the MRH Forum

IAIS's West End - "Live" rolling stock patching Journals/Blogs
Reply
Super User 3,775 posts Joe Atkinson IAISfan Super User 3,775 posts
Joe Atkinson IAISfan
Wow!  I knew I'd been away a while, but just realized that it's been over 8 months since I started a new blog post here.  Time to correct that!
 
Kind of in the same vein as live interchange, where we're recreating behind-the-scenes interaction between two railroads, I recently decided to apply that concept to a RIP track function from my prototype as well.  I became aware of the need to represent a fairly common prototype activity on my layout - the patching of reporting marks - "in action", and thought I'd share a bit about my plans to support it.
 
Details provided in the first reply.

Joe Atkinson
Modeling Iowa Interstate's 4th Sub, May 2005
https://m.facebook.com/groups/iowainterstate4thsub

https://www.iaisrailfans.org/gallery/4thSub

My MRH blog index

https://instagram.com/iaisfan
Reply 0
Joe Atkinson IAISfan Super User 3,775 posts
Joe Atkinson IAISfan

"Live" rolling stock patching

In 2002, the Iowa Interstate took control of 200 57' 3-pack spine cars with Tomahawk Railway (TR) reporting marks.  That arrangement lasted until 2004, when 100 of those cars were remarked for FEC, but retaining their original numbers, and left the property.  In 2005, the remaining 100 cars followed suit.  That work was beginning to wind down by my May 2005 era, but a single TR 3-pack arrived from the BNSF interchange at Council Bluffs on May 17, 2005 routed to the IAIS RIP track (since IAIS was the car's "home road" on paper) for patching to FEC.  Once that work was one, the car was routed back to the BNSF interchange so it could rejoin the nationwide intermodal pool, but now under FEC control.

Since discovering this move during some recent research, I've decided to take a couple steps to represent not only the physical car movement, but the patching process itself:
  • Acquired an Athearn 57' FEC 3-pack spine set.  Upon arrival, this set will be "un-patched" on one side only, returning it to TR marks, while FEC marks will remain on the other side.  Once in operation, it'll arrive from the BNSF with TR marks facing the aisle and will be spotted to the IAIS RIP.  Between operating sessions, I'll then flip the three platforms so the FEC marks are now facing out, giving the appearance that the patching was completed.
  • Updated my RailQuik car forwarding application to support cars changing reporting marks midway through a movement.  Here's the output of various RailQuik reports that my crews use in op sessions showing the car's progression through this move:

Inbound as shown in the Interchange Report for BNSF deliveries:

Quote:
img.png 
Spotted to the RIP track, as shown in the Yard Report:
Quote:
img.png 
Released from the RIP after patching for FEC, routed back to the BNSF interchange, also from the Yard Report:
Quote:
img.png 
Once the car completes its routing cycle, it'll again become a TR car in the database, and the car itself will be flipped so the TR side faces operators.
 
The changes to RailQuik to support this type of move only took about 30 minutes, and I'd expect that the paint and decal work on the spine cars themselves will be equally fast once they arrive.  While it's a subtle detail, I think it'll add some interest and realism to my operations.

Joe Atkinson
Modeling Iowa Interstate's 4th Sub, May 2005
https://m.facebook.com/groups/iowainterstate4thsub

https://www.iaisrailfans.org/gallery/4thSub

My MRH blog index

https://instagram.com/iaisfan
Reply 0
Allen H. Regular poster 363 posts
Allen H.

Rip track operation

Hey Joe,

This sounds like a nice simple little op that could be added to anyone's layout easily?

Looking forward to see and hear how it works out for you. 
Reply 0
Joe Atkinson IAISfan Super User 3,775 posts
Joe Atkinson IAISfan

Rip track operation

You're right Allen, that's a good point.  I think this would be easy to replicate with car cards, but I'm not as sure about other computer-based solutions such as JMRI, RailOp, etc.  If they use the reporting marks as a direct key when accessing car records, then changing the reporting marks midway through a car cycle could be problematic.

I've been testing this today with RailQuik, and everything's working fine.  Spine car is due sometime this week, so I'll be all set very soon.

Joe Atkinson
Modeling Iowa Interstate's 4th Sub, May 2005
https://m.facebook.com/groups/iowainterstate4thsub

https://www.iaisrailfans.org/gallery/4thSub

My MRH blog index

https://instagram.com/iaisfan
Reply 0
TimGarland MRH Author 1,099 posts
TimGarland

Any photos?

Hi Joe,

Do you have any photos that show the car being spotted on your RIP track as a TR car then pulled later as an FEC car?

Sounds like you have an interesting idea. Thanks for sharing.

Tim G
Reply 0
Joe Atkinson IAISfan Super User 3,775 posts
Joe Atkinson IAISfan

Photos

Hi Tim - The FEC car in question Is actually still on its way here. That’s what I meant by the “upon arrival” statement above.  I’m hoping to knock out the patch decals and put it in service during some time off Christmas week.  Happy to take photos then though!

Joe Atkinson
Modeling Iowa Interstate's 4th Sub, May 2005
https://m.facebook.com/groups/iowainterstate4thsub

https://www.iaisrailfans.org/gallery/4thSub

My MRH blog index

https://instagram.com/iaisfan
Reply 0
Allen H. Regular poster 363 posts
Allen H.

Combined Reporting Marks

Joe could you  file the reporting marks as one, something like this?

TR/FEC

TR_FEC

TR-FEC

Doing it this way, TR lets you know its the comes in as TR, then FEC as it leaves?

It would be one of those things that you'd have to know if you work the RIP track or it could be under the "Special Instructions"

 

If nothing else it could be a stand-in until something is figured out.
Reply 0
Joe Atkinson IAISfan Super User 3,775 posts
Joe Atkinson IAISfan

Allen

That could definitely be a solution Allen, for those using programs that don't support reporting marks changing mid-stream.  Is that what you were suggesting?  Just to be clear, the reports I showed in my first reply on this thread were output from my RailQuik program, so for me, the problem is already solved.

Joe Atkinson
Modeling Iowa Interstate's 4th Sub, May 2005
https://m.facebook.com/groups/iowainterstate4thsub

https://www.iaisrailfans.org/gallery/4thSub

My MRH blog index

https://instagram.com/iaisfan
Reply 0
Allen H. Regular poster 363 posts
Allen H.

Yes

I was just brainstorming trying to see if it might be a solution or quick fix.

 
Reply 0
Joe Atkinson IAISfan Super User 3,775 posts
Joe Atkinson IAISfan

Photos - live patching in action

Quote:

Do you have any photos that show the car being spotted on your RIP track as a TR car then pulled later as an FEC car?

Sounds like you have an interesting idea. Thanks for sharing.

I finally got my FEC 3-pack spine weathered and "un-patched" one side for TR, so I thought I'd shoot a few pics of this operation, along with images of the corresponding paperwork:

TR 300542 inbound as shown in the Interchange Report for BNSF deliveries:

Quote:
img.png 
On the BNSF interchange track:
img.png 
On the IAIS RIP:
img.png 

Freshly patched at the RIP:

Quote:
28%20(3).JPG 

Interchanged back to the BNSF:

Quote:
28%20(4).JPG 

Joe Atkinson
Modeling Iowa Interstate's 4th Sub, May 2005
https://m.facebook.com/groups/iowainterstate4thsub

https://www.iaisrailfans.org/gallery/4thSub

My MRH blog index

https://instagram.com/iaisfan
Reply 0
Reply