Having an op session is a social event to me, and two person crews really further that well. I design my layout with that in mind and to me it greatly increases the fun of op sessions. If we’re understaffed or short-handed (I almost typed “if we’re underhanded” ... oops) then we can have a few of the more savvy operators go solo.

I really like how two person crews work if you’re a newbie. The new guy is the engineer, while the old hand is the conductor. The new guy gets handed a throttle and told “just do what the conductor tells you”. The conductor handles the train cards, track warrants, and communication with the dispatcher — the hard stuff, in other words. Great fun!

I've operated both ways, and I personally prefer a single man crew.  If I have the right partner, a two man crew works well.  But I find the fit is often awkward in many ways, and detracts from the enjoyment of operating. 

In our regular session we visit before operating, and during break, and after.  So that's plenty of socializing for me.  When I'm in the layout room, I like to really get my head in the game, and the social nature of a two man crew breaks that for me, except when the other person is equally immersed.  I find that rare.

I have been part of both one man and two man crews on various model railroads.  The success depends on how well the layout is designed and how well the people work together.  Two completely different experiences, both with persons who had professional experience (in some fashion):

One session the person with whom I was paired with chose to be the conductor (had a clerical background) and had a very different idea of how the switching was supposed to go.  We ended up getting so balled up I swapped jobs with him and I worked the conductor position.  Kinda frustrating.

Another session the person was a former MofW guy, he worked engineer and actually stood at the end of the aisle about 10 ft away (because the aisles were narrow) and I just passed hand signals to him to do the switching.  Worked perfectly, spent a half hour switching and I never said a word.

" and I just passed hand signals to him to do the switching.  Worked perfectly, spent a half hour switching and I never said a word."

That's how I like to do it. Reminds me of watching the old SP crews working in pre radio days.Bonus points if multiple brakemen are relaying signals around the layout aisle corners :>) ...DaveB

Funny, one of my favorite op sessions was when I was engineer on a two-man crew and we worked from hand signals all night with barely a word spoken between us. The train was fairly long, and we were usually about 10' apart. Fun session. 

Randy 

a primer on hand signals?  I'd appreciate a link.

Blair

When I had my O scale switching layout going (about 40’ total length of shelf) some friends and I had some very enjoyable sessions with 2 man crews.  Communication was as if by radio (present day railroading).  Worked very nicely, gave both guys a good feeling of doing their respective roles.

When I got my N scale layout operating enough to play around with it occurred to me that the 2 man crew might not work as well.  Shuffling a 6 car cut in O scale the engineer and conductor naturally stand 6-10 feet apart (they’re each interested in their own end of the cut).  In N scale, standing in the same positions relative to a 6 car cut would leave them bumping elbows.  Never got to the point of hosting an op session to find out for sure though.

Railroad hand signals use two hands and broad movements because they have to be seen long distances.  Prototype signals also have "day" signals and "night' signals.

Model railroad hand signals are done with one hand and smaller movements, they are closer to night signals.  

A hand moved up and down vertically is move forward.  

A hand moved in a circle is back up.

A hand rocked back and forth is slow.

A hand moved horizontally back and forth is stop.

I have used a fist to indicate the joint was made (the cars coupled).

You can also use two hands with palms facing each other to convey distance to a joint (space between cars). 

This old Trainsmaster's episode talks about hand signals.  gs

While I operate with either one or two man crews I prefer two man crews. I have designed my layout to accommodate this. The entire center area of my shelf layout is wide open so there is no crowding at all. No narrow aisles to contend with.

I see several advantage of having two man crews. As Joe pointed out there is the social aspect of layout operation. I NEVER have conflicting personalities simply because the few people that operate my layout are of like mind. I will not put up with personality clashes. The door people come in through works well for leaving. All of my operators are close friends and get along well.

Then there is the actual operation. As operators we want to experience the roles of the real train crew back in 1927. This means we need an engineer and a brakeman. Any more is too much. The engineer works only the throttle. The brakeman handles throwing switches and coupling/uncoupling of cars.

Jim