and what is loaded onboard (known as the lading), I used a few waybills on the Restway layout, but they were incomplete and pretty notional. In fact, I had to through about 1/2 of them away because the industries changed cities in a few cases on the new layout.

Sample waybills

The photo above shows some waybills. I have color coded them so my engineers can tell if the car is headed East (green for Greensburg), West (pinkish for Pittsburgh) or North on the P&LE (blue for ... a different color. How would you show North??). No highlight is an active industry on the layout. Note that each card has 4 different waybills which are cycled (flipped or turned over) between the operating sessions.
I found an article in the OpSIG's quarterly magazine, The Dispatcher's Office, that calculated the number of waybills based on the industries and track capacity. Also from the OpSIG, I downloaded an XLS database of industries from the 1950s that had rail service so the cars heading off the layout are routed to a real business. I only needed 210 waybills - or more than 50 different 4-cycle cards.

Bottom of the XLS to calculate waybills

So...I have the vast majority of the waybills written but I have not tested them yet. While it should work, it is very possible that I have 5 cars heading to a track spur that only holds 3. Or, too many empty hopper cars heading to the WCC Mine No. 4 in Herminie, or more cars headed to Pittsburgh, Greensburg, or the P&LE interchange than can fit on the track.
No one said this would be easy! I'll keep you posted.

Signs

Bruce's recent question of geography and where the Irwin district is located in the state of Pennsylvania also prompted me to improve the signs around the layout.Some time ago, I found an interesting little website (http://prr.railfan.net/cgi/makesign3.cgi?string=Greensburg&type=key) where you can create image files that look like the PRR station signs - with or without the keystone border. I created one of each kind for the towns on the layout and eventually decided to mount the non-keystone ones at each of the towns.

Irwin Yard with the sign between the throttles

Uniontown

East McKeesport

Herminie also got a sign but that side of the peninsula is a mess right now as I work on the scenery for the company houses so I did not take a picture.
Maybe next time.

Preparing Operations

I finally knuckled down and started to create all the waybills I need to operate the trains. Of course, the idea is you complete a session, moving each car to where the waybill tells you, then turn all the cars to reveal the next spot to place the car. Since each waybill has 4 instructions, the car will not return to where it started until the 5th session.
Setting this up is harder than it first appears. Not every car goes from industry 1 to industry 2 and back to industry 1. Some of the hopper cars are captive, mean they go from the mine, to an industry, then back to the mine. Others, like a boxcar or gondola, move to a industry with a load, get unloaded then routed to the next destination empty. Or arrive empty, then ship with products. So I am taking my time setting this up.
First, I decided to set all the sidings at full capacity. This was helpful as I realized some were really a bit overcapacity. I took a car or two off a couple of sidings and eliminated the PRR Freight Station from the LAS Fabrics siding. Here is how the layout looks with the sidings "full".

PPG (left) and HJ Heinz in Irwin hace room for 2 cars each

For Uniontown, Dailey's in the foreground usually has 2 hoppers and 1 tank car; the others have 1 car each

Herminie has room for 14 cars at the mine, and 6 on the P&LE interchange

There are 3 sidings in E, McKeesport and the east most holds 4 cars

LAS Fabrics Co has room for 2 cars

May Stern Furniture has room for 2 cars

Of course, the temptation is to route more cars to fill the sidings. May Stern can actually hold 3-4 and LAS Fabrics could easily hold 3. The problem is routing the cars to the next locations with the sidings that full. With the capacity I listed under the photos, that's about 35 cars on the layout. Ideally, these 35 would move to a staging yard (except for the few going back to WCC Mine) and new cars would come onto the layout from staging to replace them. "Staging" is a loose term since I have room for 6 cars on the P&LE interchange and with the two tracks hidden behind E. McKeesport, I can represent them as one line for all points east (7 cars) and one for all points west (8 cars).
Meaning...I need to push 35 cars off the layout and replace them with 21 cars.
That's not going to work!

Collaboration

My last layout, in the basement of our house on Restway, took 11 years to build and become operational. Much of that time was my waxing and waning interest, free time and tackle projects for the first time, like ballasting. As I recall, it took 2 -3 years to get a trackplan, another year to build the modules, some 4-5 years before all the track was laid. You get the picture.

