orried, with things medical looming, about when we’ll have another session on the tiny-tight 2X4 Tuscarora Branch line. Called my friend Greg and arranged for a Saturday session. Opened the call up for the general club membership and got John DeVasto (and, at the last second, Kyle Sarnik). So great – we had four and the Branch runs best with a quad of operators.

I was dispatcher (as usual) – Greg took Coal cuz he likes the tally sheet bit. John wanted to try the switching job (since he’s never gotten a shot on that run). And Kyle took the signal tower.

It was a top delight of the day when it turned out that Kyle had run towers on simulators and

Kyle works the tower and rolls his eyes when the dispatcher transmits orders.

understood the basic function they provided. While we waited for the usually-overdue Greg to actually arrive, he tuned up and adapted to it perfectly – I couldn’t ask for a better towerman than him. And John got the hang of switching easily enough. Greg, he’s an old coal dog, no problems there. And we were off to the races!

A bit of a prang when the coal drag – trying to drop off empty hoppers – runs into an idling freight. Yes, the TBL is a dangerous place to work!

It was a really fun and busy time in the town of Tuscarora, let me tell you. We ended up with a couple of switching puzzles that had all four of us coming up with different solutions John shuffled and shunted with the best of them and we got everything to the various docks, then everything clear of the railroad by midnight. I really had a great time, watching the railroad run through its paces.

So it’s good to know I have a seasoned crew for next time. I think we might have another session in two weeks, as part of a double header with the WAZU. Watch this space to see if anything comes of it.

Still smiling, right?

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The action continues day and night in busy Tuscarora! (All photos in this post: John DeVasto)