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.
