operations – Page 23 – Robert Raymond’s Blogtorium

July 27, 2026

OpsLog – WAZU – 7/26/2026

hey used to say that there are a thousand stories in the naked city. I’d respond by saying – first – put some pants on. I don’t want to see that. And second – that it’s very true for a model railroad op sessions. We’re basically in four places (dispatcher office, Portland and Spokane staging room, remote operations room, and the main layout room). So, even though most of us are in one place (with flock camera coverage across the entire area), it seems that we don’t know WTF is going on. I got called for crew service, basically two […]

July 30, 2026

OpsLog – LM&O – 7/29/2026

t was the best of times. But it really was the worst of times. A lot more. So in the last month, I’d had to drive 2000 miles to sit with my mother, who forgets my name. And then there is my sister-in -law, bunked in exclusive Westminster for $6000 a month, yet she still warms my life with nocturnal trips to the emergency room and a constant stream of complaints. She comes with her Halloween House of Hording which we are trying to deal with, what with its trench-warfare hallway clutter, its rubbish-sealed rooms, its condemned wiring and its […]

August 2, 2026

OpsLog – TBL – 8/1/2026

o I had an oddly empty weekend and thought maybe I’d run the Tuscarora Branch Line through its paces. For this, I decided to do a number of things. 1. I’d run as many extra features as I could (i.e. deadhead cars and midnight dropoffs). 2. I’d run cars from my TBL collection that I usually don’t run. 3. I’d run the leverman position fully, including a station log and packets, to be issued as if we had a dispatcher. But then, of course, my plans changed. 4. Smiling Jack asked if he could run the TBL. Anyway, sure, I have […]

August 9, 2026

OpsLog – TBL (Black Diamonds) – 8/8/2026

very adventure needs tension. Not an evil opponent, simply tension. You know, man vs. nature, man vs. self, man vs. Model Railroading. My tension was Turnout 1, just below the Westly Mine, which was sticking. Noticed it at the end of the last session. At first, it wasn’t quite normalizing. Then, after tossing it back and forth manually a few times, it wasn’t resetting in either direction. My stomach knotted. I decided to just finish the session and then deal with it on the following Saturday, when there would be time and tools for the job. When I tried to […]