Start with the locals, skip the through freights, for now.

I suggest you start your operations with the locals running from Eckman Yard out to the other towns/ industries and returning. Then switching out the cars brought back to Eckman for pick up by the east or west bound merchandise freights and coal haulers. The through freights and coal haulers are just scenery trains for now and add nothing to the operations. Great for running during open houses, or to give someone a job at a operation session if they don't want to switch. 

Another rule you might want to adopt, is that coal only moves with coal. Start with the locals. If you are going out to service the mines, you just service the mines. Do not mix a local trying to spot one or two cars of freight here and there with a crew trying to pick up 10-20 loaded coal cars. If the crew is maxed out in tonnage by the coal, then they will skip the annoying practice of spotting the single car at the pet food company. It will also make things easier for operators if they know they just handle freight, or just handle coal.

Make sure your yard master knows which coal cars are destined for the lakes ( east) or the tide (west). Further switching might involve the types or sizes of coal, such as egg, lump, stoker, etc. Moving and sorting the coal should be job one, and the focus of this section of railroad between Bluefield and Williamson. 

Start the session with a couple of locals to head out, and have the Eckman yard job build the next two locals to go out with the cars remaining in the yard, while the first two leave town and work on the road. Once they return, run the freights and coal turns from staging to pick up the cars brought back, and drop off cars for the Eckman yard job to sort onto the third set of locals, while the local crews take the second section out to their respective areas. A session might encompass only modeling a shift, 8-12 hours and cover only the freight or coal service on the line. 

You have built in a lot of operational opportunities, so take it step by step and add to it after a few sea-trials. You can always do more next time is my motto. 

Good luck and keep us posted.

Based on your plan it looks

Based on your plan it looks like Eckman yard is just 5 tracks. While I agree in what Thomas says about keeping coal with coal when it comes to classing the coal loads that may prove tricky. Have you done an OPS Session on this layout yet? 

You may find it beneficial to invite a small crew in one night to run some of these jobs to see how they interact with each other. Often a well planned operation gets a stick in the forks and things have to be adjusted to make it work. One thing that we model railroaders are lacking over the big boys is track and time. If the dispatcher needs to hold a train out of a yard they often have sidings available to them to hold it on. We often do not. Also model crews don't like to have to sit out on the main for long periods of time (boredom) Real crews love to sit on sidings and keep getting paid. I once sat on an industry lead for 9 hours waiting for main line time. Never moved a wheel the whole shift but still got paid... Just saying.

while your speed limits are nice, they will not hold up in court. I refer to that info as "frill". It has nothing to do with operations unless your planning to install speed indicators in every block a regular crew will not know the difference between those speed. 

Do you have a physical track plan to post that shows the actual track set up. It looks like you have 4 sidings which are also shared industry leads. Could pose a problem when it comes to moving traffic on the mainline.  

suggestion to listen be for you start op session.

Model Rail Radio #73: Full Circle [April 20, 2013]

YouTube Thursday night Hangout. 5-12-16

model railcast show

model railroad operation play list

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLb_MG9S35Q-BUTxcevzuMBZPSI3uy7na4

Feedback

The schematic is so small Its very hard to read any of the text.

Eckman yard really isn't set up to make a pick up or set out for a train off the main, there are no crossovers to allow a train on the main to come off with a set out and go into the "siding" without going way high to the far end of the switching leads and shoving back on the switching leads.

I see your plan has the following blocks:
EWD freight
WWD freight
Lake coal loads
Tide coal loads
Coal empties
Tubs Holler cars
Van Lear cars
Liberty cars
Eckman cars

You are building 9 blocks in 5 tracks, so it will be very busy, plus all the trains have to set out in the same track and all outbounds have to be built in the class tracks.  If you operate with one person, its not a problem because nothing can ever interfere with another move.  If you are operating with more people then it could be very busy.

You are serving 10 non-coal industries (some twice a day) with a total of 4 jobs with one set out.  If every industry gets one car per day that's a 10 car set out.  How big is the merchandise train and how big is its set out?  4 jobs, 10 cars, that's less than 3 cars per local.

