Operating Sesssion 23

Operating session #23 took place on Thursday 1/15/2026.  The session started at 6:00 AM railroad time, and ended at 12:32 PM railroad time.  I initially thought I had 8 crew coming, then lost three due to illness and no-show, and then had a last minute addition of one to end up with the usual 6 crew in addition to myself.  Because of thinking I'd have a larger number than usual I had planned slightly heavier than usual number of trains, and some two person crews.  We ran at a 3:1 clock ratio.  This was a special session due to a friend of a friend being in town.  Two of the six crew members were first-timers on the layout.  This was the second operating session of the day for most of the crew attending, so we started a little later than usual for a weeknight, and ended a bit earlier as people were tired.

Here were the assignments for the session, morning of Tuesday 9/22/1959:

• Clock on at 6:00 AM
• 6:00 AM ATSF/P&E/C&IM/P&PU dispatcher on duty.  Dan J, all session job.
• 6:00 AM ATSF Pekin switcher on duty.  Mark V, all session job.
• 6:00 AM PPU yard switcher on duty.  Bob B, all (most) session job.
• 6:15am ATSF Eastward extra local freight from East Yard.  Bob M.
• 7:00am ATSF#14 Eastward passenger from Pekin.  Mike A.
• 7:30am, slight delay PE #94 Eastward freight from East Peoria.  Mike A.
• 7:45am ATSF #47 1st section Westward green fruit express from ATSF staging (Streator).  Bill S.
• 8:15am ATSF #47 2nd section from ATSF staging (Streator).  John A.
• ~ 9:00 AM PE Corn Products switch job.  Bob B, along with doing PPU yard job.
• 10:09 AM ATSF coal extra from ATSF staging (Streator) to Pekin.
• 10:00 AM delayed to 11:20 AM ATSF #48 Eastward through-freight from East Yard.
• 10:15am CIM #6 Northward freight from CIM staging.  Bob B, along with doing PPU yard job.
• ~ 10:30am ATSF Eastward coal empty extra from East Yard to ATSF staging (Streator)  Did not run due to heavy traffic on railroad.
• ~ 11:30am ATSF Westward extra local freight from Streator.  Did not run due to heavy traffic on railroad
• 12:05pm Delayed PE #11 Westward passenger from PE staging (Bloomington)
• 12:20pm Delayed ATSF #17 Westward mail and express from ATSF staging (Streator)
• Clock off at 12:32 PM

ATSF train orders issued during this session, morning of Tue 9/22/1959:

Order #	To	Body	Complete
1	C+E Eng 721 at East Yard	ENGINE 721 RUN EXTRA EAST YARD TO STREATOR	6:02 AM
2	C+E No 14 at Pekin C+E No 1-47 at Streator	No 14 ENGINE 83L MEET No 1-47 ENGINE 300L IN ROANOKE No 1-47 TAKE SIDING	6:21 AM
3	C+E Eng 300L at Streator C+E Eng 707 at Streator	ENGINE 300L AND ENGINE 707 RUN AS FIRST AND SECOND No 47 STREATOR TO EAST YARD SECOND No 47 RUN 30 MINUTES LATE	6:25 AM
4	C+E Extra 721 East at Morton C+E Extra 2105 West at Streator	EXTRA 2105 WEST MEET EXTRA 721 EAST AT ROANOKE EXTRA 2105 WEST TAKE SIDING	10:07 AM
5	C+E Eng 2105 at Streator	ENGINE 2105 RUN EXTRA STREATOR TO EAST YARD	10:09 AM
6	C+E No 48 at East Yard C+E Extra 721 East at Morton C+E Extra 2105 West at Roanoke	No 48 RUN 80 MINUTES LATE	10:42 AM

No PE train orders issued during this session, morning of Tue 9/22/1959:

Order #	To	Body	Complete

No CIM train orders issued during this session, morning of Tue 9/22/1959:

Order #	To	Body	Complete

Final thoughts:

• The layout mostly ran well.
• We ran into a problem with the power district covering Pekin and East Yard tripping when there were too many locomotives active there as an A-B-A set of F units entered.  As the number of sound locomotives on the layout has increased it turns out that my rather conservative setting of the DCC Specialties PSX circuit breakers at 1.3 Amps was too low.  The trip level of the circuit breaker covering Pekin and East Yard has been increased to 2.5 Amps after the session.  Based on my testing this has fixed the problem.  The other circuit breakers remain at 1.3 amps.
• One person using a UT4D throttle reported periodic Digitrax duplex radio non-responsiveness when standing by Morton when there were a bunch of people in the vicinity.  Investigating the signal strength using a UT6D, since that is the only throttle showing radio signal strength, showed the signal slightly lower there.  I plan on mounting the UR93 duplex radio in a higher position, and more aligned with the ground plane to see if that results in improvement.  Supposedly the signal pattern is a donut shape, so being aligned with the ground plane should keep the lower signal above and below the "donut hole" away from where any crew might be standing.
• In the future when I run two sections of No 47 I think I need a longer gap between the two sections.  It's easy for the Pekin switcher to get overwhelmed and the yard tracks to get too crowded when a transfer from the P&PU and two sections of No 47 arrive in quick succession.
• The session started a bit late due to late arriving crew.  This resulted in me rushing the session start and not giving as much of an intro talk.  This led to some crew missing signing the registers and not fully following all of the rules of TT&TO.  I need to remember to always give the full intro talk.
• Six crew is perfect for a session that takes place in the morning railroad time.
• The session was a success and I think everyone had fun.

Next op session is scheduled for mid Feb for Amrail.

Operating Session 22

Operating session #22 took place on Saturday 5/24/2025.  The session started at 6:00 AM railroad time, and ended at 1:55 PM railroad time.  I had 6 crew, in addition to myself.  We ran at a 3:1 clock ratio.  This was a session for Amrail, and three of the six crew members were from out of town and were first-timers on the layout.

Here were the assignments for the session, morning of Monday 9/21/1959:

• Clock on at 6:00 AM
• 6:00 AM ATSF/P&E/C&IM/P&PU dispatcher on duty.  Dan J, all session job.
• 6:00 AM ATSF Pekin switcher on duty. Peter A.
• 6:00 AM PPU yard switcher on duty.  Mark W.
• 6:15 AM ATSF Eastward extra local freight from East Yard.  Steve R.
• 7:00 AM ATSF#14 Eastward passenger from Pekin.  Paul H.
• 7:30 AM PE #94 Eastward freight from East Peoria.  Dave H.
• 7:45 AM ATSF #47 Westward green fruit express from ATSF staging (Streator).  Rich S.
• 8:00 AM PE Corn Products switch job. (Unless we have larger crew)
• ~ 8:30 AM ATSF Westward extra local freight from Streator.  Paul H.
• 10:00 AM ATSF #48 Eastward through-freight from East Yard.  Dave H.
• 10:15 AM CIM #6 Northward freight from CIM staging.  Rich S.
• ~ 11:00 AM ATSF Eastward coal empty extra from East Yard to ATSF staging (Streator).  Rich S.
• ~ 11:30 AM ATSF coal extra from ATSF staging (Streator) to Pekin Jct.  Steve R.
• 12:05 AM PE #11 Westward passenger from PE staging (Bloomington).  Mark W.
• 12:20 AM ATSF #17 Westward mail and express from ATSF staging (Streator).  Peter A.
• 12:50 AM PE #95 Westward freight from PE staging (Bloomington).  Paul H.
• Clock off at 1:56 PM

ATSF train orders issued during this session, morning of Mon 9/21/1959:

Order #	To	Body	Complete
1	C+E ENG 2395 at East Yard	ENG 2395 RUN EXTRA EAST YARD TO STREATOR	5:57 AM
2	C+E No 14 at Pekin C+E No 47 at Streator	No 14 ENG 21L MEET No 47 ENG 300L IN ROANOKE No 47 TAKE SIDING	6:28 AM
3	C+E x2395 East at Morton C+E x715 West at Streator	EXTRA 2395 EAST MEET EXTRA 715 WEST IN ROANOKE EXTRA 2395 TAKE SIDING	8:09 AM
4	C+E Eng 715 at Streator	ENG 715 RUN EXTRA STREATOR TO EAST YARD	8:17 AM
5	C+E x715 West at Washington C+E x810 East at East Yard	EXTRA 715 WEST MEET EXTRA 810 EAST IN MORTON. EXTRA 715 WEST TAKE SIDING	10:09 AM
6	C+E Eng 810 at East Yard	ENG 810 RUN EXTRA EAST YARD TO STREATOR	10:15 AM
7	C+E x810 East at Washington C+E x2105 West at Streator	EXTRA 810 EAST MEET EXTRA 2105 WEST IN ROANOKE EXTRA 2105 TAKE SIDING	11:15 AM
8	C+E Eng 2105	ENG 2105 RUN EXTRA STREATOR TO EAST PEORIA VIA TPW AT PEKIN JCT	11:18 AM

