Evolving the time table and operating scheme

So far most of the action on my time table is concentrated between 7am and 6pm.  Operating sessions generally start with the clock at 6:45am and tend to go until 4pm - 5pm railroad time, with the fast clock running at a 4-1 ratio.  This makes means each session is about 2:30 - 3 real hours.  This seems to be about the natural point where operators start to fizzle.  Most of my sessions take place on weeknight evenings, which adds to the early fizzle factor for most people.

In operating on other layouts I've grown to like the variety when operating sessions pick up at whatever layout time that the last operating session ended.  This type of continuous ops makes each session feel a bit different.  I'm hoping to evolve my time table and operating scheme a bit more in this direction.  As a bonus, by spreading out the scheduled trains a bit there will be more room to fit in extras.

The first change on the ATSF will be to change the scheduled departure of the westbound ATSF #17, the Pekin Fast Mail from staging to depart at 12:30pm instead of 11:00am.  This also allows it to receive a sleeper from the LA to Chicago eastbound Super Chief, which will have stopped off-layout at Streator at 11:40am.

The next change is #18, the Ft. Madison Fast Mail from Pekin, will depart at 7:00pm instead of 1:00pm.  This will open up the schedule quite a bit in the afternoons, to allow for extra locals in both directions to work the industries, as well as coal hauls from ATSF staging to TP&W East Peoria staging.  The eastbound Fast Mail will also carry a connecting sleeper header to the westbound Chicago to LA Super Chief, which stops in Streator at 8:40pm.  This connect sleeper cannot miss the connection or heads will roll.

On the C&IM I will plan on running an evening freight extra in both directions if crew availability and traffic allows.

On the P&E I will move to a more realistic schedule with all four daily scheduled freights, by adding #99 and #94.  The will require an additional staging track be built for the P&E. 

The next change will to try out a 3-1 clock ratio instead of the previous 4-1 ratio.  My hope is that this gives the yard operators a less rushed experience, and the locals more time to do their work.  Hopefully this still works for the scheduled through freights and passenger trains.  We'll see.  Operating sessions will switch to one covering the early shift and the next covering the late shift.  The first will be from 6:30 AM - 2:30 PM or 3:30 PM railroad time.  The second will be from ~ 3:00 PM - ~ 11:00 PM railroad time.  There will be no night shift operating session due to low traffic.

I still need to figure out if the crew sizing for an early and late op session will need to be the same, or if the late shift works better with a smaller crew.

New proposed time tables below, with changes highlighted in red.

Proposed new Santa Fe time table

Proposed new Peoria and Eastern time table