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Bruce Morden, The number of humps being taken out of service is related to the PSR that has run through a lot of Class 1’s lately. As for the idea of building an H. O. Scale hump yard, I’m not sure it’s within “our” purview to advise someone to do something or not. Maybe how to do it, you know, “I’ve found this method easiest for me…”. I CAN say that I’ve NEVER seen an actual working HO scale hump. The very closest I’ve seen is the hump on the Long Island Club layout. So I’d advise a large, well engineered flat switching yard ninety-nine times out of a hundred. Paul Catapano Winchester, VA. atlanticinlandrailway.blogspot.com

As the best location that I know of on the internet to get information on prototypical model railroad operations I am very curious as to your thoughts, the hive mind of operations, on the following topic. I started a thread in another groups.io about yard mode on a throttle. The conversation turned into a back and forth about how yard mode is not prototypical for operations. The replies were that there are not any throttles that are prototypical. The ProtoThrottle being the closest, but only for a specific EMD locomotive. So what say you experts of the model railroading operations community. Is using yard mode on a throttle not acceptable for prototypical operations? Should it be discouraged in favor of ... what? What do you consider proper throttle etiquette for operating in a prototypical manner? Reminder: This is a discussion and no one answer will be correct for 100% of the people. Please be courteous of your fellow model railroad operators. I am aware that asking 10 model railroaders their opinions will result in 16 correct, but diametrically opposed answers. -- Thanks, Heath @ Human[c]ity http://RTSL.nyc http://humancity.org

Hello all Quick introduction: I am a member of a model railroad club in east moline Illinois. Known as the Quad City Society of Model Engineers. We are currently designing a humpyard for car sorting. First wondering if anyone in this group has done this. Second if so, what your glad you did? what you wish you hadn’t. Right now we are experimenting with various hump heights in comparison to how far the car has to go. A few parameters: thinking 9-10 tracks, probably a 5” hump height, probably piko 3-way and peco switches. Not really concerned about down hump wiring as gravity should move thing along. Eventually using computer controlled servos as switch controls. The rest I’ll share as we get it working. Any videos would also be helpful. any advice appreciated Paul

I was at an op session the other night and had an assignment as one of the yard masters. The layout owner is trying to establish some formal operations, but his regular crew can best be described as "operations challenged" and is resistant to anything too formal (which includes following a timetable). What the owner has come up with is typed (in Microsoft Word) instructions for each train. The instructions have everything a crew needs - train number/name, engine and decoder information, start/end points, etc., and any instructions of what to do at intermediate stations (if applicable). The issue is he gave the same instructions to the dispatcher and the two yard masters. As one of the yard masters, I felt there was too much information for what I needed to do my job, and it became cumbersome to sort through it all to get to what I needed to do my job. The DBA in me (one of my skillsets I usually don't admit to having) is thinking there is a way to enter the data one time and then split it so each position has what they need to do their jobs. What I am thinking is an Excel file where all of the information for a train can be entered once, then it will populate the required information separately for the train crew, yard masters, and dispatcher. This would prevent having to manually create three separate documents containing a lot of redundant data. I'm thinking Excel as everyone has it, and it is easier for someone to use than a more database type of program. Has anyone done this before? I would be surprised if I am the first person in here to think of this, and I am a firm believer of not recreating the wheel if I don't have to. If so, can you share with me the file format you used? Thanks in advance. -- Bill Parks Cumming, GA Modelling the Seaboard Airline in Central Florida

I have seen, and used, paint brush bristles, painted as grass to hold cars on sidings with grades. They are stiff enough to stop a string from rolling away, yet flexible enough for a locomotive to pull a train over them. They were painted green to disguise them, so I’m guessing this was where the “grass” idea came from. In any case I am going to be the “neigh-bob of negativity” on this idea. As an academic exercise I SUPPOSE it might be a lot of fun. But do not waste your time and resources trying to build a working model. A big flat switching yard is “good enough”. Paul Catapano Winchester, VA. “It’s not just good, it’s good enough…”

