I recieved the first DVD today in the mail. This is a new series in addition to the previous DPB Series volume 1-7.
The first DVD talked very extensively about operations on a railroad with the MR staff.
I think it is very well done. I am still a little confused on the trains coming from “Beyond the layout” because the NH staging represents three seperate locations. How are those trains and consists selected?
Is the trains determined by the 2 or 4 cycle waybills of each freight car?
The first train from staging to Waterbury yard had an awful lot of cars. Does every car on this train have a specific destination on the railroad itself? Is there enough industry spots to take em all? Or are some of these cars stored at the yard until a spot opens up?
I also noticed that there was not too much attention paid to lading or number of passengers. Only to what industries and station stops to make with the fast clock. Did this detail stay off the DVD production? Or is it simply “Left out” to ease the workload on the operators and Dispatcher?
What happens if a Boxcar assigned to an industry such as Firestone happens to be off layout and there is no boxcar? Does that mean Waterbury Yard must now pick out an empty? If so, where does he get it from? The freight house? Or off another train?
It is easy to say that this boxcar is empty, but might need to be loaded with Firestone tires and where to send the tires to? (Auto plant? Truck Plant? Military Base? Overseas? etc) And finally once the tires are sent, what does the plant need from the outside world by rail? I pose this question using this plant as an example because you have all of these car cards to fill out.
Is there a system in place to rotate the rolling stock so that all of the items has a chance to run on the layout? I see no point in having 50 Boxcars if only several are needed each “Work day” If there happens to be many rolling stock in a box or on the shelf how best to give each a shot