Modern commuter service -
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.
MRH-Feb 2013
