operation by creating a lot of switching opportunities along the
way. I use a four-position car card system and way bills, with suf-
ficient switching areas scattered around the layout to keep a train
and its operator busy. In fact, the way freights do most of the
switching in the towns and are most everyone's favorite trains.
The only town that has its own switcher is Eaton and that's a large
industrial complex that can absorb 26 freight cars serving vari-
ous industries. Sometimes it takes two operators just to run the
switchers at Eaton throughout the entire operating session. I also
increase running time by having operators stop to take on fuel,
water, and pick up a new locomotive.
17
17: Overall view of the San Pablo, California. engine
facility with Mount Oberon, Washington. above.
Dispatcher’s desk to the right.
Personally, I'd rather switch
Eaton than run the main-
line. Switching is like playing
chess; it requires concentra-
tion and forethought where
are you going to put this car
to get that car over there,
and so on.
Just about the time you have
it all figured out and you're
about to make your moves,
here comes a train into town
with a string of cars to drop
off or a passenger train tying
up a track you need to stage
some freight cars.
There are two large yards,
one at St. Pablo and another
at Morningside. The
Morningside yard is a stub-
end yard and doesn't get as
much use as the through
yard at St. Pablo. I have to
figure out how to increase the activity at Morningside, perhaps by
having trains come into the yard and getting a crew and locomo-
tive change.
It can take quite a while to make up a train in a yard so there's
always enough work to keep up the interest for a three or four-
hour operating session.
I have 16 trains that I can schedule to run during an operating
session and we typically, though not always, run through most of
them. There are three passenger trains, four through freights, two
way freights, four in and out turns, two branch lines, and a work
18: With the trap door
closed, operators have
easy access to the layout.
Just don’t trip on the
counterbalance cable.
18
Jim Ferguson’s GN - 1
MRH-Oct 2013
