Since many of you have operating sessions on your layouts, do you make your own timetables for those based on your layouts?
Is it a good idea to have them or do they not serve a purpose?
it depends on your attitude toward timetable operation. even with a fast clock it is hard to compress time on a model railroad.
i operate with a sequence of events rather than with a strict time schedule.
for instance, when we get about 35 cars for one destination, it is time to call a crew and send the train on it’s way to staging. when we get around 25 cars for a connecting road, we send the cut off to that connection. when we get enough industry cars to make it worthwhile, we order an extra transfer job etc. etc.
when we need room in staging for one of these outbound trains, we bring one into the yard and switch it out.
this way, i can operate the entire thing by myself or as many as 4 guys can stay busy if there are that many available to run the thing.
it is fun to let a passenger train orbit the main line all the while and work ahead and behind it as necessary.
Charlie
Yes, it does make sense.
Train Times - I have set up a list of trains that run everyday. I think this is similar to the way a real railroad would operate, although a small RR may have a weekly train schedule. The same trains would be run each day, but delivering different cars to different or the same industries, depending on the need of the industries served. This is more like a sequence of trains run per session, although I do have a fast clock that is used SOMETIMES for the starting times of trains just to maintain some type of order.
Employee Timetable - I also made up an Employee Timetable for my regular operators. It is patterned after a C&O Employee Timetable written in the years of the era I am modeling. New operators get more out of it than the older hands because it explains the different routes and some very basic rules. I don’t strictly make anyone follow it because this is a hobby and supposed to be fun.
Here is a link on basic Operations, if you haven’t seen it before:
http://www.waynes-trains.com/site/Operations/Operations.html
YES! The LION likes making timetables. That can be a hobby or an interest group all by itself.
OK, on my old layout (Eregion Railroad) I modeled the tracks between Bree and Fornost, points east, west and south were staging yards, but I drew out the entire system on paper, calculated distances to the stations, running time between stations, and created a string map so that I could run the railroad without any conflicts.
That part done, I could then run the respective trains in and out of Bree according to the time table.
It also demonstrated what equipment was where. I could not use a consist for a Shire to Bree train if the equipment was not in the Shire.
It makes for a more realistic feeling operation even if you are only modeling one station.
NOW THEN… on to my present layout. The current timetable is reflected in this “Train Register”, you can see most of the trains that my 242nd Street interlocking must handle in one day. What is not shown in this register is the several MOW trains that move across the layout during the night hours. They would have to be written in as comments. Nor does it show the express trains which pass through the territory but handled by the Lenox Avenue and the Nevins Street Towers. (Actually those are two separate loops each with a single train on them, and they just do as they please. They are supposed to maintain a five minute interval, just like the local trains do, but the LION has enough on his plate with the local trains.)
When the LION gets two more train sets modified for operations on this railroad, AND installs a new signal system to prevent rear ending your leader, I will be able to run trains on a three minute headway.
ROAR
My approach is diametrically opposite the original question, for two reasons:
- I am approximating the operation of a real 1:1 scale rail line.
- I got the prototype’s timetable FIRST.
Anyone with access to the Japan Travel Bureau’s master timetable for September, 1964 can simply compare train numbers, arrival and departure times - and know exactly which stations on which routes I have included in my modeling efforts. The only things I changed were the station names, so no one can fault the selective compression of facilities.
So, do I operate by timetable? As far as possible, yes. The layout is incomplete, so certain schedules which require trackage that hasn’t been built have been temporarily annulled. When my glacial pace of construction makes it possible, that trackwork will be built and additional schedules will go from annulled to operating. I already own the required rolling stock and motive power.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Yes I have a timetable and we use it with a fast clock. I am still tweaking it as I get more info from operating sessions in regards to how long it takes certain trains tio traverse the line. Ultimate goal is TT & TO operations.
I would suggest that you ease into the timetable thing if you haven’t used them before. Start with a layout schematic (showing all the towns, industries and sidings and car capacities). From there decide which trains you want to run and to where. From there develop a sequence for running these trains and eventually you can go to a timetable set-up. You will also need clocks for a timetable (to start, use your phone).
For more info - check Tony K.'s book on operation and or Paul Scoles operation video as well as the numerous videos and tutorials online on the subject.,
Guy
One of the problems with “Clock and Timetable” on the HO railroad is that stations that are supposed to be say six miles apart are actually only six feet apart. Even with a fast clock it is a stretch, because not all stations are the same "time-Distance from each other.:
0.0 ----- Grand Terminal
2.6 mi — Station No 1
6.4 mi — Station No 2
9.3 mi — Station No 3.
But now suppose that station 1 is 10 physical feet from the terminal and station 2 is another 10 physical feed from station 1, and station 3 is 6 physical feet from station 2… The analog of the time to distance traveled is kaput!
NOW on the Route of the LION, I have modeled selected stations between 242nd Street and South Ferry. South Ferry is on a loop and the trains return to 242nd Street for a run of nine scale miles and a 20 minute trip time. With 32 platform edges visited by the train, I can write a “timetable” accurate for this railroad, but I do not bother with this. There IS a clock with 1:1 time on it, and there is a timetable listing 400+ arrivals and departures from 242nd street, but once the train leaves 242nd street I no longer care about it until it comes back 20 minutes later.
LION also has a timer to release trains once they have stopped at the various stations. The RAILROAD, the MASTER CLOCK and the TIMER are all on a single circuit with a PAUSE button. If I have to stop the action to fix a derailed train, or because it is time for Mass, everything waits where it was for my return.
ROAR