Layout down for expansion

I have been pondering expanding the layout for a few years now.  This involves tearing out the existing staging yard, and expanding into another room.  Roanoke, IL will also have to be moved to be able to insert the missing Eureka, IL on the TP&W, and to insert east staging for the TP&W.  I have decided to do a helix and an upper level over part of the layout to be able to fully model all 57 miles of the Pekin branch.

New/moved on the lower level:

• Eureka, IL on the TP&W.  ATSF has trackage rights on the TP&W, and interchanges with them here.
• TP&W east staging.
• Roanoke, IL moved from current location.
• Benson, IL.

New on the upper level:

• Minonk, IL.  Interchange with IC charter line.
• Dana, IL.
• Long Point, IL.
• ATSF staging (Streator, IL)

This expansion will add roughly 95 feet of run to the layout, plus whatever distance the helix adds.

Current state of the layout:

Future state of the layout:

The hardest part of this expansion will be being out of operation for at least the remainder of 2023.

Operating Session 19

Operating session #19 took place on Tuesday 5/16/2023.  The session started at 1:45 PM railroad time, and ended at 8:22 PM railroad time.  I had 7 crew, in addition to my self.  We ran at a 3:1 clock ratio.

Here were the assignments for the session, afternoon of Friday 9/18/1959:

• Clock on at 1:45pm
• 1:45pm ATSF/P&E/C&IM/P&PU Dispatcher on duty.  Dan J, all day job.
• 1:45pm ATSF Pekin switcher on duty. Mike H.
• 1:45pm PPU yard switcher on duty. Mark V.
• (Running late) 12:50pm PE #95 Westward freight from PE staging (Bloomington). Kurt V.
• 2:00pm PE Pekin switcher on duty. Mitch R.
• 2:00pm PE #12 Eastward passenger from East Peoria. Charlie S.
• 2:05pm ATSF Eastward extra local freight from East Yard. John S.
• 3:05pm CIM #7 Southward freight from East Peoria. Charlie S or Kurt V?
• 3:15pm ATSF #13 Westward passenger from ATSF staging (Streator). Bill S.
• (Delayed to 4:30pm) 3:30pm ATSF #50 Eastward way-freight from East Yard. Kurt V.
• 4:30pm PE #90 Eastward freight from East Peoria. Charlie S.
• 4:45pm ATSF #1-49 Westward way-freight from ATSF staging (Streator). Bill S.
• 5:00pm ATSF #2-49 Westward way-freight from ATSF staging (Streator). Charlie S.
• 7:00pm ATSF #18 Eastward mail and express from Pekin. John S.
• 7:00pm ATSF Westward coal extra from staging (Streator). Bill S and Charlie S.
• Did not run. 8:00pm ATSF westward extra local
• Clock off at 8:22pm
• Did not run. 1:20am PE #99 Westward freight from PE staging (Bloomington)

ATSF train orders issued during this session, afternoon of Fri 9/18/1959:

Order #	To	Body	Complete
7	C+E Eng 721 at Pekin	Eng 721 run extra Pekin to Streator	1:40pm
8	C+E No 50 at East Yard C+E x721 East at Morton	No 50 run 1 hour late	3:27pm
9	C+E No 1-49 at Streator C+E No 2-49 at Streator	Eng 2105 and 707 run as first and second 49    Streator to East Yard	4:43pm
10	C+E Eng 203C at Streator	Eng 203C run extra Streator to East Yard	6:49pm

PE train orders issued during this session, afternoon of Fri 9/18/1959:

Order #	To	Body	Complete
1	C+E No 95 at Tremont    C+E No 12 at Peoria	No 95 meet No 12    In Tremont No 95 take siding	1:05pm

Thoughts on how the session ran:

• I discovered that some crew had trouble reading the fast clock display in 24 hr mode.  I tend to forget that not everyone thinks in 24 hr mode.  I will reconfigure the clocks to show time in AM/PM mode for the future.
• I switched from the Micro-Mark clearance cards and train order forms to printed out Santa Fe clearance cards and train order forms.  I didn't get any comments on the positives or negatives of this, but I think I like the slightly higher realism of using actual Santa Fe forms.
• The 3:1 clock ratio continues to work well.
• I need to have a more consistent intro talk to remind everyone of things like signing the registers, particularly when we have new operators.

Operating Session 18

Operating session #18 took place on Thursday 4/20/2023.  The session started at 6:30am railroad time, and ended at 1:45pm railroad time.  I had 7 crew, one more than optiomal, in addition to my self.  We ran at a 3:1 clock ratio.

