What were all your weekend operating sessions like?
Whew! what a weekend for me.
Friday night set up for the Great American Train show. Set up went smooth with no surprises. A couple adjustments I made to the modular unit really helped. Of course it also helps that I only had one unit to set up (and two children to help). Formerly I had six modules, no children, and there was only one person with their own three modules to set up.
Saturday I operated on the Oregon California & Eastern. I then volunteered to stay and run trains for the general public, so I was there from 9:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. This is the first layout I have ever run on with fairly large trains (minimum 40, maximum 80). There was no drop off a car, pick up a car operations here. My first train was the #311/312 turn. This train runs from the log mill up the mainline to the branch where all the timber comes off the mountain. I hauled 32 empty log buggies, 8 ore, and six misc freight up to the junction. The three GP38s didn’t even breath hard handling the 1.9% grade. At the junction I had to turn the train leaving 20 empties log buggies and picking up 20 loaded. The siding and junction track aren’t long enough so I had to saw the train just to do a run around. I didn’t/couldn’t use the main because a through train passed by every 20 minutes or so (6 to 1 clock). Further complicating the operation was the arrival of the #101 doogle bug bringing loggers to work from the city. I had to clear the station track for that. Train #322 arrived with the full boggies and helped me get the caboose and fire car on the rear of my train. Switching to call sign 312 things were easier heading back to town as my only switching move was a trailing point right off the main. Things got tricky again when I got to Lakeview and the yard was full. I helped the yard crews get the empty log boggies off their dump