Operating Session 24

Operating session #24 took place on Sunday 2/15/2026.  The session started at 12:32 PM railroad time, where the previous session had left off, and ended at 9:18 PM railroad time.  This was a session for Amrail and I had 7 crew in addition to myself.  We ran at a 3:1 clock ratio.  Four of the seven crew members were first-timers on the layout. 

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

• Clock on at 12:32 PM
• 12:32 PM ATSF/P&E/C&IM/P&PU dispatcher on duty.  Dan J, all session job.
• 12:32 PM ATSF Pekin switcher on duty.  Mitch R, all day job.
• 12:32 PM PPU yard switcher on duty.  Al K, all day job.
• 12:32 PM ATSF Eastward extra local freight starting in Roanoke.  Paul H + Alex M.
• 12:40 PM ATSF Eastward coal empty extra from East Yard.  Mike H.
• Late 12:05 12:50 PM PE #11 Westward passenger from PE staging (Bloomington).  Bob D.
• Late 12:20 12:40 PM ATSF #17 Westward mail and express from ATSF staging (Streator).  Devon P.
• Late 12:50 1:20 PM PE #95 Westward freight from PE staging (Bloomington).  Bob D.
• 2:00 PM PE Pekin switcher on duty.  Devon P, all day job.
• 2:00 PM PE #12 Eastward passenger from East Peoria.  Mike H.
• 1:50 PM ATSF Westward extra local freight from Streator.  Paul H + Alex M.
• 3:05pm CIM #7 Southward freight from East Peoria.  Mike H.
• 3:15pm ATSF #13 Westward passenger from ATSF staging (Streator).  Bob D.
• Late 3:30 4:30 PM ATSF #50 Eastward way-freight from East Yard.  Failed to record crew name.
• 4:30 PM PE #90 Eastward freight from East Peoria.  Alex M.
• 4:45 PM ATSF #49 Westward way-freight from ATSF staging (Streator).  Mike H.
• 6:45 PM ATSF Eastward extra local freight from East Yard, only if needed.  Mike H + Bob D.
• 7:00pm ATSF #18 Eastward mail and express from Pekin.  Paul H.
• 8:25 PM ATSF coal extra from Streator to East Yard.  Al K.
• Clock off at 9:18 PM
• 1:20am PE #99 Westward freight from PE staging (Bloomington).  Did not run due to end of session.

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

Order #	To	Body	Complete
7	C+E Eng 2101 at East Yard	ENGINE 2101 RUN EXTRA EAST YARD TO STREATOR	12:32 PM
8	C+E Eng 715 at Streator	ENGINE 715 RUN EXTRA STREATOR TO EAST YARD	1:50 PM
9	C+E Eng No 50 at East Yard	No 50 RUN 1 HOUR LATE	3:27 PM
10	C+E No 50 at East Yard C+E No 49 at Streator	No 50 MEET No 49 AT ROANOKE No 49 TAKE SIDING	4:10 PM
11	C+E Eng 203C at East Yard	ENGINE 203C RUN EXTRA EAST YARD TO STREATOR	6:43 PM
12	C+E Extra 126 West at Streator C+E Extra 203C East at Morton	EXTRA 126 WEST MEET EXTRA 203C AT MORTON	8:12 PM
13	C+E Eng 126 at Streator	ENGINE 126 RUN EXTRA STREATOR TO EAST YARD	8:25 PM

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

Order #	To	Body	Complete

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

Order #	To	Body	Complete

Final thoughts:

• The layout mostly ran well.
• We had several shorts due to people running turnouts that shorted the entire layout.  I need to slow down the trip speed of the command station some more to make sure the PSX circuit breakers trip before the command station, to avoid the entire layout shorting at once.
• One of the shorts took out two locomotives.  They appeared fully dead and unresponsive.  After the session when put back on the rails they both appeared fine and had no signs of trouble.  Odd.  The only common factor was Digitrax decoders, although different decoder models in the two.
• Getting crew to remember to sign the register, and if they do, to sign the correct side of the register, continues to be a bit of a problem.  If crew aren't signing the register it most likely means that they also aren't checking the register for the arrival or departure of all superior trains, which is a big problem in TT&TO.  I think I'll need to add more to the intro talk about the correct use of the register.
• I had slightly adjusted the location of the Digitrax UR93 duple radio before the session. There were no complaints about the radio, so perhaps this new location and radio unit orientation is helpful.
• In afternoon (railroad time) sessions the Pekin and East Peoria areas continue to be a bit congested with people as the ATSF Pekin switcher, PPU switcher, and PE switcher work in close proximity to each other, along with arriving and departing trains on the ATSF and PE.  I need to talk to the guys running those jobs to see how it worked out for them.
• I had previously settled on six crew being the perfect number of crew on the layout.  Seven crew also works if two person crews are put on the local extras.  I enjoy running two person crews on other people's layouts, but have heard that not everyone enjoys being part of a two person crew.  I think it's nice to be able to put a person who is new to TT&TO on a two person crew with someone who is experienced so that they learn from the experienced crew member.
• The crew of the ATSF Pekin switcher suggested that the passenger trains are rather long for the passenger track in Pekin.  I will try running shorter passenger trains next session.
• After the session I took a few of the crew over to visit a nearby layout.  Bill S's C&NW.
• The session was a success and I think everyone had fun.

Next op session is scheduled for mid March for Amrail.

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.