First Operating Session

First Operating Session

I recently made the brave move to try and operate my layout and so here is an overview of what I did and how it went.

I had been reading the Kalmbach book about realistic operations which is a good read but the majority of contents were just not very applicable to my small switching layout.  I did learn a lot from the book and it did force me to think about what I have in my layout for operations compared to what I would really like to have which is a huge gap right now.  The simplest form of operation recommended was odds and evens which is a process of running around picking up all the cars that their ID number ends in an odd number on a given train for example then on the next train does evens.  A quick assessment of my rolling stock inventory found I was extremely lopsided with odd numbered cars and the process wouldn't be challenging enough compared to some of the local sessions I have participated.  My next option in complexity would be to use a switchlist.  The switchlist is simply a list of cars in the order they appear in the train with a source and destination column and the contents of the car. More complex options include things like waybills and train orders and stuff which for the size of my layout seemed to be overkill.  I tried to generate some waybills but there were too many questions that needed to be answered that I was either too lazy to answer or had no idea how to answer so I chose to use switchlist operations for my layout.

So how do I get a switchlist?
All my research made me think this would be easy to do however I found it took quite a bit of effort to come up with a switchlist.  Add the complexity of wanting someway to generate the switchlist without a lot of effort and I found myself stumped again.  What I eventually found was some free software for the Mac that would allow me to inventory my rolling stock, industries, cargo and traffic levels of cargo.  The software  I found is called "Switchlist" and for free it works pretty well though I had a few hiccups while first setting up as it crashed once after I had done my initial setup and that is when I figured out it doesn't auto save.  The advantage once I was able to get everything input is the software generates the switchlist in a controlled random way taking into account where cars are located (provided the user keeps the information reconciled between the actual layout and the software).

Since my layout isn't done I took some 3x5 cards and made name tents for each of my industries noting the order of the numbered spots on the siding if more than one spot is available.

Warehouse siding, I haven't come up with a name for this industry yet.

Team track in the foreground and Whirlpool in the back.

My favorite local food company Griffin Foods, love their pancake syrup.

Some industries really are in Broken Arrow like Cedar Creek Lumber.

Another real Broken Arrow industry Paragon Films which has a huge amount of traffic but I don't have room to come close to modeling it all.

So my first session really was a blank slate and the software generated a list of cars that needed to be delivered. I included at the end of the post the actual first switchlist so that you can see what is included on the list.  My second switchlist included pickups and drop offs and was more challenging and was good fun.  I ran several more switchlists in the days following my initial session and I determined that my  staging extension that covers my doorway is a pain in the behind since the door opens into the room.  The old adage of never enough staging showed itself quickly too.  I also determined I need a few more cars for different types of loads like lumber and fluids.

I had a lot more to share about my successes and short comings from my first sessions but it has been a few days and I can't recall what all was on my mind now.  It was fun to actually run some trains with purpose but I do wish there was more to my layout in terms of it's scope and activity.

The Switch List:

                                           OAK CREEK SOUTH SPUR

                                         CONDUCTOR'S WHEEL REPORT

Train: MP 631               Date: 11/25/2011        Conductor:

Init Number  Kind        From Sta/Ind                       To Sta/     Ind # Door        Contents

-----------  ----  --------------/--------------    --------------/ --------------  --------------

ATSF 51916     XA           Tulsa/Staging             Broken Arrow/Griffin Foods #1           empty

UP 91181       RO           Tulsa/Staging             Broken Arrow/Paragon Films #2 Plastic Pellets

MP 724102      RO           Tulsa/Staging             Broken Arrow/Paragon Films #3 Plastic Pellets

UP 14025       RO           Tulsa/Staging             Broken Arrow/Paragon Films #1 Plastic Pellets

SP 800005       G           Tulsa/Staging             Broken Arrow/Team Track #1             Scrap

MP 367080      XA           Tulsa/Staging             Broken Arrow/Warehouse #3            produce

 

Layout Naming Rights Sold

First off I did not sell the naming rights to the layout but if anyone is interesting purchasing the naming rights feel free to contact me. This could be the QuikTrip railroad or your name goes here railroad which the proceeds from selling the naming rights could be put into furthering it's construction progress.

