PDX2015 NMRA NATIONAL CONVENTION - 2

PDX2015 NMRA NATIONAL CONVENTION -2

Operations Special Interest Group Ops Session

The second major activity involving my layout for the NMRA National Convention in Portland in August, was an operating session conducted under the auspices of the Operations Special Interest Group (OpSIG).  After the formal convention bus tours cleared away (http://espeecascades.blogspot.com/2015/08/pdx2015-nmra-national-convention-1.html ), my helping crew and I had a brief moment to catch dinner before fifteen guest operators arrived.  Fortunately for my anxiety level leading up to the convention, half of this group was composed of friends from my days working in California.  It was great to show off what I had accomplished in my move north.  Many of these “guests” had participated in discussions leading to the layout’s design, its operations design, and the electrical system supporting it.  The remainder of the guest operating crew became new friends, willing to operate on a “raw” model railroad.  The operating session was only the fourth operating session using the full mainline.

I had a great crew helping me, including Dave H., who had trained under ex-SP Dispatcher Rick K., to perform that duty for this session.  Rick A. and John B1.  participated in all or most of the test operating sessions leading up to this event.  Friends from California days also joined in, as they had for the formal bus tour:  Richard C. and John B2.  John B2 was my “height gauge” as he stands even taller than me at 6 ft-10 in.  The probability that he might operate this railroad some day kept me honest about my overhead clearances for the overhanging sections of the layout plan.  John B2 used my camera to record the images contained in this post.  Follow along with the operating session as seen through the eye of the camera.

As seen here, I am doing the initial briefing before turning my operating crew loose on the railroad.

Mark S. served as Yardmaster at Eugene.  Here he is organizing the work for his two switch crewmen: Howard G. and Reid K.

Around at Oakridge, Principal Helper Bob S. advises Scott. C. on operations at Oakridge while Don. M. and Helper Engineer Dennis D. prepare to cut in a helper locomotive set.  Dave T. (using the operator platform behind him as a desk) is preparing to work with the Oakridge Turn.

Dispatcher Dave H. works with departing crew Norm A. and John M. as they prepare to depart staging.

I am fiddling with the headset connection to an FRS radio to help Mat T. and Hilding L. get ready to take their first train.  They were called for Amtrak Number 14, the northbound (RR-East) Coast Starlite.

Don. M. (foreground) and Helper Engineer Dennis D. guide their train uphill around the loop at Salt Creek Trestle.

Richard C. gravitated to the ill-defined role of “Santa Clara Tower Operator” controlling the switches in and out of the Eugene Arrival/Departure Yard on the lower level and “Crescent Lake Yardmaster” controlling actions at the upper level staging yard.  Though I had thought about the need for this job, I had not formally defined it nor briefed it.  Thank you Richard for jumping in to fill an obvious need!

Conductor Mat T. and Engineer Hilding L. are underway with Amtrak No, 14, seen just behind them at Wicopee siding.

Don M. confers with Richard C. about departure from Eugene.

Mark G. and Dave F. took the Eugene City Switcher job and are seen here conferring with West-End Yard Switcher Howard G.  In the background, two members of my local helping crew, John B1 and Rick A. were called for the Second Springfield Switch Job.  At this point in the operation, we had nineteen folk operating.  When I build the engine facilities within the Eugene staging loop, I can add a hostler position making a full crew of twenty on my railroad.  I had thought a full crew would be fifteen, but with two-man crews in use for both the local switch jobs and the road freights, it is clear the railroad can absorb twenty crewmembers quite productively.

Action is heavy at Eugene!  In the back, Hilding L. and Mat T. are taking the Marcola Turn out to work the Marcola Branch out of Springfield.  Working forward, Yardmaster Mark S. observes the activity, ready to provide further instructions.  Eugene City Switcher Crew Mark G. and Dave F. have pulled a car out of the switchback into Rubenstein’s Furniture in the corner notch to the left.  West End Switcher Howard G. is looking on, ready to do further classification work.