You are serving 8 spots at coal mines (4 jobs, 2 spots/day) with more or less 1 inbound empty coal train.  If you are running a 20 car train then that is spotting an average of 2-3 cars per mine per spot.

With the low volume of inbound cars do your really need that many separate jobs?  Could some be consolidated?

Coal trains with mixed loads and empties and the loads on the head end means a coal train working Eckman might have to work both ends of the train.

The local train operating rules are in conflict. "local trains will give right of way" means the train can occupy the main track and when something else shows up they get out of the way, while local trains moving only "without impeding  scheduled ... trains" means they have to clear.  Once again, with only one operator, its not a problem, with more operators it could be confusing.
 
You might want to rephrase the caboose rule.  If can't do ANY switching of a caboose, how do you get it to the caboose track?  If I want to build a train on a caboose (set the caboose in the track, then add the cuts for the outbound train on top of it) I can't do that because that rule prohibits it.

Technically a local can never leave the yard.  The caboose can't be added until the train is ready to depart, but the train isn't ready to depart until the caboose is added.

You do NOT sound the engine bell continuously on service, engine ready and caboose tracks.  Unless you want the mechanical department employees to beat you with a wrench.  The bell is rung when initating movement.

The speed restrictions are nice, but do you have a method of measuring them or telling the difference between 10 mph and 15 mph?  If not, simplify it as in:

49 mph on main tracks (Federal max on non-signalled track)
59 mph passenger on main tracks (Federal max on non-signalled track)
10 mph tracks other than a main track

Just as a note, yard limits ONLY applies to the main track, NOT in sidings and NOT in yard tracks, they are "tracks other than a main track".  In yard limits train may operate on the main track prepared to stop short of anything else, not exceeding some speed, typically 20-30 mph, and first class trains may operate at track speed and other trains have to clear the first class train.  Don't really know what method of operation you are using  since you don't really say.  Saying the locals are extras and the freights have schedules implies some sort of timetable and train order or maybe NORAC Form D if you are in a post 1980's era.  But the other rules really don't mesh with TT&TO.

Solo Ops on the Pokey

Paul...

Having run through several solo ops session on my coal RR (C&O Hawks Nest Subdivision) using sequenced trains, perhaps I can offer some of my perspective. In the way of reference there are 7 trains in the 'schedule': one M&E passenger, one coal drag, one manifest, two mine turns, one mixed and one mainline local.

I started with two through trains the first time - a manifest and a M&E passenger train.  The key point to learn with this short session was to figure if I needed more labels on things and make sure I had staging routes and related turnouts set up correctly.  The next session I added in one of the mine turns and the mixed train (it met with the M&E passenger train).  The goal here was to explore time more than anything else.  Finally, on the third session I ran the entire sequence.  BTW, I did not attempt to have any car routing method in use during these sessions.

Finally, car routing was setup (using JMRI) and three more complete sessions have been run. This has lead to a change in the train sequence to have a better flow of cars on the RR and pointed out a need for some additional staging (small set of fiddle tracks).  Once the additional staging has been completed, I'll restart ops again.

One thing to consider is for all the trains you've listed is how much time it takes to complete a session.  My seven train sequence takes about 2 hours to complete and seems just about right for me  - but I have a lot of slow running. 

Rick G.

https://lionelllc.wordpress.c

 Yard design  

https://lionelllc.wordpress.com/2012/05/09/railroad-yards-adding-a-classification-yard-to-your-layout/

Replies....

Well I can see that I have a lot to learn about operations! Thanks for all the feedback guys! It's going to take me a while to digest all that's been said so far, but I'm looking forward to it.

Thomas -

Good point about some of the through trains being "scenery" trains. I like that phrase. I tried to keep most of the local trains from mixing merchandise loads with coal loads. The exception being the Van Lear Way Freight. I'll have to rethink that one, or maybe have one of the other mine locals service that mine as well.

Your comment on letting the yard master know what grade of coal will be heading what direction changes the way I was going to handle inbound coal to the assembly yard. In my other post "Car Forwarding on the Pocahontas District" I was going to handle the coal in blocks of cars. That may not be too feasible with so many different routing info that needs to be considered. 

