Train Blog
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 […]
May 29, 2026
n the Tuscarora, my micro-layout, you can climb aboard the cab of an eastbound coal train. You’ll rattle out of Westly, cross Tenmile Creek, enter the Tuscarora interlocking plant, whistle at the signpost, look for orders at the tower, cross Morgan Street, loop through the long curve between Inner and Outer industrials, clear town and enter Easton. That’s your run. You will probably pass a freight train in Tuscarora, same engine, same consist (perhaps progressively shorter) each time. The run takes maybe 30 seconds. On the Lehigh, Monongahela and Ohio, you’ll board a coal train at Carbon Hill. After doing […]
May 24, 2026
ell, it was a week full of sucking, specifically inlaws sucking cash and me siphoning water from a blown washing machine (which will also suck cash). And eyeball surgery, which made my vision a bit “off”, which sucks, too. And then there was the sucky second-guessing conversation about when, specifically, in the PM this session would take place. So I wasn’t sure if I was going to come or just sit at home and try to read anime subtitles. But I got three offers for rides out (since my driving kinda sucks right now, too) and accepted Terry B’s gracious […]
May 18, 2026
his time, I’m letting the owner blog his own piece for his own layout. Really, it was a nice write-up and I didn’t have anything to go with (other than being the “bad cop” in the debrief when everyone was blowing sunshine up Doc’s ass). But I liked it, asked him, and he said I could quote him. So, here’s what Doc had to say. Thanks to the Krewe of WAZU for making our little re-boot a fun and enjoyable event. Special Thanks goes to “Shoeless” Bob for making the sacrifice to work his shift even though he was dealing […]