A couple of my guest operators, Jim B and Steve W., were “camera shy”—actually, the photos of them just did not work out.  Further, my intrepid photographer was on the other side of the camera—of course.

This fourth operating session of the full railroad was a success.  Yes, there  were a few glitches noted, but the railroad ran well enough that all could see how operating sessions will develop as I lay the remaining track and further develop the control system.  The layout tours and this operating session are what I worked toward for the past three years.  I just made it with the help from many friends for this “graduation exercise.”

PDX2015 NMRA NATIONAL CONVENTION -1

The national convention of the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) just concluded its 2015 edition in Portland, OR, August 23-30.  I have been aiming at supporting this convention and showing off my layout for it for the past three years.  This was THE BIG EVENT!!! 

When I began this blog and then actual layout construction, beginning August 1, 2012, I expected there would be another NMRA national convention in Portland sometime in my lifetime.  That probability became part of our lot selection criteria, as the formal layout tours for such events are conducted with 50 passenger tour buses.  We needed easy bus access and good street parking for such tours.  About two months after starting construction, I learned that Portland would, indeed, host another NMRA national, but that it was a scant three years in the future!  Yikes!!!  This was my one shot at presenting my layout and its design and operations ideas to a national audience.  As readers of this blog have seen, that led to very focused work and ultimate success—just in time.

I hosted three separate activities with the layout during the convention.  On Tuesday afternoon, we had the formal convention bus tours.  Two 50-passenger buses came by, filled out to capacity due to at least one of the other layouts on the tour.  My helping crew and I barely had time to grab a quick dinner before the second event.  Fifteen guys signed up for an operating session—the fourth using the full mainline.  Finally, Wednesday was the traditional day for the Layout Design Special Interest Group (LDSIG) layout tour.  As local LDSIG Convention Coordinator, I had arranged to have 17 layouts on the tour, including my own.  Following that, it was back to the convention in Portland.

The following photos represent the first set of photos from those activities.  Most of these images were shot with my camera by one of my helping crew.  A subsequent post will provide more coverage.  Meanwhile, this post marks my one hundredth post—a fitting way to reach that milestone.

Formal NMRA convention bus tour visitors arriving.

A poster and handout explained the layout concept.

Tour visitors roamed the aisles while my helping crew ran trains and answered questions.  I was stationed near the basement entrance, greeting visitors and answering questions.

The aisles could get a bit crowded, but the visitors were able to move around.

Stay tuned for a subsequent post covering the operating session.  Meanwhile, I will attempt to take a break from railroading following the intense effort to build and prepare the layout for all of this.  Three years from bare basement to functioning monster layout completely built by me, alone.  That construction effort was accompanied by doing the local coordinator work for the Layout Design and Operations Special Interest Groups.  Time for a rest!

THE DELUGE

Proof that “Murphy’s Law” is an absolute came Saturday morning before the NMRA National Convention.  I was out in our garage, trying to fix a low temperature issue with our domestic water.  This “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” missed the instruction to turn off BOTH valves (input and output) of the water feed through our hot water flash boiler.  The result was predictable when I finally unscrewed the filter cap in the input line.  “Mr. Murphy’s Plumber’s Assistant” emerged in full force!

The spray of water at full city water system pressure got my immediate attention.  I madly tried to get the filter cap back in place, but that proved impossible against the water jet now blasting forth.  As I did a good imitation of my Dutch fore-bearers, trying to plug the dike leak, I called for help from my wife.  My plaintive pleas were not recognized until our dog did his best “Lassie” imitation, barking to alert her to my cries for help.  Yes, “Timmy had fallen down the well and needed help!” 

After unsuccessfully attempting to find the main water shut-off valve for the house, a quick call to our already-alerted plumber helped me locate the other valve I needed to turn off.  With the water flow stopped, I was able to get the cap back on the line and restore the hot water system to normal.  By the way, I was successful in getting the temperature issue resolved.