No PE train orders issued during this session, morning of Mon 9/21/1959:

Order #	To	Body	Complete

No CIM train orders issued during this session, morning of Mon 9/21/1959:

Order #	To	Body	Complete

Final thoughts:

• The layout ran well.
• The expanded intro talk continues to get the crew to remember to sign the registers consistently and to fully ponder their train orders.
• Six crew is perfect for a session that takes place in the morning railroad time.
• This crew did a great job.
• I wrote more train order than usual, as there was a lot of extras.  I ran both an eastbound coal empty extra and a westbound coal extra, in addition to the usual AM eastbound and AM westbound local extras.

Operating Session 21

Operating session #21 took place on Sunday 5/4/2025.  The session started at 1:45 PM railroad time, and ended at 10:00 PM railroad time.  I had 6 crew, in addition to myself.  We ran at a 3:1 clock ratio.

Here were the assignments for the session, afternoon of Saturday 9/19/1959:

• Clock on at 1:45 PM
• 1:45 PM ATSF/P&E/C&IM/P&PU dispatcher on duty.  Dan J, all session job.
• 1:45 PMATSF x707 West (Order #7) at starting at Morton to East Yard.  Bob M.
• 1:45 PM ATSF Pekin switcher on duty.  Mike A.
• 1:45 PM PPU yard switcher on duty.  Will A.
• 1:45 PM PE #95 Westward freight from PE staging (Bloomington), running late.  Bill A.
• 2:00 PM PE Pekin switcher, along with Corn Products and American Distilling switch jobs.  Rich S.
• 2:00 PM PE #12 Eastward passenger from East Peoria.  Frank S.
• ~ 3:00 PM CIM Northbound extra from CIM staging.  Frank S.
• 3:15 PM ATSF #13 Westward passenger from ATSF staging (Streator).  Frank S.
• 3:30 PM ATSF #50 Eastward way-freight from East Yard.  Bill A.
• 4:30 PM PE #90 Eastward freight from East Peoria.  Bob M.
• 4:45 PM ATSF #49 Westward way-freight from ATSF staging (Streator).  Frank S.
• 5:30 PM ATSF Eastward extra local (x707 E) freight from East Yard.  Bill A.
• 3:05 PM ~ 5:30 PM CIM #7 Southward freight from East Peoria, run late.  Will A.
• 7:00 PM ATSF #18 Eastward mail and express from Pekin.  Frank S.
• ~ 7:45 PM ATSF Westward coal extra (x2105 W)Streator to East Yard.  Rich S.
• Clock off at 10:00 PM
• 1:20 AM PE #99 Westward freight from PE staging (Bloomington).  Did not run before end.

ATSF train orders issued during this session, afternoon of Sat 9/19/1959:

Order #	To	Body	Complete
8	C+E No 50 at East Yard C+E No 13 at Morton	No 50 MEET No 13 IN EAST YARD	3:20 PM
9	C+E ENG 707	ENG 707 RUN EXTRA EAST YARD TO STREATOR	4:38 PM
10	C+E x2105 West at Streator C+E x707 East at Washington	EXTRA 2105 WEST MEET EXTRA 707 EAST IN ROANOKE EXTRA 2105 WEST TAKE SIDING	6:46 PM
11	C+E ENG 2105 at Streator	ENG 2105 RUN EXTRA STREATOR TO EAST YARD	6:48 PM

PE train orders issued during this session, afternoon of Sat 9/19/1959:

Order #	To	Body	Complete
1	C+E No 95 at Tremont C+E No 12 at Peoria	No 95 MEET No 12 AT EAST YARD No 95 TAKE SIDING	1:19 PM

CIM train orders issued during this session, afternoon of Sat 9/19/1959:

Order #	To	Body	Complete
1	C+E ENG 54 at Havana	ENG 54 RUN EXTRA HAVANA TO EAST PEORIA	1:35 PM
2	C+E No 7 at East Peoria C+E x54 N at Havana	No 7 RUN TWO HOURS LATE	1:40 PM

Final thoughts:

• The layout ran well.
• The expanded intro talk helped get the crew to remember to sign the registers consistently and to fully ponder their train orders.
• Six crew works well for a session that takes place in the afternoon railroad time.  It could also work with five.
• As it gets into the evening railroad time there aren't enough trains to keep everyone busy, but I'm ok with that.

