| Author |
 Topic  |
|
dnhman
Fireman
USA
1049 Posts |
 Posted - 01/18/2008 : 1:39:52 PM
|
Ok I have been planning on doing this for a while.
I wanted to share with the group some of the layouts that we here in New Jersey operate on. You may have read elsewhere within the forums but I am part of the South Jersey Railroad Operators group which meets every Friday (and for some Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. Someone has to confirm for me any Tuesday nights!!). There are about 20 or so folks who participate in the group. There are 4 layouts that are part of the official Friday night group and 4 or 5 more including mine that are fill in layouts or run on other nights that we operate on. Mark F's layout was one of those until he dismantled it a few months ago.
Today I will share Diamond Bill's layout which is also one of the fill in layouts. We operated there several weeks ago on a Friday night. PJ who is the administrator of the master schedule sent out a notice to the whole group so we had 20 operators come by. It was truly a packed house.
Here is the host Diamond Bill (Guess how he got his nick name,,Heheheh). Bill is great host and is always laughing and joking and can take (and dish out) a heap of constructive  criticism.
This photo was taken at the last MER convention in Lynchburg. The sign behind him made a good backdrop.
On to the Ops;;;;
Bill has a multi point to multi point, multi deck HO scale layout which fills his entire basement. His layout represents the central New Jersey water front area for inspiration BUT he will tell you that any correlation to a prototype is mostly accidental. A full schedule has 40+ trains to run so two sessions are need to complete the full schedule. The stations that are manned are Weehawken yard that requires 2 people; Hoboken needs one and one dispatcher (me). Those positions are designated as these positions need "trained" people operating in them. In addition there is one tower operator in Jersey City and 2 operators in the Bush Terminal railroad (a connected switching layout). The road crews sign up for a train with the dispatcher and we follow the list. There is no cherry picking of trains, when your done with a run you can sign up for what ever train is next. Each train has an instruction card which has the run name, to and from destinations, car limits and any switching instructions.
Here is a picture of the sign up sheet that I use to track time and any issues that arise;
Bill uses a 4 sided car card waybill system by Shenware;
Here is a picture of the layout schematic, these photos are not the best but you can get a general idea of the plan.
The main hub of activity is the Weehawken yard, Hoboken yard and the interlocking area to the west of Hoboken. Cars are routed from trains in staging to one of the yards or tower areas then moved to industries by locals and way freights.
Bill also runs many passenger trains.
Here is Mark F and Bruce (steamnut) pondering about what to do with some cars in Weehawkin.
Here is PJ in Hoboken;
Here is a shot of the passenger trains lined up in Newark;
Bill is well known for being low tech so here is a picture of the main interlocking area one the three on the layout that has electrical turnout control. The rest of the turnouts are manually operated.
This a wire and lug arrangement mounted on Bill's favorite material foamcore. And yes the lugs are 22 caliber shells.
The sessions start at 7:30 and run till about 12 or when operators start to fade out. There are lots of laughs and good time is always the norm.
Here are some overall shots:
I will hope to post more on this and the other layouts that are part of the group.
Thankss for reading,,
Joe |
Cheers!, Joe |
|
|
Rick
Administrator
USA
17863 Posts |
Posted - 01/18/2008 : 2:14:45 PM
|
Joe, thanks for starting this thread and telling us about the operating group. I've visited Bills layout on a number of occasions but have only been involved with one ops session. Bill certainly is a fun guy guy to hang around with and can definitely dish out his share of abuse. But, like you already mentioned, can take it too.
