Operating the Track Plan 4: Quotidian

The virtual operating sessions have continued to affect the design. Likewise the input from the gang over at Railwire. The Catausqua style crossing through the four track main is gone. Believe it or not, the biggest issue was not the crossing itself. The location of the crossing created operating problems for trains coming into the yard. Going out of the yard there was also a huge problem. The AE had to climb 3" to pass over the main after leaving the crossings. Trains headed east would have had to battle a 4% grade to get to Owertown. The grade doesn't affect the virtual trains, but real life N scale engines would be hard pressed to pull anything up that slope, if at all. With the track realligned the grade is now less than 1%, definitely more reasonable. The ruling grade on the Average Eastern is now a 2% climb heading westbound out of East End...

Average Eastern February 24, 2014

You may notice that the yard in Average is much shorter now. The yard was almost as long as Jumiata on the previous Allegheny Eastern. I changed it after having to back a loco almost a scale half mile to run around a train. With small locos and short trains the yard tracks don't have to be more than six feet long. Even that may be too long...

Average Yard

East End was also changed to facilitate the movements. With two interchanges in the same yard it gets a bit hectic when AE and Q Company trains show up at the same time...

East End Interchange Yard

Quotidian, with its large industrial area has been a thorn in the side design wise. Fortunately, David K. Smith over at the forum stepped in and saved the day. The current design for the peninsula is all his...

Quotidian: DKS Version

I adopted Dave's plan and started to redesign Owertown to match. The two towns are directly adjacent and by combining them to create the illusion of larger towns. I needed something that would tie the two together. I decided that a large residential area would be just the thing. Studying my Sanborn maps I noticed that almost all the major towns in "this" area of the anthracite region were crowded with row homes (town houses to the more genteel among us). I went with the idea and filled the area with the aforementioned dwellings and a few other structures...

Owertown

It's more of a idea than an actual design. I deleted an industry and turned the team track into a siding that runs in the streets. Not sure that Owertown will look anything like this but it would make an interesting view block.

But we are discussing the operation of the layout, not the scenery. As I mentioned earlier, actually operating the plan allows me to check the design before I attempt to build it. Quite a change from my previous design methods. Faults turn up pretty quickly. You pull into a yard and realize there is no way for the locomotive to escape or run around the train. At Quotidian switching the industries is pretty straight forward. There are two sidings that require switchback moves, but these are handled separately from cars spotted on the more conventional trackage.

In this 45 minute video the FM diesel (represented by a GP-7) based at Quotidian is breaking down a string of cars set out by the eastbound peddler. Rather than drag the whole string of cars into the streets of our fair town, the crew will handle the cars in smaller batches. The first cars to be worked are two flat cars on the east end of the train (right). From its base on the drill track the switcher rolls east to the other end of the yard. Here's where operations reveal the SNAFU's that need to be corrected. Aaccess to the industrial area is a facing point switch. The easiest way to work the cars is to couple to the east (right) end. Doing it that way involves fouling the main. The drill track should be on this end of the yard, facing the access track. Have to correct that.

Despite that, we still have to switch these cars so we couple up to the "wrong" end and drag the first four cars, all flats. Two are bound for Arbogast & Bastian with heavy machinery. The others is a shipment of wood going to C.A. Dorney, the furniture company. The FM backs unto the main, and changing direction, pushes the cars into the industrial area.

The first stop is Arbogast and Bastian, but the siding already holds two empty flatcars. The switcher pushes it's train past the siding onto the tail track of a switchback. The cars are uncoupled and the FM drifts back to fetch the two empties. After coupling to the empty flats it heads back to the train. The empties are coupled to the first two loads, while the C.A. Dorney cars are uncoupled. All four cars are shifted to the siding and the two loaded cars are spotted at Arbogast & Bastian.

The loco and the empties then head back to the carload of wood. Another move backward clears the siding and sets the train to head for the furniture factory. At C.A.Dorney there is another empty to be picked up, a boxcar.  The train couples to the boxcar and moves it to another tail track. Another two moves and the flats are spotted at the factory.

The FM heads back to the yard with its three car train and leaves them in front of the depot. Since there is a drill track available at this end of the yard, the cars probably should have been left there. Although a passenger train (gas electric with trailer, isn't due any time soon, it is not a good idea to irritate the riders. Having to wait for the cars to be moved or leaving them off in the middle of a train yard tends to ruin their day.

Regardless, the switcher heads off to grab the next set of cars and blocks the main for the third time. It picks up three more loads and fouls the mainline yet again. The first two cars are slated fot the Quotidian Construction Supply Co. The switchers has to pull two empties off the siding. The two loaded cars still coupled to the loco are used to pick up the empties. They are pushed up the track and coupled to the car waiting on the tail track. The two loads are then located at their destination. The engine then returns to its train. The third load is spotted on the same siding but this time at the lower level of Canan Knox Supply.

The empties are moved to the track in front of the depot. The FM then heads ove to pick up the last two cars, empties bound for Aolbright & Son Cold Storage. Because the cold storage building is on a trailing point siding, the engine needs to couple to the west end of the cars. It runs around using an adjacent yard track and pushes the cars out onto the mainline. This time it enters the industrial area at the head end, pulling the cars. It  runs all the way up the tail track and pulls two loads from the plant siding. After parking them on the tail track the two empties are spotted at the storage building. The switcher puts the empties on one of the yard tracks and runs around to the west end of the train sitting in front of the depot. These cars are then placed on the same yard track as the empties from Albright & Son. The cars are ready to be picked up one of the peddler freights..

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Sorry to take up so much of your time. Now I have to go make some changes to that yard.

Regards,

Frank Musick

Building a dream layout on a nightmare budget

The Average Eastern Railroad