Overall I enjoyed the layout and it met my desires in the space I had - but I did almost all of it alone. I finally collaborated with a couple of friends (Eric and Jack) running trains in the last 9 months before we moved and Jack helped with the scenery on a couple of the train nights we had. 

This version of PRR Irwin District has been different for a couple of reasons. First, I was able to reuse a number of components from the Restway layout - modules, lighting, fascia, switches and some track, and of course I had a pretty solid collection of rolling stock and DCC locomotives at this point. Second, reconnecting with Bruce (have I mention we met as USAF lieutenants back in the late 80s?) really helped, reducing the planning stage to a few months, optimizing the trackplan for a smaller, more constrictive space than I would have been able to and helping assemble benchwork, wiring, mounting the lights and shelves, laying and testing the track, and now adding the scenery. Instead of 11 years to run complete trains, I was semi-operational in about 18 months and by 2 years was running complete trains. Also, collaborating has been huge in gaining different perspective for some of the challenges. 

Every time we get together, we discuss different ideas for the scenery and Bruce almost always has a suggestion that not only did I not consider, but turns out to be really, really good. He stopped by last weekend and his ideas for East McKeesport roads and structures really appealed to me and perfectly fit the concept I had for the look of the area. What's great is that we can work on the layout with the trains continuously running on the outer and inner mainline and still make time to run some Extras to Herminie or to work a siding or two in East McKeesport. 

On a funny note, sometimes I assume things because we both like model railroading. Operations is a good example. I have read dozens of articles and practiced operating schemes on a couple of railroads but while Bruce has built and run trains, he was not very familiar with car cards and waybills (CC&WB). I'm fixing that. Sunday, after talking about moving traffic around the Irwin District, he asked, "Where the heck is Uniontown anyway? You need a map to help your engineers out."

Good point ... so here is a map of the PRR Irwin District and how its situated in PA.

Map of the PRR Irwin District

Train Shows and Hobby Stores

I forgot to follow-up on the Division 3 Train Show that Bruce and I attended a couple weekends ago. I try to go to this local show every year and sometimes, I barely spend more than the entrance fee. Not this year!
As usual, I had a very specific list of items that I was looking for and I was able to get most of them at very good prices. I love a bargain. I picked up two hopper cars (practically a steal, the price was so good) and two box cars. I think I am set on boxcars but need a handful more hoppers. I finally broke down and box the box of 100 wheelsets to fix the dozen or so cars on the RIP track with out-of-gauge wheels, A new razor saw, a pair of tweezers, and some right angle clamps for building structures. I also picked up two cast metal '56 Ford pickups and some detail piping for Dailey's and other areas around the layout. Overall, I thought I did pretty good.
Last weekend, we were planning a run to see my Dad in Pittsburgh and I always try to get a visit to T & K Hobby in Bridgeport OH which we pass within 2 miles, so have to try and stop. We were planning on running out and back in the same day so I was not sure we would stop. I decided to see what I could find locally and speed up the layover, or skip it altogether.
So Friday I popped into R/C Hobby on Harshman Road. Although they are primarily an R/C airplane store they have a great collection of just what I needed - styrene sheets and strips for scratchbuilding, some paints, Woodland Scenics brush & talus (rocks), lead weights for the freight cars and plastic and CA glue. Almost all I was looking for....
So we stopped at T&K Hobby Saturday where I found Walther's Heritage Furniture building (this will be LAS Fabrics in East McKeesport), more bush material and some additional paints on sale. Since Polly S paints were discontinued, I am basically buying all the colors I can use while they are still available.
Now back to the layout. I have some scenery to create, structures to build, and rolling stock to repair. Should keep me busy for a few evenings!

Sometimes....

Sometimes, the solution is easier than you think. I had some time in the train room tonight while I was listening to the Bengal game. Been working on several small projects so I continued cleaning up the cabinets, spray painted a couple of cars and the new LAS Fabrics builfing, and tweaked some scenery around the tunnels and in Herminie.
 While I was working on these projects I was running some trains on the inner and outer mainlines. Four new cars from the train show last weekend performed well and I decided to tackle some of the RIP cars. I think I mentioned my frustration building about 10 new cars that would not run only to discover the wheelsets were not correct...too wide for the track. I replaced them on 6 "broken" cars and added them to the running trains...no problems. Nice.

