Yesterday was the second operating session on the St Charles Branch, and Patrick Tillery was again my partner in crime. Despite only having the tracks for one deck complete, we were able to run 4 trains, and it took us about 2 1/2 hours to get all the chores done. That’s a pretty good showing for only 1/2 the layout and 2 operators! I learned a lot in the session, mainly which switches to keep working on to avoid derailments, but at least we didn’t have any repeat offenders, so I’ll call it progress!

For this session, I picked the date July 30th, 1969 which meant F-units for the Southern’s mine run and and RS3 for the L&N. We ran a “busy day” with two Southern mine runs. Since the helix was recently completed, I staged the “Black Mountain Local” on the helix with loaded hoppers as if it was returning from the tipples which will eventually be on the upper deck, so it was more like 1/2 a train, but it did add a little more operation as the train needed to be blocked in the yard and the power tied up. It also required some “meets” in St Charles, so the orders needed to specify which legs of the wye to occupy and which to leave open for the higher priority trains. No collisions, so I guess I’ll call that a success.

In addition to having a full set of fascia controls to work with and the beginnings of backdrops, this session had some other notable “firsts”

• First use of the fast clock (4:1 works well)
• First use of the new orders sheets
• First use of the semaphores and switch locks to protect the branches
• First use of the whistle post markings
• First operational use of the main helix
• First session with first gen diesel sounds (EMD 567s and and Alco 244)

Some things I learned:

• Even with the switch lists, I probably still need a “master switch list” everyone can access
• Instructions for the crews need to be a little more explicit on the job required and not just a blocking sheet
• A little momentum in the locomotives made it more fun and realistic–I’ll probably turn it up a bit more next time
• Even though it’s a small chore, using the switch locks and semaphore controls added some prototypical realism and slowed things down a little (which is good)

Overall I’d call it a success. It was fun, and it motivates me to keep going! If anyone reading this is ever in Colorado Springs, give me a shout and we’ll set up another.