ait! What? Ops on the Tuscarora Brach Line?
Yup.
Brought the layout home today. Since I got the randomized car sorting worked out the other day, I realized I was ready to go. Even though I didn’t have that tank car and covered hopper Greg Wells promised me a week ago, I just threw box cars into the mix and off we went.
Ops for the local switch crew is programmed (with random car ordering). In all, I ran eighteen trains (but to be truthful, this really is five trains and five local / drill jobs that make numerous runs through Tuscarora). I did not run the coal trains (it would have added another nineteen moves through Tuscarora). But I was really busy.
Overall, I was pleased with layout. Picked a point or two, but nothing crushing. Couple of engine stalls but this is n-scale, right? I was really happy with the amount of work for each job – even spotting two cars for each local, it was a comfortable amount of switching, nothing too easy, nothing crippling hard. One take-away – the inner spur (used by the freight house) is too short. I hadn’t taken into account that one train sets out on that track, and with door 1 spotted, it will just be too tight. A putty knife and a bit of glue and we’ll be in the clover.
This entire run took me maybe an hour and change. This is pretty good since I wasn’t dealing with through coal (which will add to the load) and I was hand-throwing turnouts (and not waiting for the switch tower to line up turnouts and signals). This should turn ops into a 2-3 hour session for three guys, which is what I’m looking for.
So next I’m going to try running both positions – the coal trains and the locals. This should be a real blast.
And Greg, get me those cars and we can have a session at the club, capeesh?
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