Center Sidings

Era is important.  If you are modeling pre-1990's then the operation will be rule 251 current of traffic, then center sidings would be used to allow slower trains to get out of the way to let higher speed trains pass.  They were generally not used as crossovers.   If you are modeling current of traffic then you will have waaaaay less running wrong main.

If you are modeling post-1990's then the operation will be CTC and the opportunity to run wrong main will be higher.

It was a really big deal to operate against the current of traffic on the UP.  If a train broke down on one main, they just didn't put trains over on the other main to run around them, they stacked up until the train could get to a center siding.  Most crossovers were 10 mph trailing point crossovers.  

After CTC the center sidings were retired and replaced with higher speed crossovers.

Satellite Imagery of Echo Canyon

Thanks Dave for the info.  As far as I can see, the center crossovers are still in place and I did not see any high speed crossovers in the echo canyon area.  I may have just missed them. Do you know a source of up to date Evanston Sub track arrangement?  Everything I have seen shows the center sidings.  I really would like to do high speed crossovers with #10 turnouts rather than center sidings.

Thanks again. 

Daryl Kruse

CTC

They started installing CTC on the east end of the railroad and worked west.  CTC was installed from Green River to Granger and as of the last timetable I had, Granger to Strawberry was still double track (current of traffic) with a 12 mile CTC island around Altamont.  Looking at Google Satellite view, it appears its still double track/current of traffic around Evanston, based on the positions of signals. 

Unless they installed more CTC, the center sidings would still be there.  The speed through the hand operated center siding switches in 2008 was 15 mph.

If the portion you are modeling is between Granger and Strawberry, it looks like they still have double track (which is not the same as two main tracks) and center sidings.  They don't really cross trains over in the 251 territory (I think that's 9.14 territory now).  If a train is running with the current of traffic (right hand running east of Wasatch, left hand running west of there, more or less) it is in ABS 70 mph territory (79 psgr).  If you crossover to the "wrong" main, you are in dark territory, no signals, and are restricted to 49 mph (59 psgr).

Running multiple trains against the flow in the double track territory was a huge chore on the UP before track warrants and didn't get much easier after.  The problem with running a train against the current of traffic was that the dispatcher couldn't "see" the trains and didn't know when they got on the wrong main and didn't know when they got off the wrong main.   It took about 3-4 hours to set up a single track, against the current of traffic operation for multiple trains.  They would have to call conductor pilots, send them out to the crossovers/sidings, establish block stations and then the conductor pilots would OS the trains and line switches for the dispatcher.

I started on the MP, where the multiple track is "two main tracks" instead of "double track" and CTC.  I worked for a while on the E-W main track in Op-Con and there was a train with a knuckle between Fremont and Gibbon.  The old heads on the northern region told me I had to call the CNW ASAP and shut off trains at Fremont.  Being an MP guy I didn't understand, we would just line the crossovers and start single tracking around the stopped train.  Not so on the UP with the double track.  Sure enough, within an hour or so we had over a dozen trains stopped in the double track and two or three more backed up on the CNW.

Basically if you have a double track territory, you run one direction on one main, the other direction on the other main and nobody crosses over and runs "wrong".  Slow trains clear in the center sidings and let the faster trains by them.

HO?

Did I read that right, Daryl?

Scott Chatfield

Rule 1

If you want to have high speed crossovers and CTC, just replace the locations with center sidings with crossovers and pretend the UP continued the signal changes.  Don't pay attention the real signal and track arrangements or operating pattern.

You aren't going to need to crossover that much, there isn't very much industry, the majority of trains just blow and go.

High Speed Crossovers

Dave, 

Yes, I believe I will be changing over the center sidings to high speed crossovers.  It just works better and will take up a lot less space.  Also, there will also be more stalled trains, track maintenance and industry stops on my layout compared to the prototype in order to increase interest.  I've been thinking about ways to randomly select trains to breakdown during an ops session and then have the dispatcher figure out how to move trains around the stalled train and also dispatch locos to the train to get it moving again.  Although, I have to admit that it has been my experience that most operators, especially new ones, just prefer run trains across the mainline without any stops.

Thanks again Dave.

Daryl

Yep

Yes you did.  You probably knew about our move back to Illinois.  Well, in taking apart the Geneva Sub, I realized I did not prepare the wiring for a move as well as I did for the first move.  There was going to be a lot of rewiring. I also realized that the layout was now 50% bigger that the first move.  So, moving the layout and reassembling was going to be a much bigger proposition than I had originally thought.   But, even bigger still was the thought that this was probably going to be my last layout.  I've done N scale layouts for over 50 years.  Being 64 and moving into our last house, this was my last chance to do HO.  So, I decided to go for it.  Should be fun.

Daryl

Fun

Leave me out.  Did that for a living on other territories and having watched/measured/problem solved on that territory,  multiple trains breaking down and stopping in a single shift would hose up the railroad where it would take a couple days to recover.

Running engines out to the train generally would take waaaaaaay too long.  A set of power would have to come out of Oregon, N Platte or California, since they shut down the diesel shop at Salt Lake (unless they just happened to have a spare set of power at Salt lake or Green River).  If it was an EWD train, you would whack and engine from a WWD train and backfill someplace else.

Whacking an engine takes 4-8 hours, getting a new set of power generally takes 8-12 hours.

With a maintenance curfew they will shut down traffic on one or both main tracks for a period each day (4-6 hours).  If they shut down one main track, the trains have to get permission to pass the work area, usually at a reduced speed (a "Form B").  Plus they have to single track around the work area.  That means they space calls into the area and run the trains in small "fleets".  They will run 2 west, then 2 east , then 2 west, then 2 east.  There are enough trains that they will stack up trains at either end and always have a supply of trains to fleet.  When a train is passing the gang, in most cases the gang has to stop work so they will hold trains in order to get production.  That territory ran 40-60 trains a day at least (less now)

Just one stalled train per session

Or it might be a track maintenance issue... In any case, I would not want it to completely dominate the session, just add some variety. Couple of term clarifications needed.  What is WWD and EWD?  Also, what is wacking an engine?

Daryl

Abbreviations

Real railroads never run trains eastbound or westbound, they run them eastward (EWD) and westward (WWD).

Whacking and engine is just my term for cutting an engine.  You have a passing or opposing train set out and engine for another train.  The train has an engine failure, they notify the dispatcher, who notifies the corridor manager (Asst Chief Dispatcher) and locomotive manager.  The locomotive help desk is notified ("Mr. Goodwrench").  They radio the engine and determine if the engine can be fixed/patched by the crew.  If not (which is usually) they notify the locomotive manager who then figures out where to get an engine.  If there is a train with an extra engine (not as common as you might think) nearby (within a couple hundred miles) they schedule the engine to set out and notify the corridor manager to set the engine out.  Then they have to wait for the engine to get there.  The engine has to be disconnected from the train its on, set out, moved to the train in trouble, connected to the train in trouble, the engine brakes checked, then the train is good to go.

Another quicker option is to have another train stop, cut off its power and put it on the disabled train, moving the disabled train and move the disabled train into the clear or have it continue on its way.  Then come back out with new power for the train that was stopped.  

A third option is to stop a following train, cut off its power and shove the disabled train in the clear or over the hill then come back for their train.

Almost all of these options will cause one or more crews to "hog law", run out of hours of service and a new crew (a "recrew" will have to be ordered) along with a "limo" (a crew van).

Grades on both sides o the Wahsatch summit

What kind of percent grades are there on the Evanston Sub both sides of Wahsatch?  What % grades would be appropriate for an class 1 mainline HO scale layout?

Daryl