The OPSIG has created a new Facebook group. We currently have an Operations SIG page on Facebook, which will continue. The new group is a discussion forum. For those interested, the group can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2508886722776038 This new group is not a substitute for our existing website, Facebook page, or any of our communications tools. This is another mechanism for the operations community to engage if they choose to do so. Rick Watson Operations SIG President

All, please let me address the confusion. As Paul explained in post #100617, this group is not going away. It is not owned by the OpSIG. You are welcome to continue to post here. OpSIG leadership started the new Facebook group in response to member demand. It is another mechanism to communicate. We have over 4K followers on the Operations SIG page on Facebook. However, the page is not interactive. Facebook group is. We've had over 250 folks join the new Facebook group in less than 48 hours and many are sharing fantastic content. Many are OpSIG members, others are not. All are welcome. If you're not a Facebook person, that's okay. You are under no obligation to join. The OpSIG will continue with all of our normal communication tools and methods, we've just added a new tool to the toolbox. Rick Watson Operations SIG President

A reminder that sales of items are not allowed on this group. There are other venues you can you to sell your items. A message posted earlier today has been deleted. Bruce Wilson Group Owner

So Jim P. admonished me that I owed a review of my weekend at Bay Rails (Bayrails.com). Darn ,,,, I had hoped no one would remember. And I don't want anyone pulling out their teeth! Anyway, here goes. I served on the crew of three excellent railroads: the CVRR, SCN and Santa Roselita Branch RR. You can check the Bay Rails website for details regarding these three layouts. As an owner of a medium size, 5-6 person operation, my number one priority after an op weekend was to hopefully hear that my railroad ran really well. My operating scheme was what I wanted; my choice of prototype, location and time period was what I preferred; my building and modeling skills were what they were. Relative to visitors, the only thing I could improve upon in a significant way was reliability. With one minor exception, all three railroads ran very well. The smallest railroad, Tony T's Santa Roselita, staffing consisted of two 2-man crews. The superintendent simply kept a watchful eye and provided guidance upon request or offered suggestions to keep us from messing up too badly. Two man crews work very well on the railroad which is primarily a switching operation. My partner and I had a number of discussions regarding the best strategy for switching several cars throughout the session. It is always interesting to listen to a different point of view for the same problem. At least it is for me. The SR RR did have a track problem in that a turnout was causing intermittent derailments: we were warned about this and told several corrective attempts had not solved the problem. I appreciate being informed of a trouble spot at the beginning of an op session. I do not like finding a problem during an op session, particularly when the problem should have been identified beforehand, which is not always the case. Sometimes Murphy shows up. Given that, my partner and I figured out how to best deal with the occasional derailment with no loss of enjoyment. The RR is fully sceniced and is representative of a fictional SP branchline. The owner is an SP expert and you should religiously read his blog regardless of your RR preferences. The crew stays with their initial train throughout the op session, so no waiting around between runs other than the lunch break. I would go back to the SRB RR in a heartbeat. Jim P's Santa Cruz Northern is a largish medium size TT&TO layout: the crew is roughly a dozen folks, including a dispatcher, two agent/operators and a YM. The SCN is fully sceniced and represents a fictional railroad based on what the prototype might have looked like in the 1970's. Between the two terminal points, there are a number of towns on this double deck layout. My first assignment was a first class passenger train, which is a great way to understand the geography of the RR and get familiar with the traffic control process. I barely had time to grab a bottle of water when I was assigned to the cement train which is a roughly 20 car train that runs part of the RR, and diverges to a branch line to service a cement plant. I spent the rest of the op session (somewhere north of 4 hours) running this one train. Let me simply say that pushing 20 cars very carefully (It is a long way to the floor) is an experience. You need to know TT&TO basics, including flagging. That's flAgging, not flogging! My being the crew on an extra train meant being required to comprehend a timetable and being patient as higher class trains passed by at the branchline switch to get back on the mainline. I spent a number of minutes (maybe 10) waiting for a late class 4 freight to show up at my mainline junction. Good time to get scenery ideas, take a deep breath and BS with a YM on the lower level. The SCN operated great. I would gladly return. The largest of the three layouts was Paul W's Central Vermont which required a crew of roughly 15+ people. The CVRR is also a TT&TO multiple level design and is housed in a large separate building. Most road crews operate as a pair. The CVRR ran flawlessly and there was just enough time between assignments to dump some coffee. One of the sid

A summary of the recent RPM-East prototype modeler event is the latest feature on my DesignBuildOp blog. https://designbuildop.hansmanns.org/2025/04/03/2025-rpm-east-summary/ Eric Hansmann Philadelphia, Penna.