What remained was cleaning up the garage in the aftermath.  Of course (Mr. Murphy!), this was the part of the garage where all sorts of convention materials were stored, awaiting transport to the convention on Sunday.  Fortunately, it looks like minimal damage was done, though some packing boxes are now in recycling.  The most critical items were shrink-wrapped (whew!) or easily dried off.  A few back issues of Layout Design Journals suffered water damage.  Sigh.  Given the water flow, I am surprised to have come through this as well as I did. 

With a strong reminder of “Murphy’s Law,” I now head into the convention humbled, but a bit more relaxed.  I have had that brush with this constant of life.

Hot water system with flash boiler in the upper center.  The critical components are just beneath the rectangular boiler on the right underside.

Convention materials out of the danger zone, ensuring they are dry and well.

Drying a few shirts and packaging.  A soggy box is in the center, destroyed by the water flow.  Fortunately, most of the contents survived.  My layout design poster was not so fortunate, but it will be displayed along with this blog post explanation.

THIRD MAINLINE OPERATING SESSION

I held my third mainline operating session with my local crew on August 8, 2015.  Note this is just three years into solo construction.  Track is still needed for the engine facilities within the Eugene Arrival-Departure Yard (reverse loop staging) and a few more tracks in that A/D Yard, but the vast majority of the railroad has been built.

This third mainline operating session was a success, with few—minor—issues discovered.  Whew!  The railroad has come together just in time for the NMRA National Convention at the end of the month.  My layout is on the formal bus tours, will host an operating session, and is on the Layout Design Special Interest Group Tour.  I had accepted the state of the railroad this summer for the tours.  What I needed was a successful operating session.  That has been accomplished!

The Eugene Yard crew is hard at work, with Jim M., David B., and Chuck C., visible.  Bob S. is over at Springfield working the depot side of the mainline with the first Springfield Switch job.

Having worked down my priority “fix-it” list from the first two sessions, I could concentrate more on proper organization for operation for this third session.  That effort paid off handsomely as the full crew of 14 was kept busy throughout the day.  One can get a sense of that from the organized look of the Eugene Yard and in the image above and Bob S’s activity in Springfield in the photo above.  More will be evident in photos below.

I am discovering just how big this railroad is by its ability to absorb rolling stock and still need more.  I was able to put together and stage three 25-car freights each way—about half of my intended operation.  The trains were assembled differently based on direction of travel.  The RR-Westbounds represented loads headed up over the Cascades toward California.  As such, the pair of trains mostly forest products freely intermixed flats and boxcars.  The more general merchandise train also had appropriate cars and loads. 

The RR-Eastbound trains (downhill) were assembled as if the Roseville and Los Angeles Yards (Colton for the 1984 era of the current equipment on the layout) had classified them for return of empties to Eugene.  In an earlier era, these cars full of lumber empties were known as “XMUGs” for general freight empties (possibly to EUGene).  As such, they are very distinctive.  One train was composed entirely of boxcars, almost all SP or SSW (home road).  Another was about half home road boxcars and a long string of empty flat cars.  The third RR-East train was another general merchandise train. 

I also added AMTRAK to the mix, starting it from Crescent Lake in the morning.  Eventually, I plan to double these trains and add a hot piggyback train (LABRT northbound, BRLAT or CZLAT southbound).  Meanwhile, we had more than enough equipment to begin operating!

Visiting Californians Wayne C. and his son Kenny control a train drifting down from Cruzatte  (upper line in the rear) toward Salt Creek Trestle and Wicopee.

Ex-SP Dispatcher Rick K. discusses the finer points of dispatching with Direct Traffic Control (DTC) with Dave H. 

One of the joys I experience with this layout is attracting a great group of operators, including several former Southern Pacific operating personnel.  Dispatcher Rick K. has been particularly helpful by designing an initial operating scheme using Direct Traffic Control (DTC).  DTC was SP’s answer to dispatching by radio, replacing the old Timetable and Train Order system, which required many train order operators stationed along the railroad.  Both control systems were used in territory not controlled by Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) which SP had installed on most mainlines by the mid-1960’s.   Eventually, my railroad will have CTC installed, as the Cascade Line was upgraded to that in 1955.  I will discuss more about my DTC system in a subsequent post.

