Train Blog
July 27, 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 23, 2026
ince nobody in the club watches old black&white moves from the 1940s, let me describe the trope. Generally it involves a collection of optimistic young men and women who need to raise money for their university, town or charity. “Hey, I know! Let’s put on a show!” In this age before montages, most of the movie is them getting ready, making the sets, practicing their lines, funny little bits. And then, opening night. Their big chance! All the players line up and peek through the curtains into the theater’s seating. Nothing but empty seats. “Oh no! But what about our […]
July 19, 2026
nother nice day being boomers over on the Orlando Society of Model Railroader’s layout. It’s a pretty casual run and they are working out their warrant system. They also are finally getting some locals out on the line – they are using painters tape on cartops to get a rough idea where the cars go. Still, it’s not industry specific – more a take-a-boxcar, leave-a-boxcar sort of affair. And that’s okay. Baby steps. When I heard there was going to be some switching, I started to say “Hey, I’d be inter…” and then someone coshed me. Woke up on the […]
June 30, 2026
bit of a bittersweet session over at the Farnham’s Florida East Coast Railroad. A couple of us backed out of club obligations to be there. You see, it’s rumored (strongly (by the hosts)) that the FEC will be coming down soon. We might only have a couple of sessions left on the old girl. A couple of decades ago, my operations were pretty much restricted to a round-robin group in Orlando. The FEC was one of my first “away game” railroads. I don’t even remember how I got my invite. But that was the gateway that introduced me to the […]
June 26, 2026
o this is supposed to be a blog about an op session. But I need to mention what happened before… TravelToOpsLog – After brunch with the wife at the local coffee shop, I hit the road at 11:30 am, heading to Jack F’s Yosemite Valley Railroad. I’d meet another member there for a small three-man session. I’ve run it before and it’s lots of fun. So before leaving the parking lot, I put in my earbuds (please disregard, any FHP-readers), fired up my audible player and hit the road. I was just settling into the story and picking up speed on […]
June 26, 2026
o I’m sitting in the cab of trusty 4263, perhaps the cleanest engine of the SP fleet. I’ve got my cup of coffee. I’ve got my warrant out. From behind me, I can smell the rust and powdered limestone dust off the empty hoppers, bound for Hidden Spur. In the distant tower, the leverman works. The exit dwarf goes green. I reach for the throttle. And then it’s lights out as someone hits me in the back of the head with a bag full of dried track erasers. I come to on the ballast of… squinting… Martin Yard. My engines […]
June 21, 2026
o the Tuscarora Branch Lines was designed as a one-man show that eventually expanded to five positions (scheduled engineer, coal extra engineer, leverman, station operator and dispatcher) and even seven (two brakemen). It’s flexible. Was thinking of a run recently and Zeus (young man-about-town college guy) popped the thought of having a session this weekend. We set up for the title-mentioned-date, high noon. I also had one maybe and one suspected crew, so I prepped for four (even five) because sometimes people just show up. Turns out the maybes were maybe-nots and I got a call from Zeus at 12:05 […]
June 15, 2026
ps are never what I think they are going to be. Usually they are cluster-fugs. Either you have a wonderful layout but a crew of newbies (or casuals) and the session flops because of them. Or our club, when a wide spread of skills, a large yet elderly layout, and with just everyone doing everything (with guests wandering about, sometimes stealing from us) it can be chaotic. Even my small Tuscarora can be an effort, like if one guy comes and wants to clown about. They are never the small number of dedicated, experienced and studious crews that I imagine quiet […]
June 14, 2026
ent over to the club on a quiet Saturday and met up with Pete and Jim P. They did whatever and I ran a quiet session of Tuscarora, solo. I’d just started and realized I’d wished I’d brought my spare handheld throttle so that I could switch over to the other side to run the Drill move. As it stood (pun intended), every back up and drop move required me to climb out of my chair and fuss with my readers, trying to uncouple a car. This was shaping up to be a drag when the unthinkable happened – After […]
June 7, 2026
got a chance to test out my new eyeballs, both for seeing through and for the ensuing tears trickling down my trembling cheeks. Fun session in that chaotic way that the Western Bay runs, fun but frantic. I was part of a group of “northerners” who went down there – Terry B, John L, Jack F and Jim M. I’d be dispatching and Jim was my western Station Agent – Al would be eastern. Jim and I know how this goes and have worked it in the past. Al just beats the shit out of me (to be explained). Started […]