The plastic sleeve is okay if you need to change the paperwork inside from time to time. To protect something permanently I’d get a laminating machine from Staples, etc. They are not expensive. Additional thought on the plastic sleeves. These become somewhat troublesome to sort because they stick together. Paul Catapano Winchester, VA.

The article is here, if you have a subscription to the WSJ: It is an interesting article. Thanks, Gary, for the heads up on it. https://www.wsj.com/real-estate/luxury-homes/a-hobbyists-death-starts-a-race-to-save-a-railroad-05cb6264

Hi All, Is there anyone interested in lists of RR telegraph calls for depots and other locations? I recently received a bunch of them for many roads which were compiled by a friend and researcher from ETTs and pubs issued by the roads. Also are there any groups anyone is aware of that collects these? I was contacted years ago by a telegrapher group that collected them from all segments of transports etc industries. Contact me at raildata 45 at gmail dot com Blessings! Allen Stanley

Hi, Hopefully I'm going to provide a different perspective ... I have operated on a lot of different layouts. To me there are three specific ways to set up the Ops (aka "Dispatch a layout"). 1) Some form of "event driven" method. This is where the next thing to be done (order/warrant written) depends upon, for example, the completion of some other train. (I am not talking about "not in effect until ___".) The trains are 'launched' only after some reasonable other event has completed. This method is common on layouts where 'everything is an Extra'. This method is especially effective where the entire Op depends upon the ability of a single yard and the events are "when the yard is done working Train X then I will call/launch Train Y". 2) TT&TO where the timetable has been worked out - over many Ops sessions - with the goal of minimizing the 'conflicts'. Usually with this method the number of Extras is low and they are only 'called' when it is clear that they will run with a reasonable amount of waiting. 3) Any attempt at implementing an actual prototypical Timetable. This includes starting with the actual TT and 'cutting back'. From my experience - #1 is the best (in terms of how much you "wait" as an operator/"don't wait"). #2 is usually good but depends heavily upon the skill of both the Dispatcher -and- the crew. #3 is often a disaster (in terms of how much the guys running trains wait -and- how many guys end up waiting for long periods. (There are variations on these 3 methods.) There is one type #3 layout that is notorious for people leaving a session saying to themselves -and- to the home crew "I will -never- come back." This is actually very predictable - the prototype schedule was developed over years of experience and with the actual real world track (# of sidings, capacity of sidings, and actual run times between sidings). The response "that's real railroading" is, in my opinion, a total cop out and I am one of those who will not ever return (and has not for over 15 years - because the reports of others who have been there since has continued to be "great railroad - but you end up waiting forever". - Jim in the PNW

Here is the latest operations-oriented video on the HO scale Colorado & Southern Ry, “A Boxcar’s Journey”, episode 10. https://youtu.be/-zcdNuR53oc Ride along with a veteran New York Central boxcar on the HO Scale Colorado & Southern Northern Division, and experience model railroading from a new point of view. Enjoy as our intrepid freight car travels to new towns and makes new friends. And boy, does our hero have opinions – freely dispensed. But he’s not harsh. If you can't say anything nice... Note that the video’s star, NYC 194287, was built by my friend Chuck Cover – an outstanding modeler and operator. I hope you enjoy it! Please watch, like and subscribe! Thanks. Jim Ferenc Boulder, CO www.csrailway.com www.youtube.com/@CSRYfan

I've got a bit of a dilemma. I've got a train that runs as a extra to do line switching out from a yard and back. Generally I issue a WORK EXTRA order to him as he has work in several locations. The problem is that the final point where he turns around to run back to the yard is not a TO station, just a call box. Is there some way that a train in this location would be able to run from the turn-point back to the next TO station? Right now the only solution I came up with is to hold trains at the TO station for orders, then issue No Order Clearances once the turn OSes at the TO station. Robert Raymond http://www.robertraymond.com