Here were the assignments for the session, morning of Friday 9/18/1959:

• Clock on at 6:30am
• 6:30am ATSF/P&E/C&IM/P&PU Dispatcher on duty.  Dan J, all day job.
• 6:30am ATSF Pekin switcher on duty. Bill S, all day job.
• 6:30am PPU yard switcher on duty.  Bob M, all day job.
• 6:35am ATSF Eastward extra local freight from East Yard.  Mike A.
• 7:00am ATSF#14 Eastward passenger from Pekin.  Charlie S.
• 7:30am PE #94 Eastward freight from East Peoria.  Mike H.
• 7:45am ATSF #47 Westward green fruit express from ATSF staging (Streator).  Chuck R.
• CANCELLED 8:00am PE Corn Products switch job. (Cancelled).
• ~ 8:30am ATSF Westward extra local freight from Streator.  John S.
• 10:00am ATSF #48 Eastward through-freight from East Yard.  Mike H.
• 10:15am CIM #6 Northward freight from CIM staging.  Charlie S.
• ~ 10:15am ATSF Eastward coal empty extra from East Yard to ATSF staging (Streator).  Chuck R.
• 12:05pm PE #11 Westward passenger from PE staging (Bloomington).  Mike A.
• 12:20am ATSF #17 Westward mail and express from ATSF staging (Streator).  Mike H.
• DELAYED, DID NOT RUN 12:50pm PE #95 Westward freight from PE staging (Bloomington)
• Clock off at 1:45pm

ATSF train orders issued during this session, morning of Fri 9/18/1959:

Order #	To	Body	Complete
1	C+E Eng 2395 at East Yard	Eng 2395 run extra East Yard to Streator	6:30am
2	C+E No 14 at Pekin C+E No 47 at Streator	No 14 Eng 70 meet No 47 Eng 21 in Roanoke No 47 take siding	6:35am
3	C+E Extra 2395 East at Morton C+E Extra 715 West at Streator	Extra 2395 East meet Extra 721 West in Morton	8:09am
4	C+E Eng 721 at Streator	Eng 721 Run extra Streator to East Yard	8:11am
5	C+E Extra 203C East at East Yard C+E Extra 721 West at Morton	Extra 203C East Meet Extra 721 West in Morton Extra 721 West take siding	10:10am
6	C+E Eng 203C at East Yard	Eng 203C Run extra East Yard to Streator	10:13am

No PE train orders were issued during this session, morning of Fri 9/18/1959:

Thoughts on how the session ran:

• Overall the session ran well.
• The 3:1 clock ratio continues to work well.
• I need to have a more consistent intro talk to remind everyone of things like signing the registers, particularly when we have new operators.

Operating Session 17

Operating session #17 took place on Saturday 11/19/2022.  The session started at 1:34pm railroad time, and ended at 9:03pm railroad time.  I had 6 crew, a mix of Amrail and the usual guys, in addition to my self.  With one of the crew members being a student paired with another person, I could have optimally used one more crew.   We ran at a 3:1 clock ratio, which continues to work well.

Here were the assignments for the session, afternoon/evening of Thursday 9/17/1959:

• Clock on at 1:34pm
• 1:34pm ATSF/P&E/C&IM/P&PU Dispatcher on duty.  Dan J, all day job.
• 1:34pm ATSF Pekin switcher.  Rick W.
• 1:34pm PPU East Peoria yard switcher.  Bob M.
• (Late) 12:50pm PE #95 Westward freight from PE staging (Bloomington).  Mike A.
• 1:42pm ATSF Extra 721 West local freight from Streator.  Chris C + Matthew C.
• 2:00pm PE Pekin switcher on duty.  Mike A.
• 2:00pm PE #12 Eastward passenger from East Peoria.  Gary H.
• 3:05pm CIM #7 Southward freight from East Peoria. Dan J.
• 3:15pm ATSF #13 Westward passenger from ATSF staging (Streator). Gary H.
• 3:30pm ATSF #50 Eastward way-freight from East Yard.  Gary H.
• 4:30pm PE #90 Eastward freight from East Peoria.  Dan J.
• 4:45pm ATSF #49 Westward way-freight from ATSF staging (Streator).  Mike A.
• 6:07pm ATSF Extra 715 West coal extra from ATSF staging (Streator) to East Peoria.  Bob M.
• 6:49pm ATSF Extra 721 East local freight from East Yard.  Gary H.
• 7:00pm ATSF #18 Eastward mail and express from Pekin.  Chris C + Matthew C.
• Clock off at 9:03pm
• DID NOT RUN 1:20am PE #99 Westward freight from PE staging (Bloomington)

ATSF train orders issued during this session, afternoon/evening of Thu 9/17/1959:

Order #	To	Body	Complete
7	C+E Eng 721 at Streator	Eng 721 run extra Streator to Pekin East Yard	1:42pm
8	C+E Eng 715 at Streator	Eng 715 run extra Streator to Pekin East Yard	6:07pm
9	C+E Extra 715 West at Roanoke C+E Extra 721 East at East Yard	Extra 715 West meet Extra 721 East in Morton Extra 721 East take siding	6:47pm
10	C+E Eng 721 at East Yard	Eng 721 Run extra East Yard to Streator	6:49pm

