When you are running operations on your pike and you’re taking out a train of cars to be set out at various industries and picking up those that are to come back to your yard (or go farther down the line to other industries),
Do you always put the cars you’re picking up at the rear of your train or at the front?
Which is the most efficient use of time, which the prototype is always up against.
Do you use passing sidings out on the mainline to realign the order of your cars if need be?
Jarrell
I usually try to put them on whatever end is more efficient when making the pickup, to minimise runaround moves, but there are a few safety rules which were in place on the prototype:
I choose to follow these, as it makes the session a bit more interesting. Ultimately, whatever rules you follow are up to you.
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
tbdanny
It depends on the work the train has to do. For one train it may work better to place pulls at the rear, but less so for another. For example a turn-around job may do work both directions, with the head end of the train becoming the rear on the way back to the yard. Different crews may wish to handle the same job differently as well, and I don’t attempt to force a given method on them.
Yes. Prototype crews do this if there’s no convenient yard.
I haven’t done a full operating session yet, mostly because I still don’t have enough rolling stock to support one, but I’ve planned out how everything will work.
The local must be staged separated onto two tracks because I don’t have one long enough to fit the whole thing, so, before each session, I will rearrange the cars in specific spots in the consist to avoid the need to reshuffle later. Then, it will back out of the yard and build its train so that each car for each industry is where it should be.
As the train heads west, it will switch the industries that have trailing point sidings. The consist will be split at the last car that needs to be spotted, and the rest of the train will be left on the main. It will switch cars, and recouple to the train so that the new cars are in the same spots in the train where the old cars were. On the way back east, the power will be on the east end of the train, along with the cars that still need to be swapped. Now, all the industries that now have trailing point sidings will be switched in the same manner as before. This prevents unnecessary runarounds (which are very difficult on a layout with one loop and no passing siding) and having to use the whole train as a switching handle.
Hopefully, all of the above makes sense. It does to me, but hopefully I made that clear enough for everyone else to understand. In reality, it’s simple. Easier to do than to explain…
Heres how one prototype road did it. This road had a union agreement with the BRT (trainmen) that required all shorts to be lined up in station order behind the engine, as did most (Soo Line west of Twin Cities an exception) roads.
Train called “Red Ball Pick UP” out of Blue Island (MP 15.7) about midnight would have cars to pick up and/ or set out at Joliet (MP39), Morris (61), Seneca (72), Marsailles (76), Ottawa Yard (86), Utica (94)or LaSalle (99), Spring Valley-CNW interchange (102), DePue (110), sometimes Bureau (114) and Sheffield (137). This was in the days before radio except maybe on the engine and caboose. Tinley Park and Sheffield were about the only places one would have to spot a car to industry. At Joliet thru Bureau there were day time switch jobs that did the actual industry work.
At Joliet set out and then pick up behind engine, if it was a big pick up would cut it in behind shorts. At Morris thru Ottawa Yard we would set out and then pick up behind cars we were already hanging onto. At Ottawa Yard (west end) we would set cars already picked up to the eastward main track leaving room for the remainder of our shorts, go back to train on westward track to pick up all our shorts and set them to the eastward on top of the thru cars we just set there, cut off our Ottawa shorts, set them to the yard. With the engines, go back to the eastward track, grab our shorts, double to the Ottawa pick up, double to the thru cars on eastward, and last double back to train on westward to depart. If we had a big pick up at Ottawa we would put it back to the westward first and double eastward main to it because there was a curve about 50 cars west of the crossovers we used to work west end of yard. If handling too many cars head brakemand would have to drop off part way around curve to pass signs. If the work was light the rest of
Jarrell, Generalluy, I subscribe to the theaory odf “Don’t screw the Dispatcer by shuffling the deck on the Mainline.” Our yardmasters at the NWR lack a certain imagination in assembling trains, and our industries are almost too easily laid out, piclups tend to end up where it’s easiest to put them. For the Cementville Turn, it’s usually the back, IF there are cars going to the Secondary. When handling West Marmon/Thomasville, Marmon cars coming inbound are parked on the runaround while the roadswitcher pulls the outbounds and drops them on the wye. (if we aren’t using the dedicated switch engine, if we are, then everyhting is a straight-handoff .) In your example, West Marmon would tend to re-align Thomasville cars and West-Marmon cars, but that’s not on the main. Thomasville is a grain mill, a cattle pen, and a pallet company, so trains pull up, cut the consist where the drop cars are, pull them and everything ahead behind, collect the cars they are replacing, attach them to the parked set of cars, and replace them with the new crop. pickups can end up wherever in that instance. Because of switch placements, crews workign Thomasville will inevitably tie up the main anyway, so length of trains being used to switch&n
The correct answer is, “It depends…”
How many cars are coming back to the yard? Is there time and room in the yard to turn them around properly? How much time would be lost out on the road to line things up better?
Example, North Job, out and back.
On the way out, cars are distributed, some are pulled. At end of line, much switching ensues, many customers. Leaving end of line town, heading back, train is lined up properly, Chicagos on rear, shorts ahead.
Any pickups on way back are feathered in appropriately, as there isn’t time or room in the yard to sort out 100+ cars on some days.
Getting back into town, big slug of Chicagos are cut off outside of town. Shorts are brought in, sorted as needed. Other Chicago traffic from other trains is put together, being mindful of trying to keep loads on head end, and hazardous placement rules. Try to keep big trains out of yard, which leaves room in yard to switch out inbounds. Gets hectic some nights.
The East job gets in earlier, usually not as big, they have time to flip their stuff around if needed. Faster for these guys to slam things together and get into town. If it is a simple move or two, it could be done along the line.
Jarrell
I have 2 yards on my current layout and we just run the locals from one yard to the other.
The Yard OPs are the ones that have to reclassify the trains in making up any new trains
SO
my regular operators switch the cars at the various towns and industries at what ever is easiest for them!
The mixed up trains then go to the yards and the Yard OPs may have a little more work to do to rebuild another train but that keeps them busy!
And most of my regular operators tend to run the trains too fast anyway - but if they are happy then they will keep coming back!
If I impose too many rules - they begin to think that the OPs Session is like work and start whining! 
BOB H - Clarion, PA
“If I impose too many rules - they begin to think that the OPs Session is like work and start whining! ;-)”
Oh, how true that is!
Thanks to all for your answers!
Jarrell
As others have noted, this depends primarily on whether the spurs are trailing point or facing point, where the nearest/next runaround is located, etc.
Many of these basic questions are well-answered in John Armstrong’s Track Planning for Realistic Operation and Tony Koester’s Realistic Model Railroad Operation: How to Run Your Trains Like the Real Thing
As mentioned in the other thread, the model railroad Operations Special Interest Group is another good resource.
Byron