Operating Session 13

Operating Session #13 took place on Thursday 1/16/2020.  I had 7 operators in addition to myself.  One of the operators was a first timer at TT&TO, so he was assigned as an engineer with an experienced conductor for learning purposes.

The recently adjusted ATSF and P&E timetables continued to work well.  With the ATSF #17/#18 trainset staying in Pekin longer than before I am thinking about adding another track to East Yard to store the trainset to avoid congestion in East Yard or the Pekin yard by the depot.


Here were the assignments for the session, Tuesday 9/15/1959:

• 6:45am ATSF/P&E/C&IM/P&PU Dispatcher on duty.  Dan J, all day job.
• 6:45am ATSF Pekin switcher on duty. Mike A, all day job.
• 7:00am PPU yard switcher on duty.  No permanent assignee.  Sometimes Dan J, sometimes Mike A as needed.
• 7:00am PE switcher on duty. Mark V, all day job.
• 7:00am ATSF#14 Eastward passenger from Pekin.  Bob M + Elliott D.
• ~ 7:15am ATSF Extra 721 East local freight from East Yard. Kurt V.
• 7:30am PE #94 Eastard freight from East Peoria.  Charlie S.
• 7:45am ATSF #47 Westward green fruit express from ATSF staging (Streator).  Rick M.
• ~ 9:00am ATSF Extra 707 West local freight from ATSF staging (Streator).  Bob M + Elliott D.
• 10:00am ATSF #48 Eastward through-freight from East Yard.  Charlie S.
• 10:15am CIM #6 Northward freight from CIM staging.  Dan J.
• ~ 11:50am TPW Extra 401 West coal ATSF staging (Streator) to East Peoria via Pekin Jct.  Bob M + Elliott D.
• 12:05pm PE #11 Westward passenger from PE staging (Bloomington).  Charlie S.
• 12:20pm ATSF #17 Westward mail and express from ATSF staging (Streator).  Rick M.
• 12:50pm PE #95 Westward freight from PE staging (Bloomington).  Bob M.
• 2:00pm PE #12 Eastward passenger from East Peoria.  Rick M.
• 3:05pm CIM #7 Southward freight from East Peoria.  Dan J.
• 3:15pm ATSF #13 Westward passenger from ATSF staging (Streator).  Charlie S.
• 3:30pm ATSF #50 Eastward way-freight from East Yard.  Delayed, did not run before end of session
• ~ 4:15PM. End of session
• 4:30pm PE #90 Eastward freight from East Peoria.  Did not run before end of session.
• 4:45pm ATSF #49 Westward way-freight from ATSF staging (Streator).  Did not run before end of session.
• 7:00pm ATSF #18 Eastward mail and express from Pekin.  Did not run before end of session.
• Evening ATSF Eastward extra local from from East Yard.  Did not run before end of session.
• 1:20am PE #99 Westward freight from PE staging (Bloomington).  Did not run before end of session.

Train orders issued during the session:

1. To: C+E No 14 at Pekin, C+E No 47 at Streator.  Body: No 47 Eng 203L Meet No 14 Eng  21 in Roanoke.  No 47 take siding.  Complete: 6:00am.
2. To: C+E x721 East at East Yard, C+E x707 West at Streator.  Body: Extra 721 East meet Extra 707 West in Morton.  Extra 721 take siding.  Complete: 6:45am.
3. To: C+E Eng 721 at East Yard.  Body:  After No 14 departs East Yard Eng 721 run extra East Yard to Streator.  Complete: 6:50am.
4. To: C+E Eng 707 at Streator.  Body:  Eng 707 run extra Streator to East Yard.  Complete: 7:12am.
5. To: C+E TPW x401 West at Streator, C+E x721 East at Washington.  Body:  Extra TPW 401 West meet Extra 721 East in Roanoke.  Extra 721 take siding.  Complete: 11:30am.
6. To: C+E Eng TPW 401 at Streator.  Body: Eng TPW 401 run extra Streator to East Peoria via Pekin Jct.  Complete: 11:47am.
7. To: C+E PE No 12 at East Peoria.  Body:  No 12 run 45 minutes late.  Complete: 2:28pm.

Operating Session 12

Operating Session #12 took place on Saturday 12/28/2019.  I had 6 operators in addition to myself.  With us being a bit short handed I ended up running the P&PU yard switcher in the morning in addition to dispatching.  The P&E Pekin switcher also needed to run his own Corn Products switch jobs and American Distilling switch jobs.