Operating Session 20

We're back!  It's been two years, and unfortunately no layout expansion took place.  Life got busy, and the expansion was put on hold.  I have however put the staging area back together, and operating sessions have started up again.

Operating session #20 took place on Thursday 4/17/2025.  The session started at 6:00 AM railroad time, and ended at 1:40 PM railroad time.  I had 8 crew, in addition to myself.  We ran at a 3:1 clock ratio.

Here were the assignments for the session, morning of Saturday 9/19/1959:

• Clock on at 6:00 AM
• 6:00 AM ATSF/P&E/C&IM/P&PU dispatcher on duty.  Dan J, all session job.
• 6:00 AM ATSF Pekin switcher on duty. Bob M, all session job.
• 6:00 AM PPU yard switcher on duty.  Mark V + Charlie S, all session job.
• 6:15 AM ATSF Eastward extra local freight from Pekin.  Mike H.
• 7:00 AM ATSF#14 Eastward passenger from Pekin.  Bill S.
• 7:30 AM PE #94 Eastward freight from East Peoria.  Kurt V.
• 7:45 AM ATSF #47 Westward green fruit express from ATSF staging (Streator).  Mitch R + Frank S.
• 8:45 AM ATSF Eastward coal empty extra from East Yard to ATSF staging (Streator).  Bill S.
• 10:00 AM ATSF #48 Eastward through-freight from East Yard.  Frank S.
• 10:15 AM CIM #6 Northward freight from CIM staging.  Bill S.
• 11:00 AM ATSF Westward extra local freight from Streator.  Mitch R.
• 11:43 AM ATSF coal extra from ATSF staging (Streator) to East Peoria via Pekin Jct.  Mike H.
• 12:05 PM PE #11 Westward passenger from PE staging (Bloomington).  Frank S.
• 12:20 PM ATSF #17 Westward mail and express from ATSF staging (Streator).  Bill S.
• 12:50 PM PE #95 Westward freight from PE staging (Bloomington).  Mike H
• Clock off at 1:40 PM

ATSF train orders issued during this session, morning of Sat 9/19/1959:

Order #	To	Body	Complete
1	C+E Eng 2395 at Pekin	Eng 2395 run extra Pekin to Streator	6:02 AM
2	C+E No 14 at Pekin C+E No 47 at Streator	No 14 eng 21 meet no 47 eng 300 in Roanoke No 47 take siding	6:30 AM
3	C+E x2395 East at Morton C+E x203C East at East Yard	x2395 East meet x203C East in Morton x2395 East take siding	8:30 AM
4	C+E Eng 203C at East Yard	Eng 203C run extra East Yard to Streator	8:33 AM
5	C+E x2395 East at Roanoke C+E x707 West at Streator	x2395 East meet x707 West in Roanoke x707 West take siding	10:01 AM
6	C+E Eng 707 at Streator	Eng 707 run extra Streator to East Yard	10:04 AM
7	C+E Eng 2105 at Streator	Eng 2105 run extra Streator to East Peoria via TPW at Pekin Jct	11:38 AM

No PE train orders were issued during this session, morning of Sat 9/19/1959:

Order #	To	Body	Complete

Final thoughts:

• The layout ran well overall.  Better than I expected after sitting for two years.
• The fast clock has been switched to 12 hr mode from 24 hr mode due to request from crews.
• Eight crew is a bit too many for the layout.  I had to double up crews a couple of times, which I realize not everyone loves.  The large crew also caused me to run more trains than I normally would have.
• One locomotive developed a mysterious motive failure during the session and had to be airlifted out.  DCC functions continued to work, but the engine would not move.  At this point I have too many failed engines and need to get around to fixing them and getting them back in service.
• When short occurs it is shutting down the whole layout.  It appears that the circuit breaker on the new command station is reacting faster than the old command station did.  It is cutting the power faster than the DCC Specialties PSX-1 circuit breakers can.  They have been configured to slow down a bit (20ms?) to let the Frog Juicers (10ms) do their job.  I need to talk to Digitrax to figure out the exact speed of the circuit breaker on the command station to know what speed to set the PSX-1s to, so that they can be faster than the command station.
• I'm liking the new Train Register books designed by Bob Hanmer.  I need to train the crew better to sign their entries on the correct side of the registers.  The new Dispatcher's Order Book is also nice.
• I need to have a more consistent intro talk to remind everyone of things like signing the registers, not leaving a station before their train is scheduled to, particularly when we have new operators.

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.