PE train orders issued during this session, afternoon/evening of Thu 9/17/1959:

Order #	To	Body	Complete
1	C+E No 95 at Tremont    C+E No 12 at Peoria	No 95 Eng 5607 meet No 12 Eng 5606    In East Yard No 95 take main	1:15pm

Thoughts on how the session ran:

• Overall the session ran well.
• The 3:1 clock ratio continues to work well.  It allows me to not feel rushed when thinking about and writing train orders.
• Everyone is doing a good job of signing and reading the registers, and getting a pretty good handle on TT&TO operations.

The current state of scenery

Someone asked for some pictures showing the current state of the layout, so here goes.  After taking a few snaps of the layout I'm noticing that I keep way too much random stuff stored under the layout.

The north-east end of Roanoke, IL where trains come out of staging

Roanoke, IL looking north-east

Cruger, IL on the TP&W, looking south-west towards Pekin Jct where the TP&W and ATSF split

North-east end of Washington, IL

Washington, IL

Crandall, IL interchange with NKP not pictured

Morton, IL

South end of Morton, IL with IT/PRR interchange not pictured

Pekin East Yard looking north-east.  Left side is ATSF, right side is P&E.  The P&E heads into staging along the backdrop curve.

Pekin looking south-west.  P&E on the left, ATSF on the right.  The ATSF ends here at Big Four Jct.  Heading right along the curve takes you to the P&PU.

P&PU A-yard in East Peoria, IL.  Corn Products in South Pekin in the background.  P&E #12 heading to Indianapolis on the P&PU main.

Operating Session 16

Operating session #16 took place on Sunday 10/9/2022.  The session started at 6:50am railroad time, and ended at 1:33pm railroad time.  I had 3 operators in addition to my self.  I used to feel that 7 people was the optimally sized crew, but lately have been aiming for 5-6 people.  We ran at a 3:1 clock ratio, which I'm starting to feel is better than the 4:1 ratio I've been mostly using for a while.  At this ratio I felt I had more time to ponder and write train orders, and was still able to fill in yard crew as we were short of crew.

Here were the assignments for the session, morning of Thursday 9/17/1959:

• Clock on at 6:50am
• 6:50am ATSF/P&E/C&IM/P&PU Dispatcher on duty.  Dan J, all day job.
• 6:50am ATSF Pekin switcher on duty. Dan J, doing double duty.
• 6:50am PPU yard switcher on duty.  Dan J, doing triple duty. (yard pre-sorted to avoid insanity)
• 7:00am ATSF#14 Eastward passenger from Pekin.  Mike A.
• 7:05am ATSF transfer run Pekin East Yard to PPU East Peoria Yard.  Greg B.
• 7:30am PE #94 Eastward freight from East Peoria.  Greg B.
• 7:45am ATSF #47 Westward green fruit express from ATSF staging (Streator).  Charlie S.
• 8:09am ATSF Westward extra local freight from Streator.  Mike A.
• 9:20am ATSF Eastward extra local freight from Streator. Greg B.
• 10:00am ATSF #48 Eastward through-freight from East Yard.  Charlie S.
• 10:15am CIM #6 Northward freight from CIM staging.  Dan J.
• 11:05am ATSF Westward coal extra from Streator to TPW East Peoria via Pekin Jct.  Charlie S.
• 12:05pm PE #11 Westward passenger from PE staging (Bloomington).  Charlie S.
• 12:20pm ATSF #17 Westward mail and express from ATSF staging (Streator).  Greg B.
• 12:50pm PE #95 Westward freight from PE staging (Bloomington).  Delayed, train did not yet run.
• Clock off at 1:33pm.

Train orders issued during this session:

Order #	To	Body	Complete
1	C+E No 14 at Pekin C+E No 47 at Streator	No 14 Eng 70 Meet No 47 Eng 21 in Roanoke    No 47 take Siding.	6:30am
2	C+E Eng 707 at Streator	Eng 707 run extra Streator to Pekin East Yard	7:52am
3	C+E Extra 707 West at Roanoke C+E Extra 715 East at Pekin East Yard	Extra 707 West meet Extra 715 East in Morton Extra 707 West take siding	9:13am
4	C+E Eng 715 at Pekin East Yard	Eng 715 Run extra Pekin East Yard to Streator	9:16am
5	C+E Extra 2101 West at Streator C+E Extra 715 East at Washington	Extra 2101 West Meet Extra 715 East in Roanoke Extra 2101 West Take Siding	10:55am
6	C+E Eng 2101 at Streator	Eng 2101 Run Extra Streator to East Peoria via TPW at Pekin Jct	11:07am

Thoughts on how the session ran:

• Overall the session ran well.  One minor turnout adjustment was done with a file.
• I liked the slower pace of the 3:1 clock ratio.  It allowed me to not feel rushed when thinking about and writing train orders.
• With me doing double duty as the ATSF Pekin yard switcher, and the P&PU East Peoria yard switcher the P&PU yard got a bit backed up by the end of the session.  A couple of more people would have been optimal.

