ne must be careful of what one writes… and who one gives it to.

–Cardinal Richelieu, The Three Musketeers (1973)

So I learned about that on my last OpsLog, where a friend fed my blog through ChatGPT, told it to regurgitate it in its own words and spin it to the negative. Cute. All I can say was that I got an invite to the wonderful Florida East Coast and you, my warmest associate, did not. So consider that and reflect with new-found wisdom.

So yes, we did get a nice run over at this fine Palm Bay layout (which, in every aspect of strange coincidence, models the same area it exists in. That usually doesn’t happen. The only other time I can place a layout in its actual local is my Tuscarora, and that’s only for my out-of-body experiences.

I was on the panel that day, with Bev working classification, Zach on trim and JB on the yardmaster desk. Nice clear day so no howling gales to weather in a tin shed and cool climate, meaning doors open and a nice breeze. A perfect Saturday for train running. Funny thing – JB, Jeff and I were in our FEC blues, and the other club guys (Zach, Kyle, and Terry) were in their ONT grays. We were a dashing regiment that day, indeed.

Cocoa Yard gets busy in the afternoon (Photo: Kyle S)

So my start on the panel was typical – across the board I had two spooling up on the line, two in each staging (one north, one south). After this were another two within the hour, one out of staging and one coming up online. So a busy start but not too bad. I lined up the track and flipped the signals over into place but did not activate them yet. I’d so so as the clock started.

So we went hot and everyone called at once. Picked a likely guy and recorded his info, lining up his signals and getting him out of Bowman into Palm Pay. Worked my way down the list. Two trains in and the next out of the yard was calling. Frowned at that. I’m usually not that slow. Glanced at the clock – 7am? We started at 6. Where does the time go. Worked to get the first wave rolling and they were all moving, then glanced at the second wave. Clock check – 8am? What the F?

“Ken,” I shouted to the other shed. “Is this clock right?” Looking at it closely, I could see the minute hand visibly sweeping. Ken came over and had a look. Turns out his normal setting is something like 4:1 (guessing that) but, oops, to set the clock, he runs it at high speed to bring it up to start position and had accidentally left it at 17:1 which is damn fast. Once the clock was restored, things progressed normally. We were a man down (I don’t know that man, nor will, since he’s probably excommunicated for being a no-show & no-call). The rest of the boys ran pretty solid. Overall, it was just a pleasant day.

Working the sheds in the produce district. Those oranges aren’t going to ship themselves (Photo: Kyle S)

Since everyone jumps my ass on not reporting every blunder, I’ll admit to sending Terry down the wrong departure track. Caught it as he entered the crossover and backed him up six inches for the correction. So there. Confession signed.

I’d like to thank the Farnhams for providing us with a Thanksgiving lunch before we ran – a nice and thoughtful touch. I enjoy running with them, but there are rumors of the line terminating eventually – we are all getting older and layout maintenance can be tough at times. One thing about the FEC- I’ll be sad to see one of my favorite lines go.

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According to Zack, this gon has been sitting off the trim tracks so long trees are growing in it (Photo: Zach B)

The dispatcher rethinks his life choices (Photo: Zach B)