I look forward to seeing pictures of more of the layouts from the group. Maybe I can tag along to some of them too and take some pics. (hint,hint) |
 |
|
|
Mike Hamer
Engineer
9409 Posts |
Posted - 01/18/2008 : 5:05:46 PM
|
| Thanks so much Joe for sharing images and supporting documentation on how Bill sets up his wonderful layout for train ops. It's so great being a part of a round robing group where you get to share the hobby with a bunch of fun-loving operators who help bring a system to life for a few hours each time. Keep those posts and pics a-coming! [:-thumbu][:-thumbu] |
All the best, Mike Hamer
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
http://craftsmanstructures.blogspot.com
http://bostonandmaine.blogspot.com
http://fridaynightgroup.blogspot.com |
Edited by - Mike Hamer on 10/19/2011 6:39:21 PM |
|
|
|
MarkF
Engineer
USA
9329 Posts |
Posted - 01/18/2008 : 11:03:03 PM
|
Great idea to start this thread Joe! I know you were threatening to do this a while back.
I'll be the first to concur with Joe about Bill. One of the nicest gentleman you will ever meet, and a great layout to operate on. One note worth mentioning. In the photos you will notice that the layout is multi-deck, but what is not obvious is that it is a mushroom design. The amount of railroad that Bill has crammed into a small space is amazing. And we all have a blast operating on it!
We are indeed fortunate to have a lot of railroads here in South Jersey to operate on and I'm glad Joe started this thread. Between Joe and Rick's photo's, you guys are in for a real treat seeing some of these layouts. |
Mark
See my homepage at http://home.comcast.net/~prrndiv/
|
|
|
|
crabster
Engine Wiper
USA
314 Posts |
Posted - 01/19/2008 : 7:38:59 PM
|
I guess it depends on what one considers South Jersey. I'm about as far south as you can get as I live just outside Cape May [:-bigeyes]. All you guys in Gloucester and Camden counties should be considered Central NJ! [:-paperbag]
Seriously though. Thanks for posting the pictures, they offer some great inspiration! |
|
|
|
MarkF
Engineer
USA
9329 Posts |
Posted - 01/19/2008 : 11:21:03 PM
|
| Well Anton, you know your always welcome at any of these op sessions if you are up to the drive. |
Mark
See my homepage at http://home.comcast.net/~prrndiv/
|
|
|
|
dnhman
Fireman
USA
1049 Posts |
Posted - 01/20/2008 : 3:30:21 PM
|
Rick Anton, Your all invited if you like.
Mike,, Thanks much for the comments, this indeed a great hobby.
Anton,, I live up in central Jersey in the Brunswick area and take a lot of heat from the team for being a "northerner". Bill and I travel as far south as Swedesboro!! A good 1+ hour trip, that is always worth it. (likewise folks travel north to operate on layout)
I wanted to add a bit to the main discussion above, some points that I left off on the operations aspects of Bill's layout.
Bill like most in the group uses Digitrax control system with radio capability. Most members bring their own throttles. Some operators with out layouts have DT400 or UT4's. Some layout owners have extra throttles on hand for those who don’t own any.
For most all our sessions we use FRS radios for communication between the operators. Again most own their own units.
Another note on Bill that I wanted to discuss was that Bill is an operations junkie, he is a member of the Operations SIG and has traveled to many meets and sessions to operate where ever and when ever he can. This interest has given him many ideas on operations and he has tried many different operations schemes on his layout. He has tried wheel reports, car in car out, switch lists, modified waybills, Caragni ,, you name it. For now as mentioned before he has stuck with the 4 sided CCWB method using the software from Shenware, http://members.aol.com/Shenware/ Most of the team hopes he sticks with it. All of the systems out there have there good and bad points but this system seems to work better on this layout. This is a system that most operators are familiar with. Using one type of system across the layouts does make it easier to understand and operate on when you operate on 8 or so different layouts. When you have a car management system that is the consistent and then all you need to do is learn the rules and procedures of the layout. This type of consistency helps operators feel comfortable and focus on other areas and have fun rather then worry about paperwork.
Another reason that the CCWB method is a good approach for Bill's layout is the sheer size of the system, the number of trains and cars moved in a session. The flexibility allows for smoother operation even if the yard does get crunched from time to time.