Naming my layout has been on my mind of late. The original name (Oak Creek Southern) has been around for years as I have dreamed about building some major railroad that has never happened. Since I started this layout last year I have just kept the name as is due to a total lack of name creativeness. Over the last few weeks I have been thinking through different variations of the name and I will probably settle on calling the layout the Oak Creek South Spur. Oak Creek South is the name of the housing subdivision I live in and I wanted to keep that identity. I added "Spur" since this really isn't a looping layout nor does it have track extending beyond both ends of the layout (there is a staging extension on the West end) since it is a dead end it is a spur. So the layout's full identity is the Union Pacific Tulsa Subdivision Oak Creek South Spur. I'm not changing the name of the blog since the blog has been around so long but I did want to officially announce the layout's name.

Video: Rio Grande in the Rockies - Model Railroader Magazine

Video: Rio Grande in the Rockies - Model Railroader Magazine

Can't embed the video here but follow the link above for what has to be the most amazing N scale layout I have ever seen.  (Sorry Dave but I'm afraid this one has the Deep River Southern beat.)  Now I miss my Model Railroader subscription for sure.  I'm heading to the hobby shop now to get this issue and then resubscribe.  Dang it.

A Tale of Two Structure Kits: Part 1

This is the first in a series of posts about my first structure build for my HO scale switching layout.

The two structure kits pictured above are a part of the Walther's Cornerstone series of kits and are specifically background buildings made to be put against the backdrop of the layout.  I was unaware when I bought the two structures last year that they were made for each other as I will explain through out this post.  I pulled the first one off the shelf a few days ago to open it up and see what if I had the supplies I needed to assemble and learned that the kit is highly customizable including the ability to combine with the second kit I have.  One of the sidings on the West end of my layout was a long enough siding to support double the length of my first kit (Bud's Trucking) so after some test fitting and deep thought I decided to combine both kits into one large structure.  Someone in my past really made an impression on me about having industries that look like they really support the amount of rail traffic we portray that is occurring so this is an great opportunity to make that happen.

I thought I had a shot of each kit opened but I guess I don't.  Here is what the contents of the kits look like and surprisingly the two kits are almost identical.  The only real difference between the two kits is that Louston Shipping has the block windows included.

After reading through the instructions a for each kit a couple of times I started off by taking the parts that form the walls and laying them out against the backdrop of the layout at the siding this structure should occupy.  As you can see this will end up being several feet long and a nice start to the layout.

The kit is very modular so there are numerous ways it could be assembled.  The above two shots have the siding test fit onto the walls along with the door placement I am considering.  The siding is not long enough to support the potential four doors so I plan to use three doors then finish out the East end of the structure with the block windows.

Though I like the look of the blue siding I don't want the end result to look like the original kit plus the shiny plastic just isn't that realist either.  The larger surface area to be covered did not lend itself to hand brushing so I was able to find a can Floquil Concrete spray paint at Top Shelf Models in Owasso.  I really need another can but this stuff is rare and shops that carry it in my area seems to be even more rare.

I hand painted the doors with Polly S Reefer White but the result was not good for the naked eye though the pictures don't show it.  I wound up making another hobby shop run to get a can of Flat White Testors spray paint (see photo below).  You'll notice the UP MP15 out doing some switching at the new warehouse as I had made the MP GP38 unusable while playing with Decoder Pro.  I wound up doing a factory reset on the GP38 and it is function again in case you were concerned about it's fate.

As the series of photos directly above show the original pieces of the kit that represent brick was molded a tan color not too far from what I ended up painting the metal siding.  I chose to use another spray paint found at Top Shelf Models (Floquil Tuscan) to get a deep red color.  The final photo shows the painted doors, brick work and the two end pieces that have a combination of the metal siding and brick.

I ran out of paint I needed and I am struggling to locate it locally so the project has come to a crawl so hopefully in the next few weeks I can provide a progress update.