The recently adjusted ATSF and P&E timetables worked well.  On the ATSF we now have bigger time gaps in between scheduled trains, allowing the extra locals to do their work without as much interference.  I had previously been thinking about changing the fast clock ratio to 3-1, but the usual 4-1 worked really nicely with the new timetables.


Here were the assignments for the session, Monday 9/14/1959:

• 6:45am ATSF/P&E/C&IM/P&PU Dispatcher on duty.  Dan J, all day job.
• 6:45am ATSF Pekin switcher on duty. Rich S, all day job.
• 7:00am PPU yard switcher on duty.  Morning Dan J, afternoon Frank S.
• 7:00am PE switcher on duty. Dave H, all day job.
• 7:00am ATSF#14 Eastward passenger from Pekin.  Charlie S.
• 7:15am ATSF Eastward extra local freight from East Yard. Brad H.
• 7:45am ATSF #47 Westward green fruit express from ATSF staging (Streator).  Frank S.
• 9:50am ATSF Westward extra local freight from ATSF staging (Streator). Bill A.
• 10:00am ATSF #48 Eastward through-freight from East Yard.  Charlie S.
• 10:15am CIM #6 Northward freight from CIM staging.  Frank 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).  Dan J.
• 12:50pm PE #95 Westward freight from PE staging (Bloomington).  Brad H.
• 2:00pm PE #12 Eastward passenger from East Peoria.  Brad H.
• 3:05pm CIM #7 Southward freight from East Peoria.  Charlie S.
• 3:15pm ATSF #13 Westward passenger from ATSF staging (Streator).  Brad H.
• 3:30pm ATSF #50 Eastward way-freight from East Yard.  Frank S.
• 4:30pm PE #90 Eastward freight from East Peoria.  Charlie S.
• 4:45pm ATSF Westward coal extra from ATSF staging (Streator) to East Peoria via Pekin Jct.  Brad H.
• 4:55pm ATSF #49 Westward way-freight from ATSF staging (Streator).  Dan J.  Stopped in Roanoke at end of session.
• End of session ~ 5:15pm.
• 7:00pm ATSF #18 Eastward mail and express from Pekin.  Did not run before end of session.
• Evening ATSF Eastward extra local from from East Yard.  Did not run before end of session.
• 1:20am PE #99 Westward freight from PE staging (Bloomington).  Did not run before end of session.

Train orders issued during the session:

1. To: C+E ENG 2395 at East Yard.  Body: AFTER No 14 DEPARTS EAST YARD ENG 2395 RUN EXTRA EAST YARD TO STREATOR.  Complete: 6:30a. 
2. To: C+E X707 WEST at Streator, C+E X2395 EAST at Morton.  Body: EXTRA 707 WEST MEET EXTRA 2395 EAST IN ROANOKE.  Complete: 9:26a.
3. To: C+E ENG 707 at Streator.  Body: ENG 707 RUN EXTRA STREATOR TO EAST YARD.  Complete: 9:45a.
4. To: C+E No 48 at Washington, C+E X707 WEST at Roanoke.  Body: No 48 RUN 30 MIN EARLY.  Complete: 10:32a.
5. To: C+E P&E No 12.  Body: No 12 WAIT AT EAST PEORIA UNTIL No 95 HAS ARRIVED.  Complete: 1:55p.
6. To: C+E ENG 2101 at Streator.  Body: ENGINE 2101 RUN EXTRA STREATOR TO EAST PEORIA VIA PEKIN JCT.  Complete: 4:40p.

New string diagram for the ATSF

Below is a new string diagram for the update timetable on the ATSF.  The new timetable gives more room for extra local freights to work in the morning and afternoon.

New ATSF and P&E timetables for the layout

I've tweaked the ATSF timetable to create a bit more room in the afternoon schedule to run extras.  The action on the ATSF now runs into the evening as well.

ATSF timetable

The P&E timetable has been altered to have all four scheduled freights that existed in reality in 1959.

P&E timetable

The train info pages have been updated to match the new timetables.

More P&E staging tracks built

P&E staging has been improved to support a more realistic schedule for the Peoria and Eastern.  Now with two 7ft hidden staging tracks I can support two freights each way, and a passenger train each way.  Additionally a too tight curve on the 2% grade from staging was ripped up and re-laid with about a 16" radius.  Previously a single engine could only pull 8 cars up from staging.  Now that same engine can pull 14 cars.  I've learned to never go for an excessively tight radius, even in hidden trackage by staging.

More ATSF staging tracks built

I ripped up part of the ATSF staging yard ladder and added two more tracks.  One of them is only half length due to benchwork limitations.  At this point with six tracks in the ATSF staging yard I can adjust the schedule to include more trains.

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