Thanks all for reading, hope to post more in the future,
Joe
|
Cheers!, Joe |
|
|
|
crabster
Engine Wiper
USA
314 Posts |
Posted - 01/20/2008 : 10:43:20 PM
|
| Thanks Mark! I have been known to make a trek or two up into "central" Jersey. |
Edited by - crabster on 01/20/2008 10:43:40 PM |
|
|
|
Diamond Bill
New Hire
USA
34 Posts |
Posted - 01/29/2008 : 11:49:44 AM
|
| I want to thank Joe for taking the trouble to do this wonderful expose of my layout and operating sessions. I also appreciate the wonderful comments from you folks that have commented on this forum string. So far the comments have been nice. I am holding my breath for the other "Shoe" to drop. I know the ball busting will commence very soon. I can feel the tension in the air. Mark is waiting for me to open the door. Well here it is: "My layout would run much better if I could get some decent Yard operators." Let's see were this goes! Diamond Bill |
|
|
|
Steam Nut
Fireman
USA
1291 Posts |
Posted - 01/29/2008 : 1:08:17 PM
|
| One thing about Bill's layout is the ease it takes to change it. All you need is a sharp knife cause its 80% foam core! And Bill remember there were two yard operators! Stay tuned, I'm loading! |
Steam Lives! |
|
|
|
dnhman
Fireman
USA
1049 Posts |
Posted - 01/29/2008 : 1:08:38 PM
|
Bill,,, Geesh,,, I love you man BUUUUT. those who live glass houses,,,
I can reacall some action or inaction once on the D&H where by a whole train went missing? Yes missing??? Hrrmmm .. Then on anohter session letss see north south??? Oh well.
Mark,, you owe me,,, "ping" |
Cheers!, Joe |
|
|
|
MarkF
Engineer
USA
9329 Posts |
Posted - 01/29/2008 : 7:40:36 PM
|
Oh boy, where do I start! [:-devil]
First, it should be known that at no time has that yard operated more smoothly as when Steam Nut and I are at the controls! That is, after we decoded the waybill information, weeded out the cars that wouldn't roll or couple, and fixed the yard after the 'owner' staged it for us!
Now, speaking of yard operations, if memory serves me correctly, I seem to recall a recent session on Joe's D&H where the entire railroad came to a grinding halt and all operators were standing around the yard looking at the yard operator in great frustration as he said "can someone bring that train back, I put the wrong cars on it". Let's see, who was that??? [:-idea] Uh yeah, it was DIAMOND BILL!!! [:-banghead]
As Joe said, 'those who live in glass houses...'! |
Mark
See my homepage at http://home.comcast.net/~prrndiv/
|
|
|
|
Diamond Bill
New Hire
USA
34 Posts |
Posted - 01/30/2008 : 12:41:03 PM
|
| Retaliation is swift. I must have a way about me that brings out the true colors of my friends. Sheesh! make one little yard mistake and you never hear the end of it. That boo boo at Joe's gave you guys a chance to eat the goodies. Joe puts out a great spread and I did not want you to miss out. |
|
|
|
MarkF
Engineer
USA
9329 Posts |
Posted - 01/30/2008 : 4:34:59 PM
|
Yeah Bill, careful what doors you open! [:-eyebrows]
Well, as everyone can see, us south jersey guys are a tough group, but all good close friends. |
Mark
See my homepage at http://home.comcast.net/~prrndiv/
|
|
|
|
dlwrailfan1
Crew Chief
USA
574 Posts |
Posted - 02/16/2008 : 11:46:29 PM
|
Diamond Bill is a gracious and generous host. We kid him about many things, but he is simply the best.
|
|
|
|
Tim Kerkhoff
Fireman
USA
5869 Posts |
Posted - 02/16/2008 : 11:58:28 PM
|
| Sounds like you guys have a great time together. Nice to see the layout as well. |
|
|
|
Topic |
|
South Jersey Rail Operators group