I really appreciate the suggestions you had for the sequence schedule. When I was putting that together I didn't really feel like I had rhyme or reason for my proposed order. Your suggestions make good sense. Thanks!

Neil -

I have not done an ops session yet, because as of yet the track work is not complete. I don't even have the mainline finished. Hopefully that will be rectified in short order once my track shipment arrives.

Your comments on the speed limits makes good sense. I think a more simplified approach is in order. 

I have my track plan posted on Bill Brillinger's track plan post, but I'll add it again here in the thread to help with further discussion.

Dave -

I can see the experience you have on the prototype reflected in your comments, and I value them highly. You've made too many great points for me to comment on, but here's a couple:

Because I tend to operate solo, I envisioned mainline trains that need to set cars out or pick them up coming onto the siding and switching from there. That's why there are no crossovers as you mentioned. That keeps the main clear so another train can circle on the mainline loop without me tending to it or getting in its way. But that may cause issues if I operate with more than one person.

The analysis you provided of the trains being made and amount of cars being shuffled is fantastic. That's what I really had a hard time envisioning for myself. 

Rick -

I'm excited to try out my first operation trials like you did once I finally get all my track installed. I expected there would be a lot of bugs to work out, and this thread is proving how true that is. Hopefully I can iron some of it out before that actual trials begin.

Coal & Steel RR

Thanks for the links! I'll try to soak up the information they provide.

Track Plan

Here's the track plan diagram I promised. Hope it's a little more visible than the track schematic provided earlier.

Lower staging deck:

Main deck:

 Upper deck:

Options

That's fine.... except that in your original description you mentioned setting out in the siding (which implies the through freight is sitting on the main track).  If you yard the train in the siding to work and then set out, that means you need to have room in one of the five yard tracks to hold the set out.  So now you are building 9 blocks in 4 yard tracks. 

A way to pump more cars into the yard without adding staging tracks if you are making a set out (as opposed to terminating a train) is to have the yard engine reduce the set out from the rear while the road power makes a pick up from the head end and use the train to represent 2 different trains.

What you have (assuming I understand your plan):

No 100 a manifest freight arrives the yard, with 20 cars, sets out 10 cars, picks up 10 cars and goes to staging with 20 cars.  Holds until next session or orbits as a scenery train.

Alternative:

No 100 Engine NW 1234 a manifest freight arrives the yard, with 20 cars, Yard engine sets out rear 10 cars, road power picks up 10 cars and goes to staging with 20 cars.  The 10 cars that were on the head end are now on the rear end. 

Later in the session....

No 120 Engine NW 1234 a manifest freight arrives the yard, with 20 cars, Yard engine sets out rear 10 cars, road power picks up 10 cars and goes to staging with 20 cars.  The 10 cars that were on the head end are now on the rear end. 

What you have done is in two trains swapped the entire 20 cars  on the train, giving you more inbound cars for your industries, but you won't "repeat" cars until the next session.  If you just do all the work off the head end, the cars No 100 picked up would be set out by No 120 and you'd have the same cars back again.

Alternative alternative:

Alternate the through freight and and manifest freight.  On the first train trainset A is No 100 Eng 1234, the manifest, and sets out/picks up and trainset B is No 200 Eng 2345, the thru freight.   On the second trip during the session, trainset B is No 120 Eng 2345, the manifest and sets out and picks up, while trainset A is the thru freight No 220 Eng 1234 and does no work.  The beauty of that is if you do the head/rear thing, it will take 2 sessions to completely change all the cars in both trains, reducing the frequency that you see the same cars in the yard  You haven't increased the number of physical trains or cars on the layout or the train size, but have doubled the number of cars in the yard and decreased the repeat rate of any individual car.

@ Dave

Dave,

First of all, sorry for the confusion I caused by my initial operational description. You are absolutely correct, I misstated my intention. I should have said the inbound manifest train stops on the siding and drops cars to one of the yard tracks, not stops on the main and drops to the siding. Now that we've got that cleared up I can go on.