Oakridge Turn engineer Mike B. works at Oakridge while helper engineer Dave C. wraps up his return with light helpers to the engine facilities at Oakridge.

We used manned mid-train helpers for the RR-Westbounds going uphill from Oakridge to Cascade Summit.  This went very well.  I had cut back the size of my road power sets from three units to two based on earlier testing.  This added to the operations, as it now took two crewmembers, each with a throttle to guide trains uphill.  After the help was provided uphill, the helpers needed to return light to their base at Oakridge.  This added still more to the operation.  This also was a major priority of the layout design and it was gratifying to see this come into action.

Road engineer Norm A. and helper engineer Bob Y. pull a train into Cascade Summit.

Rick A. studies his DTC authority sheet as he guides a RR-West lumber drag past Westfir.

The railroad operated well and the operating system proved functional.  The railroad is ready for guest operators during the NMRA National Convention!

THE RAILROAD AT YEAR THREE

Each of the past two years, I have surveyed the railroad as it existed at the beginning of August.  This marks the anniversary of the start of construction on August 1, 2012.  The earlier posts are at

http://espeecascades.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-railroad-at-year-one.html  and

http://espeecascades.blogspot.com/2014/08/v-behaviorurldefaultvmlo.html

I am amazed each year as I look back at those prior posts at just how much I have accomplished in each year.  This year is no exception, as I pushed through the full mainline, wired it, and placed it in service.  The push has been on to be ready for the NMRA National Convention, which will be in Portland two-plus weeks from now!  Meanwhile, I needed to stage the railroad for one last operating session with my local operating crew.  Follow along as I take a lumber drag RR-West from Eugene to Crescent Lake.

  

SPX7480W prepares to leave the Eugene Arrival/Departure Yard.  Another lumber drag and a manifest freight await their turns to head up the Cascades.  Seven of the twelve tracks for this yard are installed.  I work on this area in between higher priority tasks supporting operations.

Another view of SPX7480W as it leaves the Arrival-departure Yard.  The caboose track is in the foreground, just off the RR-East switch lead.  The blank area in the center of the picture will become the diesel servicing facilities.

SPX7480W rolling past the Eugene depot.  My classification yard is in the foreground.

SPX7480W crossing the Willamette River.

SPX7480W takes the main through Springfield.  The first Springfield Switch Job with SP3851 is ready to work the depot side of the main from the depot and Drill-1 tracks.

SPX7480W rolls through West Springfield.

SPX7480W approaches Westfir.  The grain elevator on my Marcola Brach is in the background.

SPX7480W enters East Oakridge.

SPX7480W pulls into RR-West Oakridge on yard track 3.  Waiting on track 1 is another RR-West manifest led by SP9180.  Yard track 4 has the Oakridge Turn with SP7415 waiting to start work.

A helper set led by SP7427 is pulling out of the engine facility at Oakridge.

Our train has been cut in two so the helper can cut-in at the RR-West end of Oakridge.

With helper cut-in mid-train, SPX7480W proceeds uphill, out of Oakridge.

SPX7480W rolls through McCredie Springs.

SPX7480W pulls through the site of Tunnel 20 into Wicopee.

SPX7480W crosses Salt Creek.

The helper set pulls into view and over Salt Creek.

SPX7480W pulls into Cruzatte.

SPX7480W continues the climb through Abernethy and toward the summit.

SPX7480W arrives at Cascade Summit.

The helper is cut out at the summit.

SPX7480W heads out of Cascade Summit and into Crescent Lake.

SPX7480W joins other trains staged at Crescent Lake.

The helper set, now led by SSW9053, crosses over the main and into the Beattie Spur.  It will wait there for permission from the Dispatcher to return to Oakridge.

SSW9053 and SP7427 cross Trapper Creek at the RR-East end of Cascade Summit as they head back downhill to Oakridge.

