October Update

This month it was great to have Peter R stay, ops paperwork changes continue, maintenance, Model Rail Radio,  uncoupling picks, switch list clipboards, I ran two ops sessions and I attended three other operating sessions this month.

Peter comes to visit

Peter came to stay with us arriving on Friday 12th and leaving on 28th.

Peter and I have three major things in common - model railways, great food and excellent red wine.

So there were familiarisation sessions on my layout, just him and me, 3 formal ops sessions and a 3 day excursion to a great wine district for supplies to "put down" and along the way we had quite a few evenings enjoying some nice drops - eat your heart out Richard Murphy!

The last time Peter took part in a formal ops session here was a long time back so we had a few familiarisation sessions in order for him to work independently during the formal session.

Peter during familiarisation reading the paperwork and trying to put it all together.

Maintenance

During the familiarisation sessions we discovered a low coupler glad hand, a grade crossing plank adjacent to the rail at Adamsville fouling a particular style of bogie frame causing minor derailments and I fixed a wiring issue at Jimtown where some control panel indicators were not working.

Model Rail Radio

I managed to "quick" call in on the show being recorded on 28th.  All the best to Ron Klaiss with his Mine Mount Models company.  Keep up the good work Tom!

My Ops Sessions

I held two Ops sessions this month Monday 8th October and Saturday 27th October.

The goal still remains to get the right amount of work and the associated paperwork in the main yard. Following on from earlier sessions the first one had improved paperwork but the amount of work was still too high to be comfortable for the operators.

Further changes were undertaken between the two sessions this month but issues still remain.

I am thinking that some or all of passenger coach storage roads need to be converted to freight car storage to enable more efficient storage of cars to be used in the next session - this will relieve the pressure on the "classification hold" road which seemed to forever full.

I ran the main control panels for both sessions and managed to get most things right - I miss having Derek around who had learnt the panels - maybe time to think about some training for someone else?

Monday 8th

Barry, Rosslyn, Don, Wayne, Alan, John & Peter S took part and once again the amount of work in Hornertown Yard was too much and needs further revision.  The yard became too congested and it was decided that at least one train needs to be removed from the session.

Below is a listing of the movements for all operators - operator 5 (represents two people) is Hornertown Yard.

Below is the Hornertown Yard movement and shunt listings.

Each Shunt movement has its own switch list as I am still to implement my waybills.

Saturday 27th

Barry, Rosslyn, Don, Spacky, Jock & Peter R took part and once again the amount of work in Hornertown Yard was too much in the second half of the session and the yard was too congested so further revision is required.  There were a few issues including: one Loco fail to start causing some delays, the control system went AWOL causing a power down and restart but the session was "formally paused" only once.

Below is a listing of the movements for all operators - operator 5 (represents two people) is Hornertown Yard.

Below is the revised Hornertown Yard movement and shunt listings.

Uncoupling Picks

Thanks to John for making me some uncoupling picks that were much better than the ones I made some years back.  I was a nice surprise when he walked in for the ops session and handed them to me.   I added some green heat shrink tube to make the shank easier to see.  He has promised me a few more... six would be great....

Switch list clipboards

Don requested a small clipboard for the job list at Hornertown to make it easier to "tick off" completed movements.  Officeworks have a six pack of A5 clipboards for $12.57 so all yards have one now!  I noticed during the session that everyone seemed to be using them.

Ops Sessions at Wayne's

I attended three ops sessions at Wayne's this month and Peter accompanied me to two.

Wednesday 10th October

Alan, Des, Don, Murray, John, Ross & I took part and we had a nice session.

L to R - Ross, Wayne, Des, Don, Alan, Murray & John

 

Murray watches on whilst John works Dunkleigh Towers

Don working Lowood Crossing

Wayne watches on whilst Des and Alan work Forest Gully

 Discussions at afternoon tea after completion

Don & Alan

John & Ross

Des & Me

Monday Night 22nd October

Barry, Chris, Peter R & I ran the session to swap session pairs of 1 &3 and 2 & 4 between Wayne's two operating groups. It was the "least busy session" we had an easy to accomplish and fun night.

Peter and Wayne

Barry at Dunkleigh Towers

Chris and Wayne at Lowood Crossing

Container Train leaving Dunkleigh Towers

Thursday 25th October

We did it all again the following Thursday Barry, Chris, Des, Don, Peter J, Peter R, Rosslyn & I took part and we had a much busier but nice session.

Barry at Dunkleigh Towers

Wayne and Peter R

Peter J, Chris and Barry at Dunkleigh Towers

Don shunting Lowood Crossing while Rosslyn shunts Forest Gully

So it was a busy month for me!

Whenever Jock and Spacky visit there is always a few social events that take place - this time we had a BBQ and went to a Pasta Night.  Next year it is proposed the come down for two whole weeks and four weekends so at least six social events.  People need to think about getting leave passes!!!

Till the end of November.....

-ooOOOoo-