Roles

During each class meeting last week I picked a student to be the Conductor, then I let the Conductor pick and Engineer, Fireperson and Brakeperson. Four person crews on a model railroad verges on the impractical, I know, but I want the students to start thinking about prototype operational practices.

I posted job descriptions for each role and had the crew read them while I got the rest of the class started on a math assignment. Then I came back and briefed each crew member on their specific responsibilities, showed the Brakeperson and Fireperson how to line the switches and use a skewer to uncouple cars, and oriented the Engineer to the controls on the Zephyr. Some of the students had enough experience on the Inglenook to be helpful in mentoring others.

I explained that the Engineer and Fireperson were sitting in the cab of the locomotive at the head of the train, and the Conductor and Brakeperson were in the caboose at the rear. That would affect who efficiently gets off the train to throw switches and handle coupling/uncoupling as they go about their work.

The train was too long and technology of the steam era too young for direct voice communication between the head end and the caboose, so they needed to use hand signals. I thought about introducing them to standard model railroad hand signals, but thought it would be fun for them to develop their own.

I was correct.

the task

Although one of the main themes of the exercise was problem solving, I knew there was some risk of equipment damage if the students had completely free rein. So we established the principle that the only “hand of God” actions permissible under any circumstances were for flicking switchpoints and inserting uncoupling picks. For any derailments, shorts, or other catastrophes the Engineer was to cut the power while the crew turned to me (I’d be teaching the rest of the class) with hands together and heads bowed praying for intervention. This system worked well and at first, frequently.

Now that we’d established roles, rules, and communication protocols it was time to give the crew their assignment. Their train was entering town southbound on the main. There were three boxcars spotted on a trailing point spur off the main in town, two brown ones in front and a red one at the end of the spur. They had a green boxcar in their consist. They had to swap the green boxcar with the red one, and replace the two brown ones where they stood.

Integrating all of the new vocabulary, role responsibilities, model behaviors, uncoupling techniques, car identification, and team coordination was overwhelming. But I think each team had fun and came away with an appreciation for how much is happening in even a simple scenario. For some of the teams I simplified the scenario to be the pick up only. That was plenty.

This 2 minute video is utterly uneventful, but captures the flavor one of the crews “at work.” I think it shows that the kids have an appetite for operations, and I’m hopeful that the feeling of undisciplined chaos is something they’ll appreciate learning to overcome.

Jeff Allen 

at work

I've been following your blog for a while. The students are working hard and seem to enjoy themselves. Congratulations on the first set of operations.

Bernhard

That is really cool my school

That is really cool my school is starting one of these next year (all thanks to me) will start posting on it next year.

Congrats trainmaster!

i wish I could start one too, but a) no one would support it,b) no one but me, and my best friend would be in it, c) the high school I am going to next year has a certain amount of clubs, and doesn't allow any more. Only if one drops out will another take its place, and it just wouldn't have enough support! Maybe I can try anyway, but I doubt it would work. Still, I love what you are doing! Just out of curiosity, what are the eras and railroads of your model railroads going to be? (Both sunacres and trainmaster247)

We are simply doing a random

We are simply doing a random small switching layout (check my past posts for the trackplan)

Era and prototype road

You very alertly asked what they are "going to be" since I don't quite know yet!  I started out with the idea of modeling the Sacramento Northern during the '30s and '40s because it ran right through the neighborhood of our school (some of the scars still remain in buildings, street alignments, and old roadbed). But in order to maximize the operational activity and make better use of more readily available, less expensive equipment, I decided to render a more generic freelance bridge line through hills which can take on a variety of identities and eras.

At present, very few of my students can tell the difference between a 40' wood-sheathed reefer and a more modern steel boxcar. But they will learn, and as they do we may uncover preferences among them for era. I'm starting with an assumption of a somewhat rustic steam setting with emphasis on manually operated turnouts and hand signals rather than radio among train crews.

I enjoy the dynamics of running a steam engine on a simulator and am hopeful that I can introduce some of that fun to this layout via JMRI and my Raildriver hardware (though there still seem to be some gaps in the software needed to do that). 

I'm also looking to maximize the focus on how the data behind operations is handled in the pre-computer age. The paperwork was charming in a way, and using it provides some insight into how the data in modern systems is structured. 

Keep up the good work!

Jeff Allen

Thanks!

Maybe if you want to better follow a specific railway, just get some students who are more artisticly inclined working on repainting/re lettering locos and rolling stock. If you are able to invest in decals, I'm sure a couple people might find some interest in making the locos belong to a particular road, and perhaps even weathering at a later point (I know it can and will get messy!). Very neat! Keep having fun!

Good Progress

Jeff,

It is good to see you guys have trains running. What will happen when summer is here, and then the next school year?

Regards, John

Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile. <> Albert Einstein

future plans

Good questions John! This layout has some of the features of a freemo in that it is designed to be dismantled and re-installed regularly since my classroom gets used by a different organization during the summers. 

Another distinguishing feature is that the builders/operators are only involved for two years each! The students who started building the benchwork last year will be off to high school next year - I'm very pleased that we got as far as running trains in time for them to have some fun with that. 

We only have about five or six weeks left this year, but I'm hoping to install some structure mockups to represent key industries (excellent exercises in scale paper layout and folding, what are called "nets" in math). There is one location where I'm planning a hill which will act as a critical scene divider and I'd like this years' student to get a taste of landscape construction on it. We'll see.