ADDING ROLLING STOCK

Now that the mainline is open for business, I need something to carry that business in!  I have been adding significantly to my boxcar fleet since the operating session earlier in the month.  http://espeecascades.blogspot.com/2015/07/second-mainline-operating-session.html  Three dozen SP and SSW lumber and insulated boxcars were pulled out of their packaging.  Most needed their trucks painted.  Some needed underbodies painted.  Many needed Kadee couplers installed.  I finally got all of them reassembled and car cards prepared.  Weathering is needed, but that will have to wait until after the upcoming NMRA National Convention—less than a month away!

The large fleet of new “standard” boxcars presented a wonderful opportunity to measure the sidings in car lengths.  All of these cars are nominal fifty feet long.  In fact, they are much longer, as all have Hydra-Cushion ™ underframes, an SP standard for the 1980s.  I set up a test train with thirty cars, a caboose and three tunnel motors for power.  The tunnel motors (SD45T-2 or SD40T-2) are the longest frame diesel locomotives I will use routinely. It was really fun seeing this train snake through all the curves I built into this railroad.  It brought back fond memories of chasing the real thing in the 1970s and ‘80s.

Test train rolling past the “Marcola Branch” with the rear still in Westfir.  This train was so long I could not maintain focus with the camera!

As to siding measurements, I found most were locos+28 cars+caboose, though Cruzatte was a bit tight, more like “27.5” cars.  I probably will aim for 25 car trains, as that is a convenient, arbitrary number that fits in all sidings.  That also leaves some room for helper locomotives. 

On the motive power front, I found the three big units were just able to pull all thirty cars and caboose of the test train.  I stopped the train at each siding to record the length measurement.  A couple of times on the mountain grade, one of the locomotives would spin wheels until the others joined in.  This completely answered a question I have had about this railroad concerning number of powered locomotives to assign.  It looks like I need to use only two powered locomotives in each loco set, whether lead power or helper.  Anything more will overpower the train.  Best practice for mid- or rear-train helpers I have seen has been to make sure that neither the lead nor the helper locomotives are able to move the full train.  I will “dummy” locomotives to add a third unit to engine consists for visual effect.  That is in the future.  For now, it will be two unit loco sets.

Test train descending over Salt Creek Trestle.

This test train operation was the first time I have run a complete train end to end on my railroad.  Some of my operating crewmembers preceded me in that.  I had run at least test locos over new sections of track being placed in service, but that had been a piecemeal operation.

I find myself shifting gears rapidly right now.  I am shifting away from intense construction to applying my efforts to operating enhancements and fine-tuning (long overdue!).  In support of the shifting work focus, I now NEED to run my own railroad!

SECOND MAINLINE OPERATING SESSION

I held the second operating session over the full mainline on Saturday, July 11, 2015.  This time I had a crew of sixteen operators plus myself and “Mr. Murphy.”  Sixteen operators are about what I estimate a “full” operating crew to be on the layout, certainly once CTC signaling and switch control are installed and a full slate of trains is on the rails.

As to “Mr. Murphy,” inevitably with so large a project, various troubles show up when subjected to stress by more than the builder (me).  Fortunately, my operating crew had a high proportion of experienced and skilled model railroaders.  Many have “been there, done that,” and knew what to do to help me out of the hole I was digging.  One took on getting new loco decoders talking to the command station.  Others helped get the intended train consists together.  The real life Amtrak engineer got my Amtrak #14 positioned at the Crescent Lake upper staging, another couple of crewmembers took on the task of fine-tuning some of my track-work.  I am grateful to all.  I did have to chase down electrical/mechanical gremlins in a few key spots and have more trouble-shooting to do.  Still, a pair of hours’ effort by the invited gang really whipped the railroad into a state that after a lunch break we could conduct formal operations as intended.

Operations at Eugene.  Yardmaster Brian P. organizes the work, while switch crews Dave. C. and Bob Y. await their orders.  In the background David B. and John B. work the First Springfield Turn.

An important activity took place while madness reigned around them.  Ex-SP Dispatcher Rick K. instructed Dave H. and Mike Y. on dispatching using Direct Traffic Control (DTC).  While many prototype railroads and model railroads use Track Warrant Control as a radio-age replacement for Timetable and Train Order (TT&TO) operations, SP used DTC.  Under DTC, the Dispatcher issues operating instructions based on track blocks.  These are operational stretches of track, not the electrical blocks we dealt with in the days of analog-DC model railroad control. 