Waiting for the train show

The Dayton NMRA train show is this weekend and I have a list of things to look for. Usually, I come home with $30 or $40 worth of supplies. I have specific items I am looking and frequently don't find them but I enjoy browsing. Bruce is meeting me at the show and I am sure we will find several excuses to spend money.
In the meantime, I am niching away at my To Do list. I finished the basic structures for all 3 company houses and am now working on adding the porches, cementing the roofs, and placing interior floors and walls - easier to do as you assemble the building than adding them later! Ask me how I know!!
Eventually, I want all the buildings to have simple interiors and lighting - again to add to the illusion of the real world. I also fixed (sort of) the PPG loading dock and added a sign to the Heinz building. Last week, I finally cut Joe's Music to fit in East McKeesport and was showing Bruce the leftover 1/2 building, saying I was disappointed that I had to cut it. He suggested I trim it and place it further down the street. Wow! It worked!

Cutting one building into two

I started adding floors into that building tonight as well and updated some of the operations documents. So lots of little things getting done - still need to work on the backlog of cars that derail but no room on my work desk with all these other projects.

First "Complete" Scene

Last night, I finished the first "complete" scene on the layout. Why quoted? As most model railroaders will tell you, a scene is never finished. You always want to add more details - people, litter, signs, maybe lighted interiors, etc.
Besides, first is a stretch. The first scene I finished on this layout was the first scene I completed on the last layout - Vic's Bait & Tackle Shop. The building was completed and carried over, I just added some scenery, cars, signs and people. This area is supposed to represent Keystone State Park where my Dad took Cathy and I fishing occasionally. It's a notional representation as I remember little of those trips - except waiting forEVER for the smallest fish in the lake to take my bait!

First completed scene was Vic;s Bait & Tackle

I named Vic's after a good friend and co-worker who lives in the Boston area and loves fishing. Somehow, I think he would be disappointed to fish in Keystone Lake! It was important for me to finish this scene early because it's along the outside of the layout where everyone can see it when they first walk into the train room. But it's just a trackside business, no rail traffic.

GGS Cabinets in the foreground

So...this first "completed" scene that is SERVICED by the railroad, is Uniontown. Dailey's Coal & Fuel ("For all your home & business energy needs") was another survivor from the last layout and again, named for a fellow co-worker from Grand Rapids, MI - go Michigan State! or something like that. Once I placed the building, I added the mound of coal, some fencing, people and cars. Over the past few nights, I added scenery around Keystone Sand & Supply including a mound of sand, a gravel access road, another fence, propane tank and a vertical sand storage tank. I built a mockup of CC Lumber Co. (named for my sister Cathy) and with GGS Cabinets - an trackside industry not serviced by the railroad named for my father, Uniontown looks complete.

Leftt to right - Dailey's, Keystone Sand & Suppy and CC Lumber

Of course, there are some small things I want to do to round out the scene and will eventually replace the building mockups with real structures including lighting and details. As I completed each scene, the railroad seems to come more and more to life and I love the expression I get when I show the kids or Bruce the updates!

Get 'Er Done

For those who know me well, my train time is somewhat haphazard and random. Between my work and family activities, I don't have a spare time I can dedicate to working or running the train. I used to be a little jealous reading the magazines and guys talking about their "Tuesday Ops Session" or their friends coming over to work on the trains every other Friday evening. I just can't manage that sort of regularity at this time.
However, those same magazines talked about keeping a list of projects to work on when you have the time. I used Evernote to keep a list of all the project ideas - large or small - so I can access it from home or my smartphone anytime I have a idea. I don't prioritize them (would be too daunting and disappointing) but anytime I get some time in the train room, I niche away at the list.

Part of my Evernote project list

This week I had a some free evenings and built the industry mockups using Model Builder and foamboard. I really like how the scene turned out.

Building mockups help the operators spot the cars until I can build the real structures

Of course, more time in the train room is not necessarily good. I discovered all the Digitrax panels in Herminie and East McKeesport no longer work. Dang! I swear the were fine when Bruce was here! Must be the mojo he brings over. Ugh, now I have to get under the layout ... again.

Illusions

One of the things I've learned over the many years of reading Model Railroader, Rail Model Craftsman, Model Railroad Hobbyist and other articles is the art of creating an illusion on a layout. For me, the ones that always resonated were  the scenes that hinted more is there.  I created a couple of minor illusions on the last layout, but with the 11' x 24' area I had to work in, there was not a lot I needed to do. In the 10'x10' room the current layout is in, and the fact that it's circular with a peninsula in the middle, I need to create some illusions.

