Progress Report 05.01.12

Greetings fellow Rock Island fans...

I apologize for not posting more, but I have been suffering from a nasty sinus infection that just doesn't seem to want to go away.  Progress has been slow on the layout.

The only reportable progress recently is the paving and painting of the roads and industrial parking areas in Blue Island.

I have placed red flags (red thumbtacks) across the layout to be used by crews for flag protection on the next op session.

Recently, I read an interesting article regarding simplified car routing using color dots.  I have used color dot routing on my friend Larry's Lehigh & Hudson River Railroad layout, but never thought to apply them to waybills on my layout.  I pondered the thought of implementing this on my layout.  There are definite advantages as classifying trains on Larry's layout is easy with the color code system.  It allows me to quickly identify cars and routes without having to read a waybill for each car and then process their destination.  I decided to use a two dot color system.  The dot on the left on the waybill would determine the trains destination terminal.  The dot on the right would indicate any local or subsequent train required for delivery.  I came up with 9 terminals/locals that would need to be identified with the dot labels.  Since I'm color blind, this could be an issue, but I was able to find enough contrasting colored 1/4" dot labels to make it work.

This morning, I started applying the dot labels to the waybills.  I thought it would be a more cumbersome task, but so far it has gone pretty quick.  After applying the dot labels, I went back through the trains sitting in staging.  They were classified by train, but not blocked as I have been filling out trains off and on for the last two weeks.  I was easily able to sort through all the cards and block the train by destination.  Success!  A simple idea, but it provides great results allowing crews to be more efficient.  I like it!

A preview to the How to Operate Your Model Railroad Special Issue.
http://mrr.trains.com/en/Videos/Issue%20Preview/2012/04/Video%20How%20to%20Operate%20Your%20Model%20Railroad%20preview.aspx



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Flag Man Protection

I have been thinking about timetable and train order operations more lately.  One common aspect is Rule 99.  It basically states:

Rule 99 requires the rear brakeman and head end brakeman to proceed from the train and carry lighted fusees at night, flags by day, and two torpedoes for placement on the track. This protects the train for other trains in either direction. Also, if another train can overtake the train, lighted fusees must be dropped off of the rear of the train at appropriate intervals to protect the rear of the train from collision.

We have had discussions about this when operating at my friend Larry's Lehigh & Hudson River Railroad.  Also, this past session, I was operating an extra freight into Chicago.  I had clearance into Chicago and knew that Larry was working in Blue Island, but didn't know which track.  I stopped at Joliet and contacted the Blue Island operator to find out his location (track one or two).  With Rule 99, he would have been protected by my advancing train.

I have been thinking about how to incorporate this into the operating sessions.  I've only come up with simply requiring crews to place red push pins (crewman with red flags) at either end of the train for protection.  It's not much, but offers a sense of realism when operating.  Especially, if the crews take into account the time for crewman to walk the required distance to set the fusees (push pins).

Progress Report 04.18.12

Sanded and repainted the roads in Bureau.  Added the new, longer spur track for Daniel Grain Company in Bureau.

Burr Oak Yard in Chicago received a renovation.  Chicago's staging had a total of 6 storage tracks plus two tracks for a locomotive facility.  The problem is that I had to double up locals on the same track as I simply didn't have enough space.  Since, the locomotive facility wasn't used like the one in Davenport (due to the yard being stub ended), I decided to rip it out.  In its place, I added two storage tracks.  So, now, I have a total of eight storage tracks, plus a thoroughfare / run around track.  This will help greatly during the op session.  This will also allow the passenger train to stay on the main in Blue Island and terminate in the yard.  Last session, patrons were walking across the main.  I have observed this on various Rock Island movies during the 60s and 70s, but not very safety conscious.

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Progress Report 04.15.12

Over the weekend, I completed sorting through the waybill cards, added in new cards and purged many as I had way too many extras.

Paved over the farm fields in Ottawa with plaster.  They were attached with caulk.  There was no way to remove it without making a big mess.  So, I figured I would just plaster over the landscape.  It worked out well.  Cut and glued down the track for the new Libbey-Owens-Ford plant.

Added some more "asphalt" to the roads in Bureau as they were a little rougher than I preferred.

School is due to be out in eight more weeks.  That will cut down my early morning work time when they are out due to sleeping curfews.  I need to push forward before the summer months.


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Progress Report 04.11.12 / Line Abandonment / Industry Change

Last night and this morning, I have worked on cleaning up the waybill sorting tray.  It was really dusty from the construction last month.  Plus, many things have changed since originally converting to this CC&WB method requiring new waybills and the purging of existing ones.

Line Abandonment Filing
The ROCK has filed a motion with the ICC to abandon the Clinton, Iowa line.  The line sees little traffic and has been deemed unprofitable.  During op sessions, the train is rarely run.  What little traffic that the line does see simply gets in the way in Davenport.  The line will be severed about a mile outside of Davenport.  The remaining portion will be used as a yard lead for Davenport Yard.

Industry Changes
F/S Illinois Farm Supply has terminated their lease with the ROCK.

Daniel Grain Company (named after my father) is moving off the Clinton, Iowa line to Bureau.  With the recently vacated real estate where the passenger station once stood, the former F/S Illinois Farm Supply spur can be extended down to allow for a small grain elevator with 2 to 3 spots.

Otis Elevator and Quad Cities Times will now be served by the Davenport Yard Job.


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Progress Report 04.10.12

Crews returned to work today.  Sanded down the roads in Bureau, trimmed and painted.

Worked on the mysterious short that occurred to the train order signals / tortoise switch machines during the last session.  I found that there was a short behind one of the train order control panels.  Used some liquid electrical tape to isolate the wires behind all the train order control panels.   Re-mounted the control panels and tested.  All works again!  Hopefully, we won't have any other problems.

Progress Report 04.07.12

Finished the few changes in Blue Island as mentioned in an earlier blog post.  Bureau has seen some development down by the wye.  The station was relocated to the wye prior to the last session.  Since then, a new road has been added, a post office for the town, plus a driveway and parking lot to access the new station.

Construction crews have come up with a plan for the Libbey-Owens-Ford (L-O-F) plant in Ottawa.  Construction on this project will commence soon.