Basic beginner ops

Steve, what you are describing is essentially switch list operation, and it works well under your type of conditions.  I've done both car car and waybill and switchlist, and I prefer the latter because it's easier to block in the yard, easier to switch  en route, and keeps the paperwork down to a minimum.  ONce you and your mates get good at it, you can add waybills/carcards, and even make a smooth transition to train order and timetable railroading.

  Again heard/ read of it but no practical experience and for the reasons you have stated I feel is the right way to get our feet wet. We figured that one card with the trains instructions on it would be a  lot less daunting than giving a member a dozen or so car cards and trying to explain where each wagon should go. Initially we plan to run unit trains but I don't think it will be long before the fellas are asking for mixed goods etc  and the resulting blocking required should add a bit more interest when it comes to making up trains.

Cheers Steve

As soon as you give your train a purpose you are operating. Sounds like you are starting the right way and you will defintley build from there, I promise you. A great book for future reference would be Tony Koesters Reaistic Model Railroad Operation  and How to Operate Your Model Railroad by Bruce Chubb, 1979 and out of print. It may be a bit dated but has a wealth of info!   Have fun.

Steve

Follow the link to a simple introduction to model railroad operations. This may give an idea how a sequence timetable may be used to get started.

See also the information at the Operations SIG and Gateway NMRA pages.

Steve - Where are you located?  There may be one of us close to you that can help you guys out.  Also, Charlie has some great info on his website  http://s145079212.onlinehome.us/rr/operations/index.shtml that may help

Steve

Thanks all for the suggestions.

Byron: you've got some interesting stuff on your site and your intro to model ops is just the kind of the thing we had in mind. I used  "schedule"  to name our train list but the term "sequence timetable " describes it better so I'll be using that term in future.

Steve: Not sure if any of you guys are close, I'm in Australia!

Cheers Steve

We used the car card system, and of course since each set up is different, the operations change according to what modules are included in the set up.  All of the industries are named and written out on a piece of paper that is taped to the back side of the back drop, so the operators can figure out where each industry is. 

The first time we operated, there were a lot of problems, but we debrief via emails and at the next monthly business meeting of the club.  As a result each operating session gets better than the last one.  I think the debriefing session is one of the most important things you can do.  It gives everyone who participated in the op session a chance to discuss what worked and what didn't, as well as what could be done to improve the operation.  Between operating sessions, I would suggest that you schedule a meeting to debrief where you can take as much as an hour or two to discuss the previous session.  If you want to do an operating session after the debriefing meeting, fine, or you could schedule another operating session for a week or two later.

For one man operation, sequential operation is what I'll be doing once everything is more or less in place. Thanks for the links, Byron.

Roy

sounds good i'd like to be in a ops myself  and i dont know anyone were i live that dos ops

i am thinking of the train card idea for me for my layout's