The alternative scenario you described is initially how I envisioned operations would work. The yard engine would pull inbound cars off the rear of the train, while the road engines would pick up cars from the yard and tack them on the head end. I got the impression though somewhere along the line, that wouldn't really be how things would be done in the real world, so I switched to the road engines doing all the work. So thanks for setting me straight on that one. It has really cleared up one of issues I was most confused about, and given me some really good scenarios with which to operate my layout.

I'm still chewing on all the other items you mentioned in the first comments you made. Once I sort through everything I may have some more questions for you.

Until then, your help and explanations have been more than invaluable! 

Thanks again!

Revisions

Thanks to the outstanding help I received from those who made comments on this thread, as well as other MRH readers who've made comments in the past, I've got a much clearer idea how operations on my layout will take place.

I'm sure there will still be bugs that need to be worked out once actual sea trials begin, but a lot of snafus have been avoided by the help I received here. So here are my operational revisions to date...

POCAHONTAS DISTRICT OPERATIONS

MAINLINE TRAINS:

• Eastbound Merchandise Freight:
  Stops on Eckman siding. Road engine picks up outbound freight heading east out of Eckman yard.   Yard engine pulls freight inbound to Eckman yard from tail end of train. Continues eastbound out of Eckman. (Williamson - Eckman - Bluefield)
  
  Alternate: May operate as eastbound through freight from Williamson to Bluefield with no stops at Eckman.

• Westbound Merchandise Freight:
  Stops on Eckman Siding. Road engine picks up outbound freight heading west out of Eckman yard. Yard engine pulls freight inbound to Eckman yard from tail end of train. Continues westbound of out Eckman. (Bluefield - Eckman - Williamson)
  
  Alternate: May operate as westbound through freight from Bluefield to Williamson with no stops at Eckman

• Williamson Coal Turn:
  Inbound to Eckman from Williamson division yard. Train stops on Eckman siding. Drops emptys at Eckman yard and picks westbound Lake coal loads. Returns westbound to Williamson division yard.
  
  Alternate: Williamson Coal Drag:
  Inbound to Eckman from Williamson division yard. Train stops on Eckman siding. Drops emptys at Eckman yard and picks up eastbound tide coal loads. Continues eastbound to Bluefield division yard.

• Bluefield Coal Turn:
  Inbound to Eckman from Bluefield division yard. Train stops on Eckman siding. Drops emptys at Eckman yard and picks eastbound Tide coal loads. Returns eastbound to Bluefield.
  
  Alternate: Bluefield Coal Drag:

Inbound to Eckman from Bluefield division yard. Train stops on Eckman siding. Drops emptys at Eckman yard and picks westbound Lake coal loads. Continues westbound to Williamson division yard. 

LOCAL TRAINS:

• Tubs Holler Shifter:
  Departs westbound from Eckman yard track #4. Switches Tubs Holler coal mine and Cumberland coal mine. Returns eastbound to Eckman yard siding/arrival track.

• Van Lear Shifter:
  Departs eastbound from Eckman yard track #5. Switches Triple J coal loader, Park Ridge coal loader, and Van Lear coal mine. Returns westbound to Eckman yard siding/arrival track.

• Liberty Local:
  Departs eastbound from Eckman yard track #3. Switches Liberty Carton, Freedman Furniture, Husmann Fuel & Oil, Team Track,  Nitrate Loader, Sutton Chemical, and Rob’s Can Co. Returns westbound to Eckman yard siding/arrival track.

• Eckman Yard Hustler:
  Departs from Eckman yard track #6. Switches Eckman yard engine service fuel/sand/stores, Eckman Scrap, Team Track, and Anchor Block Co. Returns to Eckman siding/arrival track.

STAGING YARD TRACK ASSIGNMENTS:

Track #1: Williamson Coal Turn

Track #2:Bluefield Coal Turn

Track #3:Eastbound Merchandise Freight

Track #4:Westbound Merchandise Freight

Track #5:Unassigned

Track #6:Unassigned

ECKMAN YARD TRACK ASSIGNMENTS:

Track #1: Eckman Yard Hustler

Track #2: Merchandise freight heading westbound out of Eckman to Williamson. .