Rick K. advised me to use the system SP used in the 1980s for traffic control not covered by Centralized Traffic Control (CTC).  I readily accepted that advice.  Who am I to question such an expert?  I am blessed to have such advice and help.  Until I can install and get working the rest of the elements of my planned CTC system, we will need to use a radio traffic control system.  Going with DTC maintains the image that this model railroad is a piece of the Southern Pacific. 

Dispatcher trainee Mike Y. issues track authority to a train while Rick K. interacts with Charlie C. with paperwork for his next train and Bob S. looks on.

The tools of the Dispatcher using DTC: radio, train sheet, timetable, clock, and a DTC block form (mainline track schematic with block names and sidings) posted on the wall.

In the crush of effort to build my railroad, I could spend little precious time developing the operating system.  I am blessed with the resource of a real SP Dispatcher to guide me.  Indeed, Rick has done much, much more than guide me and has brought order to my insanity.   Traffic control on my HO scale SP Cascade Line maintains a Southern Pacific format and feels right.

This operating session witnessed the first real helper operation.  We had a long train at Oakridge that could serve as a test.  Chuck C. and Tom, D.  put the train together, got Dispatcher authority, and moved it up the hill.  Tom reported a few layout or equipment issues to me, but he and Chuck successfully got the train to Cascade Summit without dumping it onto the floor.  Tom then drifted back downhill with the light helpers and went “dead on the law” (hours of service) at Cruzatte.  This railroad is starting to live up to its potential!

Chuck C. and Tom D. assemble the first train with rear-end helpers at Oakridge.

I‘ve reported some of the work on the railroad since the previous operating session a month ago—switch controls for the mountain sidings (http://espeecascades.blogspot.com/2015/06/switch-controls-for-mountain-grade_9.html) and construction of the operator’s platform for the mid part of the grade (http://espeecascades.blogspot.com/2015/06/operator-elevation-for-mountain-grade.html). 

In the final push toward yesterday’s operating session, I added decoders to 22 locomotives and completed wiring switch control panels for the upper (Crescent Lake) and lower (Eugene Arrival/Departure) staging yards.  Indeed, I was making final connections the night before the operating session.  Such a push allows another opportunity for “Murphy’s Law” to reassert itself and that was the case.  The locomotive effort left me with a flock of diesel models sitting at Eugene that still had not been DCC-consisted together, but now could not even be addressed.  Part of that early session effort had David B. taking each loco back to the programming track, affirming he had control and then setting up sets of locos on the layout and consisting them.  There still are a number of gremlins lurking, but quite a few of those locos made it into service for the afternoon session. 

The new locomotive fleet.

For the switch control panels, I have gone “old school” with basic toggle switch control for now.  The application is one where a diode switch control matrix or the computer software equivalent is appropriate.  Both staging loops have twelve tracks.  Right now, I simply needed to get something in place.  The simplest for me was to wire up toggle switch controls and let operators visually set up their routes.  This effort, like many on this railroad took longer than I estimated, but the job got done just in time.

Crescent Lake switch control panel.  Sharp-eyed viewers will note what I did NOT catch in my layout and proofreading of the panel artwork.  I numbered both sets of switch ladders top to bottom 1 through 12.  Because the lower set connects to the upper set around a reverse loop, the lower set should be numbered bottom to top (reverse) with 1 to 12.  Sigh.

Eugene Arrival/Departure Yard panels.  Not all lines have track yet.  Labels are needed!

Objectively, I must rate the operating session a “success.”  It accomplished what I needed to see in action—operations on the full mainline conducted by an operating crew composed of much more than myself.  The stress I felt before and during the session was self-induced.  The crew rose to my challenge magnificently.  One key additional observation emerged—the aisle design is at least adequate.  There were reports of only a couple occasions of “tight clearance” between crewmembers.  In general, the aisle design affirmed my design effort.