Saturday was a big day–the first operational train worked the first loaders on the layout. It was a “Black Mountain Local” with me as conductor and my son, Drew, as engineer. Things overall went pretty smoothly with only a single derailment in the entire session (not bad for the first time operating on hand-laid track). Our power was GP38 2877 and GP30 2534. We picked up our train of 13 empty hoppers and a single loaded ACL covered hopper (AN for the mines). Awaiting us in Baker were 4 “yellow ball” loads for the transloader in Appalachia followed by 8 loads at Mayflower and an empty covered hopper.
The tracks at both Baker and Mayflower are stub tracks (prototypical), so most of our time was spent pulling loads to clear tracks and running around empties 5-at-a-time in the single run-around track. It was a great time to teach my son about run-arounds, delayed couplers, and how to think through switching moves. Despite the lack of scenery or even operational throws for the switches (I had to reach under and throw the mechanisms directly), it was 30 minutes of pure joy more than 3 years in the making (since we moved in). We finished the shift with the entry of this “milestone” marker on the benchwork to commemorate the event.
Dan
Great to see that first mine run! Great that operation went smoothly. Looking forward to more updates and progress.
Bill
that’s awesome, it looks great. It is cool that you and your son was part of that moment, and that you wrote it on the benchworks. The funny thing is that I don’t remember being there, but I see I left myself a note on your wall…so I guess I was.
What a neat moment, Dan! Really heart-warming to see you share it with your son.
G’day Dan,
So I see it that it only took me was some three years to figure out you were building a new layout! Fantastic to see you shared the first run with your son and I love the commemorative entry to mark the occasion. A special moment and great to see that your son wanted to be part of the occasion!
Best wishes to you all,
Cheers
GB
Thanks, George! My son doesn’t want to help with construction, but he does get a little energized when I make progress. I’ll definitely take some crew support, especially if it means spending more time with him.