Operating Session 15

Operating session #15 took place on Thursday 9/15/2022.  Usually for operating sessions I re-stage the layout and start the sessions at ~ 6:30am railroad time.  This time I decided to try out continuing the day where the previous session left off.  We started off with the clock at 4:15pm.  The afternoon and evening schedule of trains is a bit mellower, and is optimal for 5 people.  This time I had 4 operators in addition to myself.

The session started at 4:15pm railroad time, and ended at 9:00pm railroad time.  I decided to run the clock at a slightly slower than usual 3:1 ratio.  I felt like this worked well, but one person commented that they thought the 4:1 ratio might work better for an afternoon/evening session, while perhaps the busier morning/afternoon sessions might benefit from the 3:1 ratio.  I'll try that next time and we'll see how it turns out.

Here were the assignments for the session, afternoon/evening of Wednesday 9/16/1959:

• Clock on at 4:15pm
• 4:15pm ATSF/P&E/C&IM/P&PU Dispatcher on duty.  Dan J, all day job.
• 4:15pm ATSF Pekin switcher on duty, all day job.  Dan J, doing double-duty.
• 4:25pm ATSF Eastward extra local freight from East Yard.  Frank S.
• 4:30pm PE #90 Eastward freight from East Peoria.  Mike A.
• 4:45pm ATSF #49 Westward way-freight from ATSF staging (Streator).  Bill S.
• 4:50pm PPU Transfer from East Peoria yard to ATSF East Yard.  Charlie S.
• 5:30pm (delayed from 3:30pm) ATSF #50 Eastward way-freight from East Yard.  Charlie S.
• 5:30pm PE Pekin switch job, including American Distilling job.  Mike A.
• 7:00pm ATSF #18 Eastward Fort Madison Fast Mail from Pekin.  Bill S.
• 8:05pm ATSF Westward coal extra from ATSF staging (Streator) to PPU East Peoria Yard.  Bill S. + Charlie S.
• Clock off at 9:00pm
• 1:20am PE #99 Westward freight from PE staging (Bloomington).  Did not run before end of session.

Train orders issued earlier in the day during the previous session:

• 1.  To: C+E x707 West at Streator, C+E x2395 East at East Yard.  Body:  Extra 707 West meet extra 2395 East in Morton.  Complete: 6:15am.
• 2.  To: C+E Eng 707 at Streator.  Body: Eng 707 run extra Streator to East Yard.  Complete: 6:17am.
• 3.  To: C+E Eng 2395 at East Yard.  Body: Eng 2395 run extra East Yard to Streator.  Complete: 6:19am.

Train orders issued during this session:

• 4.  To: C+E No 50 at East Yard, C+E No 49 at Streator, C+E x707 East at East Yard.  Body: Train no 50 run 2 hours late.  Complete: 3:25pm.
• 5.  To: C+E Eng 707 at East Yard.  Body: Eng 707 run extra East Yard to Streator.  Complete: 4:20pm.
• 6.  To: C+E x707E at Roanoke, C+E x2101W at Streator.  Body: Extra 707 East meet Extra 2101 West in Roanoke.  Extra 707 East take siding.  Complete: 7:28 pm.
• 7.  To: C+E Eng 2101 at Streator.  Body:  Eng 2101 run extra Streator to East Yard.  Complete: 8:05pm.

Thoughts on how the session ran:

• Overall the session ran well, with no track or power problems.  5 people in addition to myself dispatching would be the right number of people for an afternoon/evening session.  We made do with 4, but me running the ATSF Pekin job in addition to dispatching lead to a lot of unsorted cars in ATSF Pekin East Yard by the end of the session.
• The 3:1 clock ratio worked, but next time I might try 4:1 for an afternoon/evening session, and try 3:1 for a morning/afternoon session.
• The new-ish UR93 radio receiver continued to work well.  All operators used radio throttles and there were no reports of radio problems.
• The new-ish UT6D throttle continued to run well.  I like that it works well off of rechargeable Eneloop NIMH AA batteries.  I should probably get one or two more of these throttles.
• I haven't been able to get the LogicRail loconet clocks to sync their time with the Digitrax command station without having a computer with JMRI running as clock master.  I have concluded that I just need to continue having the computer clock master involved.  It appears that people using older Digitrax command stations have more luck with the LogicRail clocks working correctly.