Another chunk of work which may fit into this year is a portable staging yard for the north end of the layout. Next year I intend to extend the layout to the next "town," along the north wall of the room, so another group of kids gets to do some more benchwork. Hopefully the portable staging can be relocated to keep operations flowing. 

But most of our effort for the rest of this year will go towards introducing the students to the basics of operations. This week I've been familiarizing them with terms like "facing point vs. trailing point spur," "spur vs. siding," "meet vs. pass," etc. 

One observation that has been striking for me is the success of four-person train crews. The kids really get engaged with the idea that the conductor is actually sitting in the caboose along with the rear brakeperson, and they argue about whether it makes more sense for the fireperson to come down out of the cab to line a switch in a particular situation or if the train would pull forward for the brakeperson. They can quickly immerse themselves in the scene. 

Another major project that I haven't initiated yet is a rolling stock "shop." Setting up a car card system, performing routine inspection and maintenance, bad orders, etc. will require some organizational groundwork so I'm trying to identify some students who will be returning next year to lead that effort. 

It'll be fun!

Jeff Allen

Future Plans

Sorry about the delay in answer but I picked a small layout on purpose for us to hopefully finish within the school year. The track plan is here below so should be a quick build. For storage we have permission to keep it in the library but may try to make it modular (so I can keep it at home if the club doesn't continue after I am gone) to take to a local show (if we can get a table) 

good choice

That plan looks like a very smart choice. All level, so you can build it on sheet material (no risers). Urban, so you can omit ballast shoulders and just lay track directly on your sheet material. Structures are industrial flats, plenty of options there. Three turnouts, maybe someone would be interested in hand-laying them. 

The plan is really a sort of super-Inglenook, which I can attest provides plenty of operational interest! 

Your thought to make it modular (sectional, really) is also spot on. This is a go-anywhere design and unless you're in control of your space for the next decade or so, it should be built to do so. 

Also, remember the formula for how long it takes to get things done: if n = your estimate of how long something will take, the actual value will be> 2n times the number of people involved!

Have fun!

Jeff Allen

Not bad!

Having an abandoned spur is kinda fun too. Maybe put an old heavily weathered boxcar on it? If you need more industries to switch, do you think the school will let you build an additional modual?

taking it up a notch

I suppose I can’t say operations have truly begun until I publish a timetable, or at least declare a set of rules, but I think my students would claim that they have already learned an entirely new way to think about how a railroad does its business.

With but a single town consisting of a siding and a handful of industries represented by index cards on a few spurs, it has come as a surprise to them that there is so much to do. And there is something very intriguing about learning how to do it - the experience of discovery is infectious.

With the flurry of activity associated with the approaching end of school term I am not able to devote a huge amount of time to either building the layout or developing a comprehensive operational framework. But I’ll describe what I am able to do. I’m quite satisfied with how much everyone is enjoying the experience!

Switch List

Each morning I spend about ten minutes “setting” the layout. Usually that just means noting which cars are at which spots, and perhaps moving one or two to more logical locations.

 I also usually have to back a train or two from where they ended the previous session (as I sometimes also do between classes to “reset” for another crew). I’ve been keeping three short trains staged in order to avoid having to do that mid-day, but crews often run out of time and have to abandon a run in order to get to their next class.

At first I was giving train crews their orders verbally, using the most distinctively colored cars to help them remember: “pick up the red car from the furniture factory and drop the green car at the cannery.” I recently started handing train crews their instructions in writing - not because they needed more detail, but because they’re needing less. Enough experience is beginning to accumulate in the group that someone on any given crew will generally be able to acquaint others with the basics, like how to throw a switch, use an uncoupling pick, or keep an eye out for unfavorably lined switches.

train orders

The first assignments were too tricky though. I quickly realized that there were only a few conductors who could handle more than one or two car movements and still get their train back together within a single class period.

So I began to break them down even further - the process of developing enough experience for crews to figure out tricky maneuvers like handling facing point spurs efficiently was going to take a lot of very careful step-by-step, incremental skill building.

But the students have been so game! They beg for time on the layout, and crews are beginning to complete their “work” faster and faster. Enough so that today I introduced the possibility of two trains on the layout at the same time - a meet!

This event also included the first time a train serviced the “mine” spur, where uncovered hoppers allowed me to put some visible loads in the outbound cars (just some scraps of red foam). I explained to them that they’d have to pull the entire string of six cars, three loaded and three empty, from the spur in order to drop the fresh empties and preserve the FIFO order.

These crude beginnings have been sufficient for me to see how profitable (in terms of student interest, enthusiasm and educational value) it will be to develop a robust operational plan. I've started to adapt the spreadsheets posted by Bill Brillinger for creating a car register and printing car cards. I'm not sure if we'll get that launched this year or not, but I am confident that when we do the students will be ready to jump in with both feet.

Jeff Allen

private fun

As an antidote to the high energy of running the railroad, I've been dabbling with a small structure project when I get home in the evenings. I intend to have the students construct simple cardboard mockups for the key structures before they attempt kits, photo-print paper models, kit bashes, or scratchbuilding. But I was itching to do a bit of modeling. 

This is an outbuilding from a Railway Design Associates kit, I'm sure many of you are familiar with it. The styrene castings are really quite nice. I want the kids to understand the difference between a mockup and a fully rendered scene so before I show this to them I'll put together a simplified cardstock version. 

I've been appreciating pqe's thread on the station model, especially the discussion of fascia and gutters. I bought cast gutters and downspouts from several different vendors but ultimately rolled my own from paper and formed solid wire.  

Jeff Allen