This weekend we had the club open for viewing by the general public. Unfortunately our layout is designed for operation not viewing, so we always end up with a shortage of trains in the publicly viewable area. To compensate I always stage a few trains where they can be brought through when a there is a break in the normal action.
This week one of the trains I staged was my brand new Broadway Limited California Zephyr. While I was setting it up everyone had to come and look and we were talking about its inaugural run. Later, I had run the train around once and when there was a break in the crowds, I restaged it. During the next influx of people I was on a local (see weekend photo fun thread http://cs.trains.com/forums/2/661266/ShowPost.aspx#661266). One of the other members snagged the CZ and paraded it out. After a pass for the public, the inevitable happened. It either went into the upgrade helix off-track or swung funny because the tailing 5 cars came uncoupled shooting out of the tunnel backwards down the track. The engineer immediately stopped, and reached in to fix the problem. Then the loud crunch as two of the cars leapt onto the floor. One of the dome coaches took it square on a corner and with the couplers and body popped off. At first it looked like the only real damage was the stirrup got smashed and the grab irons buckled. A bit closer examination showed that one of the trucks must have really taken a blow, as the electrical pick up had been crammed way up bending the brass pickup ribbon. This force is probably what caused the body to separate from the frame.
I could tell he was really upset about wrecking the train, and I told him it wasn’t his fault and the damage was fairly easily fixed and/or not that noticeable. I said it was no problem and had I been that concerned about it I would not have brought the train down. He would have none of it. We continued running trains, but he immediately got his wireless phone, called the LHS, an
I think the person who ordered you the replacement is a stand-up guy. The Four Laws of Model Railroading sound right on the money.
Since you are getting a replacement, wouldn’t it be nice to repair the damaged one and give it to the person who is paying for the replacement, or donate it to the club?
Real railroads work sort of the same way. My rules are as follows:
Run your trains at your own risk. That includes when your train(s) are unattended, someone else can come along and run them, even if just to move them into staging. See rule 4 for more on this issue.
All equipment is considered working equipment, be it freight, passenger or MOW. Anything that should not be run should be placed in the “Museum” display (show tracks). Working equipment should “earn it’s keep”, that is, run it or interchange it (move it offline).
You are liable for any damage your equipment causes to the railway until it has passed an inspection by the management. Inspections may include taking the equipment on a tour of the railway, testing equipment for interchangeability (coupler height, DCC decoder programming, wheels in gauge, etc.) or operating restrictions for said equipment (such as clearance restrictions). After it passes inspection, then liability falls to the management.
If you run a train, you are liable for its safe movement on the railway. Operators are expected to take all necessary precautions to prevent damage to equipment at all times.
By the end of the operating session, he had reassembled it, checked it out, and placed it in the coach yard. When I packed up later that day, I left it there. I believe he might donate it to the club since he is a hard core UP modeler. I consider it his call.
i say you both handled it very well , i know plenty of people who would have freaked out at the guy for banging up their new possesion . and the other fellow stepping up and not only offering to replace the damaged item(s) but also not letting you talk him out of it shows he’s a great guy . i’m not sure i’d do the same if you tried to talk me out of replacing the car(s)
I have a sherline lathe on which my ‘friend’ who has had machining experience, ran the cross table into the chuck while it was spinning… I’m still waiting after 6 years for him to replace cross table ( a $25 part )… I’m sure I’ll never see it happen… The world would be a much better place if everyone took responsibility for thier actions. I don’t know you so I won’t presume to state what you would have later thought. Initially though, my reaction probably would have been similar… Later on though, I would have been upset about it… but maybe that’s just me…
I wasn’t thinking just in terms of clubs, but more generally anytime one is operating on someone else’s layout. I am in a group where once a month we rotate operating all the different layouts. They are all too large for any one to operate themselves.
I like the rules. In fact, I cut and pasted them to a freind of mine who is my club. We are part of a modular club and wehave the same issue, other peoples stuff.
For us, other people’s stuff is thier stuff. You dont touch it, unless you have exact authority from the person’s mouth. With DCC too, you never know what could be up with the engine. The biggest rule we have, and gratefully, (it has been more of joke), if you cant afford it, dont ask to run it)[:p]
We have had a few things go worng, and thankfully, everyone works it out, just fine. Nice thign about this hobby, most folks are stand up class, and at the least, will understand that engine is notsome 20 dollar wal-mart toy, but 200 dollars of someone hard earned, saved up money
i know the feeling a while back i borrowed a neighbors athearn bb sd 40-2 to see how he had the couplers attached,
while disassembling it i broke the front coupler mount off, bot was i p o’d big time, i told him about it and offered to have it fixed but he declined. i still feel bad about that incident as i handle my models and others like the were brass antique pieces.
i too belong belong to a club and we all run our stuff together sometimes things happen. our benchwork follows prototypical MKT practices like bad track but we fix it on the spot, sometimes out equiptment isnt up to par-trucks way to tight couplers not the right height or mchenry’s intstead of kadee’s. sometimes we get joshed about it but we all have fun.
On our club layout, we have a rule that you only run your trains unless you have the owners permission. This works out fine as we are not yet able to operate the layout and we just run it during shows. At the state fair this year, I was running a train of my own with a friends Atlas sound equiped SD24. I was running on the freight mainline and tow trains were running on the passenger main. Well, someone left and one of the trains needed to be put in the stagging yard. The stagging yard is a shelf with a lift up bridge to connect to the freight mainline. I stopped my train and the other crossed over and went into stagging. I started my train back up and had just gotten to a good speed when the train went into the mountain with the stagging yard turnout. I hear the sound get lower, then stop, then a horrible crash. Everyone runs around behind the mountain to see the SD24 lying there in about 20 pieces. It turns out that the owner of the other train forgot to throw the switch that leads to stagging, and stupid us, there is nothing that would stop the train if the switch is not thrown the right way. He managed to put it all back together in a few minutes and found that the only damage was a broken handrail where it connects to the cab, which really can’t be seen anyway. So it was all good in the end.
I think the unwritten written rules Tex posted are very good. I always assume that anytime I am running trains, they are at some risk. The floor on most of my unfinished layout is 48 inches or more from the track, and the floor is unforgiving. Even given my obsession with testing, retesting and then testing the tests of newly laid track, the worst can and will happen. Murphy does operate here!
Sounds like everyone involved did the right thing. Thanks for passing that along, Tex, because I rarely see situations that are handled with that much integrity, either inside or outside of our hobby. In fact, our hobby is probably many times better in that respect than the “outside world.”
As Chip pointed out, since the unwritten rules are now in print, we need some new unwritten rules. Here are my suggestions:
I am not sure if I would have had the courage to order a new replacement for the damaged car on the spot… but this is definately something I think is good for everyone who is thinking of operating either own equiptment or other people’s trains on “Foreign” roads.
I smell a oppertunity for a GREAT MR article with this if done right.
At my club nobody touches another person’s trains unless you ask first. If somebody damages any of my trains after I said go ahead and run them then I would say I was partly to blame.