Track #3: Liberty Local
                After local returns: Merchandise freight heading eastbound out of Eckman to Bluefield.

Track #4: Tubs Holler Shifter
                After shifter returns: Tide coal heading eastbound out of Eckman to Bluefield.

Track #5: Van Lear Shifter
                After shifter returns: Lake coal heading westbound out of Eckman to Williamson.

Track #6: Unassigned. May be used as Engine ready track as needed.

​SEQUENCE SCHEDULE:

• Tubs Holler Shifter
• Van Lear Shifter
• Williamson Coal Turn
• Bluefield Coal Turn
• Liberty Local
• Eckman Yard Hustler
• Eastbound Merchandise Freight
• Westbound Merchandise Freight

TRAIN OPERATING PROCEDURES:

• All trains will perform an air break check prior to departure from Eckman yard.
  (Brake check will last as long as it takes conductor to verify the order of cars in the train according to the carried waybills.)
• Loaded coal hoppers will be placed ahead of empty hoppers in train.
• All local trains will give right of way to sequence schedule mainline trains.
• Speed restrictions:
  49 mph on mainline track.
  25 mph on mainline within yard limits.
  10 mph on all tracks other than main.

YARD OPERATING PROCEDURES:

• The Eckman yard switcher will only classify cars to appropriate yard track for each  train. Station blocking for local trains will be done as needed by the road crews before departure.
• Inbound cars for Eckman yard dropped on Eckman siding must be moved ASAP to keep siding clear.
• Engines will sound bell when initiating movement on engine service,  engine ready, and caboose tracks. 

A special thanks goes out to Dave Husman and Thomas Gasior. Reading through long posts and spending time analyzing the data presented (even when that data is misleading) is not a small undertaking, but it is appreciated. To express my gratitude I now have two renamed industries on my layout! Gasior Scrap in Eckman, and Husman Fuel & Oil in Liberty! 

Blocking

Paul,

Part of your instructions say: 

• The Eckman yard switcher will only classify cars to appropriate yard track for each  train. Station blocking for local trains will be done as needed by the road crews before departure.

How exactly is this going to work?   Are the road crews going to be switching in the yard?   I would suggest they depart and sort their train at the first convenient place further down the line.   This gets them out of the way of the yard master.  Otherwise, you got two sets (or more) of folks battling to use the yard lead.

My experience on most model railroads is that the yard has a hard time keeping up with the mainline trains.  Anything you can do to make their life easier, would be beneficial to everyone.

Since I have just started operations on my own layout, I will offer you my experience

Start simple and add to it.  My vision of how things will work did not hold up once others came over to operate and did it "their" way.   There are a lot of things to balance: 1) fun, 2) how busy each crew is 3) getting the trains moved properly, 4) length of the session, etc.   I found it too difficult to try to do everything at once.  So, I drafted up a couple trains, and spent the first sea-trial trying to get them to do their work.  Then, we keep adding to that.  I wouldn't worry about speed restrictions, caboose cards, or other stuff until everything else is flowing properly.

Thanks, and consider the Caboose in the 1960's

Thank you for the kind words. I am very flattered that you named an industry after me. I will start working on a Splitrock Mining company gondola for the 1960's era right away.

I like the revisions, and I think this will flow better. The only change that I would suggest is to not have the yard switcher remove the set outs from the rear of the train.

Setting out from the rear of any train is a real pain. I know this from experience. Also you are dealing in the 1960s so you have to contend with the caboose.
Now in the 1960's, the caboose was a conductors home on wheels. They use this as their office every day and the caboose was assigned to a specific train if not a specific conductor. The last thing that the senior conductor wants is a yard job coupling onto his home, dragging it back into the yard shoving it in and cutting off the freight cars.  Then pulling it out and the backing it on to more cars and dragging that out to the mainline and tack it onto a train. That's way too much movement and jostling around for his 'house'.