GGS Cabinets is a very shallow building, but still has some "depth"

GGS Cabinets, in the photo above shows an example of how most - probably 75% - of the buildings on the layout will appear. I scratch built this factory using some Evergreen board & batten styrene for the walls, scribed styrene for the interior floor and plain styrene for the roof. It's only about 1-1/2" deep and to strengthen the illusion, the left side of the building (behind the locomotive), there are 3 windows and I will add lighting so you can see the detailed interior of people, stacks of lumber and machinery.

North end of the mine tracks continue beyond the layout

To trick observers into thinking the layout is part of a bigger "world", there are a few areas when the track does not end so much as it disappears into the distance. When the trains are servicing WCC Mine No. 4 in Herminie, PA, it appears that they push the cars down the sidings under the mine and beyond into the hills behind the mine. Of course, the mine is placed at the end of the peninsula so the tracks only extend an inch or two. I needed to protect the cars from falling off the end of the tracks did use end bumpers, instead a clear piece of plastic keeps the cars on the track and creates the feeling that the rails continue beyond. Likewise, in the photo to the right, you can see another piece of plastic protects the end of the P&LE interchange track which is supposed to continue north and connect to the P&LE mainline for Erie PA.

Westbound trains enter East McKessport under Rt 30 bridge

East McKessport is supposed to represent a fairly urban setting but I was not sure how I could pull off a plausible transition from countryside to urban streets. I used the same trick with the same Rt 30 bridge (although it was a little shorter) on the last layout to hide the west (Pittsburgh) staging yard from the active layout.

The layout on Restway Ct used Rt 30 background of photo) to hide the West staging yard (foreground)

On the current layout, I needed a little more than a scenery break, I needed a scenery block because "behind" East McKeesport are the two outer mainline tracks that are also used as my staging tracks. After some considerable thought, a bit of liquid inspiration (beer!) I decided the corner building at the edge of East McKeesport would be a large department store that appears very close the to the highway (this is prototypical for Pittsburgh area) and stretches back to hide the staging tracks and provide the illusion of depth for the scene. I did a quick mockup building and I think it will work very nicely.

While the building hides the staging track, you can still see over it if necessary

First Official Operating Session

Trains were running reasonably well...check. Enough scenery to sketch the illusion of towns and industries...check. Draft of an operating scheme....check. Bruce coming over last Sunday....time for the first official operating session!
AS I said, I had an operating scheme that I thought would work (see the blog post Sketching An Operations Plan) so all I had to do was get the cars on the layout lined up to support the operations plan. Yeah, not an easy task. I had to go through all the waybills which describe where the car is supposed to be routed - 51 not counting the 4 cars on the RIP track and the 6 I pulled off because they were not running AND the RIP track is full (need to get on the Maintenance Department).

Preparing for the operating session

As you can see from the photo, I had to place all the car cards & waybills along the layout and I had 3 cheat sheets to match cars with routes with industries. Took a couple of hours but I felt it was set up as well as could be. I also created a worksheet for the Yardmaster. This would help the Yardmaster put cars on the right yard track and in the correct order.

Yardmasters worksheet

So, how did it work? Remarkably well. With the exception of the curve into Herminie, the cars stayed on the track. More than a few times, we had to nudge the engines to get the trains rolling. Working the yard for the first time, I struggled to keep up with the traffic (note to self - 8 cars on the morning train from Altoona is too much and needs to be in order!) Bruce ran the ALT-12 from Altoon to reacquaint himself with the throttles (good idea for newbies) and ran one eastbound and one westbound train following the the pickup (p/u) and setout (s/o) instructions with some interesting switching moves. We only managed to run 3 of the 9 scheduled trains in a 3 hour operating session but for a first run, I was thrilled!
In addition, we validated the layout design meeting my operating desires. At the end, Bruce said he understood better what I wanted to accomplish and wondered if he could have done something different to further those goals. Given the space constraints, I doubt it.I am very happy with what we created together and I think it will continue to provide years of fun!

