Modern Commuter Service - 4
6
locomotive or cab car. Usually the cars are of the same type,
except when a Nippon cab car is used at the north end of a
former-Metra consist.
This variety in equipment can be suggested by the use of two
different trainsets in a model operating system. The prototype
VRE currently uses 13 trainsets to operate 30 numbered trains
on the road’s two lines. Two of the trainsets make a pair of
round trips into the city each day, and the others one apiece.
Adding this commuter activity doesn’t necessarily mean adding
a dozen trainsets to your inventory. On a loop layout, the same
trainset can be run several times to represent the repeated
inbound traffic. With a point-to-point design, the trainset can
be run back and forth to represent trains that make more than
one round trip.
6: An Amtrak train shares the afternoon rush hour with
VRE, loading passengers at Alexandria station.
7
The NS trackage used by VRE is a secondary main line, but
still boasts fully-signaled double track. NS runs several locals
over this trackage, plus short unit trains of gravel and etha-
nol to destinations right in the middle of the commuter run.
Keeping this traffic clear of the commuters, plus the Amtrak
trains that also use this track, creates operational challenges
for a model railroad.
The VRE runs south from Washington over the former
Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac (RF&P) trackage, now
operated by CSX. This is a busy potion of the road’s main route
7: VRE V65 approaches one of VREs “bus stop” sta-
tions. These simple shelters provide intermediate stops
between the classic stations at the ends of the VRE lines
in Manassas and Fredericksburg.
MRH-Feb 2014