All set outs and pick ups would be better served to be done by the head end of the train. The cars do not have to be blocked properly when leaving the yard on your layout. They are headed to even larger yards on either end where their main job is to sort freight cars.
When those freight trains arrive at your yard, they should just ask the yardmaster what track they want the set out on and what track is their pick up on? Plus any other jobs that they need to talk to that might be in their way?

Treat cabooses like a fine Faberge egg and switch them accordingly. It will make your operations feel like the 1960's a lot more. Remember, back then they had four if not five guys on every crew. So finding the headend brakeman to go out and throw and line switches and protect shoves and flag other trains was not a problem.

@ Greg

Greg,

Thanks for your thoughtful comments. Your advice mirrors that others have said before, and I'm growing to appreciate the wisdom of what you have to say. Start simple, build from there. I'm finding out that there are so many different variables to be considered in operations, that it's very tough to think of everything before hand.

That's not to say my efforts have been wasted though. This thread has let me think through a lot of things that I hadn't considered before, and has moved my future operational plans light years ahead of what it was before, and for that I'm glad.

As to your question regarding the yard, as you can see from the track plan my yard tracks are all double ended. I envision the main yard crew working primarily from the east end yard lead. When it comes time for a local to leave the yard the crew can block the train according to station order as needed/desired from the west end of the yard, while the main yard crew continues it's switching duties from the east end. I thought letting the local crew block its own train like this would help free up the yard crew so they can work faster, and keep the arrival track clear, which also serves as the siding at Eckman yard. 

Does that make sense, or am I all wet on this idea? 

With the length of the model

With the length of the model trains involved how much blocking is needed? Your looking at around twenty cars in the typical train for model railroads many times less. The easiest way to eliminate yard congestion is to can the fast clocks and the 100 mile mainlines compressed by a ratio of 40 to 1 or more.

Jim Six had a great point regarding his one town railroad. Doing things in real time means having the time to do it right. If for example your railroad has one mile of scale mainline maybe pick a smaller section of the line to model instead of the whole division. That to me is the biggest thing wrong with operations as they are often portrayed today. Folks try and cram too much in the way of time and space into the model railroad.

If the average railroad tried to model less than 10 miles instead of 100 in the same space they would not have to try and figure out how to get so many trains past each other, and the yard could classify the cars.

Blocking

Rob,

You are right. Blocking may not be needed at all with the local trains I have planned. Only time will tell. However, in the eventuality that it is needed, I wanted to have put at least just a little forethought into how it might take place. I figured it was easier to plan ahead, rather then try to revise later on.

I think you are right about trying to cram too much in on our layouts. In fact as I continue to run virtual trains on my track plan testing out my revised operational procedures, I have found myself thinking about trimming some things down rather than trying to add more, proving your point.

Great Plan

Paul,

I had to skip over the other posts to check out your track plan.  Like you pointed out, we both have an interest in the planning aspects.  I really like your plan.  Just looking at the track arrangement I get the feeling of Appalacian coal hauling.  The focus is definitely there, and it looks like great fun to operate.  

Your operations descriptions intrigue me too.  I have similar write ups, and even notes on my iPhone that I make when I'm walking.  I've never posted any of them, and they are constantly changing.  One of my ideas is to have an assignment board with the trains listed, like your list.  I'd have magnets, or just write names, next to each assignment to start.  As an operator completes his assignment, he'd move his name to the next train on the list, and leave with that train as the clock permits.  Not exactly Dispatched, but kind of a hybrid.  It would also allow me to run trains in between sessions but maintain the schedule, and we could stop/start a session at any time.

Perhaps when we both get operating, we can visit each other's layouts.  I'm about 4 hours from you, if you are in Indiana.  I used to travel to Valparaiso once a month working on my Black Belt.  The good old days.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

@ Michael

Glad you like the track plan. I'm not sure if what you looked at is the latest version, but even if it's not it will give you a general idea how things are arranged. I spent a lot of time with the track plan trying to get things just right. The help many gave me here at MRH was invaluable! 