Anatomy Of A Train Run

So let's see what is involved in "running trains" on my layout. We'll jump onboard EM-15, the afternoon westbound known as the Heinz Transfer. We are just connecting on the road engine, a GP9 number 7046 which the S-1 yard switcher doubles back after adding the cabin car at the end of the train. The yardmaster has already made the train based on our work today with the first two boxcars (PRR 77100 and GD 8409) bound for LAS Fabrics in East McKeesport, the next two (NW 361508 and PRR 83397) headed to PPG and the last two cars (PLE 30399 and Heinz Pickle Tank car 73) for the Heinz factory.

EM-15, the Heinz Transfer, prepares to leave the yard

After passing through the neigboring towns (making a couple loops of the layout), we approach East McKeesport, first dropping the cabin car next to Vic's Bait & Tackle.

We leave the cabin car next to Vic's to leave plenty of room for working around the train

Next, we pull the train into the south passing track (closest to the aisle), we we will drop the train and run the engine forward to the next switch, then back into position to pull the cars from LAS Fabrics.

Leave the train on the south passing track, run the engine back to clear the siding

 We pull the boxcars from the siding and push them out of the way on the north passing siding. Next, we connect to the rear of the train and back almost to Vic's to clear the switches, this was why we dropped the cabin car all the way back here. Simple now to push the front two cars of the train onto the siding and leave them.

After pulling the cars from LAS Fabrics, leave them on the passing siding

We push the train onto the passing siding where we connect with the two cars we picked up from the siding, placing them at the front of the train. The engine uses the south passing track to run around to the front, connect to the train and push back to pick up the cabin car. All done in East McKeesport, time to head to the PPG and Heinz factories which share a siding.

EM-15 reassembled and ready for the next work assignment

The work on the PPG / Heinz siding is much the same except we use both mainlines. First leave the train on the north track and run around to pull the cars from the siding and place them on the south track.

Dropping the cars pulled from the siding on the south mainline before dropping off the cars for these industries

We connect with the cabin car and pull the train back, leaving the first two cars which we had picked up in East McKeesport. We push the first two cars for PPG in front of the factory, then pull back to drop the next two cars at Heinz. We push the cabin car at end of the cars on the south mainline, then pulled the train back to connect with the cars we left on the north mainline.

Pushing the cars on the siding, placing them at each factory

We run around the train, reconnect and head through the towns (around the loop) back to the Irwin Yard at the end of our day.

Second Solo Operating Session

I only did a few things on the layout this weekend. I cut two sample boards to test my idea of a shelf for working with the car cards & waybills. They are the size I need and cut to form a right angle in the corner of Herminie but I am not positive on how I want to have them mounted to the fascia. I might get to that next weekend and will post a picture then.
I did managed some time to do test runs of the next two trains on the schedule. I had planned to alternate the eastbound and westbound trains but instead focused on just the success of running a train out of the yard, performing the work at the siding and bringing it back. So I ended up running the first two westbound trains on the schedule.

First two westbound trains for the day

I have not even named these trains yet (another thing for next weekend) but the purpose of the first westbound is to head to East McKeesport (around a couple of loops through the neighboring towns) and work the front two sidings for May Stern Furniture (east or right end) and the industries on the left siding which include Stetson Convention Service and Allegheny Cold Storage. Unlike the first solo run I documented in my last blog entry, I would be encountering both a facing point (the engine faces forward to enter the siding) and a trailing point (the engine backs down the siding). Since the object is to get all the cars BEHIND the locomotive, working a trailing point switch is easier than a facing point.
Bruce did an excellent job placing not one but two runaround tracks here in East McKeesport. The engine cuts off from the rest of the train and pulls the cars off the May Stern siding, then pulls the cars destined for May Stern off the train and run arounds them to push them onto the siding. Next, I pulled the cars from the other siding, place them out of the way on the farther roundaround track before pulling the rest of the cars from the train and pushing them on the empty siding. Finally, I assemble a the return train with the cars I pulled from the siding using the passing track as necessary to get on the right side of the cars and head back to Irwin.
The next train I ran out is even more interesting as its purpose is to work LAS Fabrics and the siding for PPG/Heinz...both facing point switches! I'll detailed that in my next blog entry.
One of the things I am realizing as I run through the timetable by myself is (a) I need to have these trains made up in the yard in order to send them out. And if you think that's a "well, duh!" moment, you should have seen me scrambling for (b) I need to have enough cars on the layout for all these trains!
Yeah, who would have ever guess that was a problem.

