Bear Creek&South Jackson- 9
When things aregoingwell, trains runmoreefficientlyunder
TT&TObecause crews spend littleor notimequeuing for the
dispatcher, but there’spotential for snarl ups. Because infe-
rior trainsmust clear thetimesof superior trains, if afirst-class
traindoesn’t leaveontime, lower class andextra trains stop.
Toprevent this, the crew caller ensureshigh-priority trains get
crewsbefore lower priorityones.
Knowing the correct time is vital under TT&TO. Crewsmust
know to theminutewhen theyareallowed to leavea station
or howmanyminutes remainbeforeanoncoming trainmay
showup.Model railroadershaveabigadvantageover thepro-
totypewhen learningTT&TO, though. If someoneexceeds their
authority, nobodydies (unless a$4000brassBigBoyhits the
concretefloor…). Insteadwe
figureoutwhat happenedand
how toavoid it.
I use4x fast clocks tokeep
time. I find this ratio is fast
enough that a train’s schedule
doesn’t have the same leaving
time formultiple stations, but
it’s relaxedenough toavoid
hypertension fromwatch-
ing theminutehand zoom
around the clock face. Jumping
betweenwall and railroadtime
is easywitha4:1 ratio, too.
If only I’d known…
Withaproject of this complex-
ity it’s inevitable that problems
slip through thedesignpro-
cess. TheBC&SJ isnoexcep-
tion. Hereare some things that
concernme:
Whena trainheads from
main staging to themod-
eled railroad, it disappears
into thehelixat oneendof
the150’ aisle, eventually
reappearingat the far
end. That’s a lot ofwalking
for crews to followa train!
Useof a stagingmanager
8:UpperBearCreekTerraForming inDecember, 2007.
Groundcontours, backdrop, rock facecarving, andstatic
grassaredone - trees,weeds, andballast arenext.
8
9: BC&SJ employee
timetables include
train schedules,
special instructions,
an abbreviated rule
book, andother helpful
information.
Click here
to a get the full timetable
fromour subscriber
bonus downloads
.
9
MRH-Apr2014
