robert.admin – Page 33 – Robert Raymond’s Blogtorium

February 9, 2024

On Sheet – Elbow-room TT&TO

ne of the real problems with TT&TO (Time Table and Train Order) operations is the problem of running late. Let’s face it – true TT&TO means that the superior train does not wait for the inferior at meet points – he just blows on by. And given the problems with model railroading, it’s not uncommon to derail short of the meeting point with a superior train and suddenly you are sitting on single track with the Cannonball roaring your way. A lot of people actually shy away from TT&TO for this reason, the fact that under a fast clock, times […]

February 8, 2024

Weight of years, and erosion of ages (DOG EAR)

nteresting morning: I had a bunch of little errands and since it was blustery and chilly, I decided to do them by bike. The route was from my house a mile to the donut shop (where I read a book I’ll describe shortly). Then across the street (the street being Corrine Drive, which is a good simulation of the beaches of Normandy) to drop off another book (a creepy serial killer thing). Then two miles over to the drug store (picked up some keep-alive pills). Then two miles over to the chain bookstore to pick up a classic (I’d checked […]

February 4, 2024

Destroyermen 7: Iron Gray Sea (Review)

he seventh book in the Destroyermen series finds (finally) that the author has given us a break and actually included a list of characters in the front (eleven pages – that’s how big this war has become). So in the west, the first fleet in this “prehistoric” world battles to take India from the monstrous Grik, only to overextend and be encircled. An airlift keeps them supplied, but how long can they hold out? Meanwhile, in the east, the English based out of the Hawaiian islands continue the war with the Doms (Spanish time-castaways who have infested South America with […]

February 2, 2024

On Sheet – Bruce Notman

was wondering what I could write about and suddenly it hit me – the weirdest thing I’ve ever had happen while dispatching. Some of you NMRA guys might remember Bruce Notman. He was an NMRA lifetime member and had operated on more layouts than I ever will. He went to many of the conventions. In later years, Bruce began to slow down a bit, and ended up content to run helpers on the LM&O. I’ll also mentioned the amazing session we had at Tom Wilson’s layout. Tom “flirts” with TT&TO operations. Occasionally he hosts it. One guy (i.e. me) dispatches […]

February 1, 2024

OpsLog – P&WV – 1/31/2024

had a question about Avella Freight East and was told that owner Tom Wilson was out on the driveway. Bad sign. Went out and found him with the garage door up, his screwdriver sparking as he desperately worked across an array of terminal strips. As his layout fills his two-car garage, the only way to get to his wiring is to open the door and work on it from the outside. So it was all Star Trek stuff, exploding consoles, sparks and smoke. Or maybe I’m exaggerating. I might be trying to distract myself from the fact that the last […]

February 1, 2024

Duel of the Samurai (DOG EAR)

t was an interesting day. My friend Chris models (indirectly) the railroad yard at Taft, south of Orlando. Of course, the only real way this game executive and dad can really get an idea of the actual industries and scenery is google maps. You just can’t really stroll onto railroad property anymore, not with the railroad cops and hobos (both equally dangerous). So I suggested making a day of it using SunRail, our local north-south heavy rail than runs down the CSX lines into Taft (which he wants to see up close). So we did. It was a nice ride […]

January 29, 2024

OpsLog – WAZU -1/28/2024

‘m kind of guessing that seconds before the WAZU railroad started, our host Doc Andy was dreaming that all his operators might somehow spontaneously combust. If that did happen, he could have used the dust buster to sweep us up. Then he’d turn out the lights and lock the door. And that would be that. At go time, the layout clocks were totally messed up (I am very familiar with the brand he uses yet I had no idea why I couldn’t slave/master them correctly). And his dispatching computer software lasted all of five minutes before crashing. He was already […]

January 28, 2024

V2 (Review)

n interesting story that involves romance, but not in the way you’d think it. Since, of course, it centers around our wood-be lovers on either side of a ballistic rocket with a ton of high explosive in the nose cone. So in World War Two, the Germans have switched to their rockets to get hits on London (they’d be shot out of the sky if they tried to continue their bombing). In retrospect, it was the biggest boondoggle of the war – each rocket carries about as much as a couple of bombers, and allied bombers are coming over the […]

January 25, 2024

OpsLog – LM&O – 1/24/2024

riting this blog is a weird thing. Unlike a manifesto, a blackmail note or a letter to my new Nigerian pen-pal, I have to figure out a new angle each time. I can’t just say what happens: that would be “Tonight those goofballs really found a new way to screw up. Is this any way to run a railroad?”. Further, there is the problem that as one man, I simply can’t describe all the events that took place, any more than a soldier in a foxhole can fully explain World War Two. I see things, I hear things, I pay […]

January 21, 2024

OpsLog – TBL – 1/21/2024

short entry for a short session – our control problems continue on the Tuscarora Branch Line, which means I can’t trust it to operate in any manner and so I can’t invite people to drive hundreds of miles for a dud session. I only hope that Steve the engineering guy comes up with a solution. God, but I hate this constant on again / off again failure. My friend Greg came over to run with me (hey, we had movie-night lined up after, so not a total loss). We only managed to run half a session before the constant failures […]