First Run - Train UN-2

After getting a chance to run some mock trains with Bruce last weekend, and a couple of friends commenting on my Facebook posts of the progress on the layout, I decided to focus a little more this weekend on operations. The trains are running pretty smoothly on the mainline and most of the dust has been cleaned off the sidings. The first train of the day, on the PRR Irwin District Timetable No. 4, is UN-2 known as the Uniontown Trick*.

First 2 eastbound trains on the timetable

This train only has 2 jobs - pull the cars from Dailey Coal & Fuel in Uniontown, to free the spur for a delivery later in the day, and work Tracks 1 and 4 at WCC Mine No. 4 in Herminie. Since the switch leading into Uniontown is only about 12" (85 HO scale feet) from the Irwin Yard, I decided the way to "stretch" the layout is to run the train around the layout twice between servicing towns. So, UN-2 pulled out of the Irwin Yard and passed through some of the towns on the line before slowing in Uniontown. The engine uncouples and heads into the lead track to pick up the first car.

UN-2 engine 8604 stops at G.G.S. Cabinets as the switchman throws the switch to the Dailey track

Dailey's typically use 2 hoppers and 1 tank car on this daily run, so the engine pulls the empty tank car (MTY) before coming back to get the two empty hoppers. There are two reasons for two trips instead of pulling all 3 cars at once. First, the track lead can only hold the loco and 2 cars. Second, PRR safety rules note that there must always be a car between a tank car and either the engine or the cabin car when running on the main.

Enginer 8604 comes back for the two hopper cars

Once the train is reconnected and brake lines cleared, the train pulls out of Uniontown with 2 hopper cars, the tank car, and the empty hopper cars destined for WCC Mine No. 4. A couple of loops around the layout to cover the "distance" between Uniontown and Herminie.

Simulating distance, UN-2 runs around the layout twice before pulling into Herminie

In Herminie, the engine pulls the loaded hoppers from Track 1 as well as the empty boxcar from Track 4 before pushing a new boxcar of supplies on Track 4 and the empty hoppers from the Irwin Yard on Track 1. While this sounds quick and simple, it takes a few moves to clear the tracks, put the right cars on the correct tracks and ensure the safety rule holds - idler cars between the engine, tank car and cabin car - before the train can depart Herminie and run a couple times around to return to the Irwin Yard where the engine is cut off and sent to the Engine track. Switcher 9238 then breaks the train down for the next operating session.

Placing the supply boxcar on Track 4

Overall, I was very happy with how this initial operating run performed. I did encounter a couple of hopper cars with problems - ironically, two of the newest ones I built.

A few more test runs for the other trains on the schedule and I will start holding operating sessions for my buddies. I think the layout will keep 2-3 people busy and hope there will be enough room for us to move around each other. Otherwise - awesome!

*I am still working on the train designations so some of these may change over time.

Little Steps

I had hoped for a good weekend working on the layout and it ended up being a great weekend! Friday night and late Saturday morning, I spent some time tweaking a few projects preparing for Bruce to come over and work on the train. I made signs for Camp Bruce and G.G.S. Cabinets and added people inside the factory. I installed some telephone poles along Rt 993 into Uniontown and finished making a large batch of trees for Bruce and I to work on the hills.

Uniontown Hill with campers and Camp Bruce sign

Bruce was excited about the progress I had made so far and we set about working on the two hills. I could only go so far because I have a structure I need to build and place before I put anymore trees around. Bruce did a great job on the scenery for the hill in Herminie and he decided that the tunnels needed some weathering showing years of steam engines passing through the portals - very realistic.

Work Bruce did on the hill in Herminie

We pulled down some of the buildings I have up on the shelf - most are only partially built or custom cut for the previous layout and started talking about how some of them could still be incorporated into the layout. One of the buildings, a switch tower my Dad made out of cardstock probably years before I was born received a paint job and now sits next to the East Yard in Irwin.

My dad built the switchtower out of cardstock and balsa wood strips

We did get a chance to run the trains - and they ran quite well - so I had Bruce do a couple of switching assignments and learning how to handle the car cards (waybills will come later on - I still have to set them up!) Before he left, he took a couple of photos from some new angles that look really, really good.

The track lead in Uniiontown,with G.G.S/ Cabinets to the right

Under WCC Mine No. 4

West entrance to the Irwin Yard

Looking the other way from the West Yard towards Vic's Bait & Tackle

Finally, he wanted a picture of the owner. Layout looks good...the owner so-so!