I really like your idea of a magnetic assignment board. I was thinking I might put my sequence schedule on something like that, then each time I run the layout by myself, I can just advance the indicator down the list as needed. When friends come over for an operating session, I would just have them pick up where I left off, without having to do much of anything for pre-op set up. 

I don't know if you've started operations on your layout yet, but I have even though I'm still in the midst of constructing scenery. In fact I had my first operation session with a friend who has shown some interest in the layout just a few weeks ago, and it was a blast! The track plan is proving out to be exactly what I hoped it would be. 

The one problem I have found when you can run trains though is continuing to push ahead on further construction. I'm not quite sure how others balance that, but here's what I do. I usually work on construction for a couple of weeks, which right now is mainly scenery, then I clean everything up and run trains for about a week. That gives me a construction break, and helps fuel my eagerness to continue to push forward. That's important, because as we all know, Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither is a layout! 

As for a mutual operating session, I hate to break it to you, but I think you are a lot farther than 4 hours away. I live just west of Minneapolis, MN. If you ever happen to be in the Minneapolis area though, please look me up. I'd really enjoy having you over!

Feedback

Eckman siding sounds like a busy place.  Why does everything have to take the siding?  If you are making a set out, you could also work off the main.  While I understand the desire for planning, don't overlook the need for flexibility to fit the tactical situation.

What do you do when you have both EWD tide coal and Liberty cars in the yard?  Is there no Merchandise westward?  If your local grocery store gets a carload of oranges from California, where does the empty reefer go, east or west?  Right now everything goes east. 

Given the track assignments, connections above and the sequence above I have some questions.  Does every train complete its run before the next job runs or do the through freights (merchandise and turn trains)  run while the shifters are out doing their work?

Since shifters have to give way to through freights that implies that you will have through freights running while the switchers are doing their thing.  That being the case, I have some questions.

At the start of the session, track 4 is the Tubs Holler shifter and track 5 is the Van Lear shifter, presumably both  tracks of empty hoppers. At sequence 1 the Tubs Shifter departs and at sequence 2, the Van Lear Shifter departs Eckman.  At sequence 3 the Williamson Turn arrives, presumably with more empties and at Sequence 4 the Bluefield turn arrives, also with more empties. Since both are supposed to go to the siding, that tells me that you had to put the Williamson Turn cars someplace in order to clear the siding.  So where are the shifters? If the shifters are back, then the yard tracks are filled with loads and there isn't a place for the empties off the turns.  The turns are still out, then when they get back the yard will be filled with empties and there won't be tracks for the loads.

Option if you want to have fixed classification, combine the Liberty and yard hustler tracks and give yourself a "swing" or "sluff" track to put something until you get the regular track open. 

Alternate option is to describe what "blocks" the yard builds, but allow the yardmaster to do the track assignment as he or she sees fit.

To help your sequence give you a better understanding of how the yard works, any time a train originates or terminates, make it a separate sequence event.  Tubs Holler Shifter departs and Tubs Holler Shifter arrives are two separate events.  Bluefield turn arrives and Bluefield turn departs are two separate events.  On the other hand since the Merchandise trains are just a pick up and a set out (no origination or termination) they are one event in the sequence.

I know, picky, picky, picky, picky.

I am sure I could make your yard work, I just wouldn't stick with your class track assignments.  I applaud your attention to thinking about the operation early in the process.

@ Dave

Dave,

You have certainly given me a lot to think about (again!) with your post. I'm not complaining though. I LOVE IT! As I've mentioned before, the fact that you not only read my post, but give thought and attention to all the details never ceases to amaze me! A simple "thanks" can't even begin to express my gratitude. 

Now, to try and answer your questions as best I can. Since making this post a while ago I tried out my operational ideas just to see how they would go. As expected there were some glitches which necessitated revisions, but I didn't take the time to post those revisions. Also, because I've been busy lately with getting some scenery construction done, it's been a while since I've thought about operations, but here we go.

One thing to remember is at this point most of my operating is done solo, or at best with only one other operator, who is still very inexperienced. When he comes over I usually let him be the engineer and I'm the conductor. So in the end it still ends up being more of a solo act. That means some of the issues you raise aren't really issues on the layout in real life.

That being said I am trying to think ahead to the time when maybe there will be more than just one person running the layout at the same time. I envision a yard operator and probably two others running trains according to the latest revision of the sequence schedule.

Assuming that scenario the Tubs Holler and Van Lear shifters would leave Eckman yard. They would probably be out at the same time if I have enough operators with no other trains on the main, unless I have another train just circling the mainline loop to provide traffic. Once the shifters return to the yard they place their loads on the tracks they left empty when they departed. The yard crew sorts them on the same tracks blocking them for east or west bound departure. Then the Williamson and Bluefield coal turns arrive (not at the same time, but in sequence) to pick up the loads, drop off empties on those same two tracks, and then depart down the main.

One thing I decided to modify was the coal turns. Instead of making them turn at the yard, I decided to have them travel between Williamson and Bluefield with only a stop at the Eckman assembly yard. That way they get to traverse the whole mainline of the layout, which I like.

As you mentioned, Eckman siding does seem to be busy, but since only one train is around at a time and the next train in the sequence schedule won't run until the current train has finished it's run and parked back in the staging, the siding shouldn't get overloaded.

The two reasons I like to use the siding instead of the main are: 1) As you mentioned previously, there is limited access to the main. 2) When I put a train circling on the main and just let it run, using the siding let's that train pass without me having to pay much attention to it.

The process I just described for the coal trains is similarly repeated for the Liberty Local and Yard Hustler. They depart from their respective tracks, make their runs, return to the tracks they departed from. The yard crew blocks the cars on those two tracks for departure east or west. Then the merchandise freights (run in sequence) pick up the loads/empties and set out other load/empties as needed.

I do have merchandise that travels both east and westbound. Empty cars route east or west according to instructions on the car pocket. Loads route east or west according to the info on the shipping waybill.  

You mentioned flexibility in the yard track assignments. That too got modified with further trials.

YT1 = Empties

YT2 = Eckman Yard Hustler - Eastbound Merchandise

YT3 = Liberty Local - Westbound Merchandise

YT4 = Van Lear Shifter - Eastbound Tide Coal

YT5 = Tubs Holler Shifter - Westbound Lake Coal

YT6 = Engine ready and/or empties.

I agree with you that there has to be some flexibility when it comes to using the yard. But I like to have some general overall idea of what each track is for, if for no other reason than to keep things straight in my head. 

As you can see, there are probably a lot more details about operations that I still need to work out. But with my recent modifications, for now things seem to be working fairly well. That may change later, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. 

That tip you gave about train arrivals and departures being thought of as separate events is really helpful. Up to this point I just thought of a train going out and coming back as a unit, because when you are running solo that's pretty much all you can do. When more operators come on board though, I can see how your suggestion would prove extremely helpful, and even necessary to keep everything organized so yard tracks, sidings, or even the mainline aren't double booked with two trains being on the same track at the same time.

Hope I covered all your questions!

@ Thomas - A Late Apology!

Thomas,

As I was answering some of the latest comments to this thread I noticed a comment you had made that I didn't see, and thus didn't respond to. So sorry about that! I don't know how I missed it.

That whole issue about the caboose being switched around is something I have always wondered about. In fact it was one of the things I wanted to pick your brain about someday when you come over for a visit. I can understand why the conductor wouldn't like to be jostled around as you say. But I'm not quite sure how to handle the trains that make drops and pick ups at my assembly yard if I don't switch the caboose.

I was thinking a coal/merchandise train would pull into the yard siding. The road engines would cut off from the head end and pick up maybe a half a dozen cars departing the yard, while the yard crew would pull about the same number of cars from the tail end of the train that are coming into the yard.

With that scene the cars keep circulating from the head end of the train to tail end. Since my staging yard holds trains of about 30 cars. Each train would "cycle" through it's cars every two or three times it appears on the sequence schedule. I don't know if what I just described makes sense. But it explains why I was switching the caboose.

Again, sorry for the late reply! Hope we'll be able to connect real soon!