Operating Session 17

Operating session #17 took place on Saturday 11/19/2022.  The session started at 1:34pm railroad time, and ended at 9:03pm railroad time.  I had 6 crew, a mix of Amrail and the usual guys, in addition to my self.  With one of the crew members being a student paired with another person, I could have optimally used one more crew.   We ran at a 3:1 clock ratio, which continues to work well.

Here were the assignments for the session, afternoon/evening of Thursday 9/17/1959:

• Clock on at 1:34pm
• 1:34pm ATSF/P&E/C&IM/P&PU Dispatcher on duty.  Dan J, all day job.
• 1:34pm ATSF Pekin switcher.  Rick W.
• 1:34pm PPU East Peoria yard switcher.  Bob M.
• (Late) 12:50pm PE #95 Westward freight from PE staging (Bloomington).  Mike A.
• 1:42pm ATSF Extra 721 West local freight from Streator.  Chris C + Matthew C.
• 2:00pm PE Pekin switcher on duty.  Mike A.
• 2:00pm PE #12 Eastward passenger from East Peoria.  Gary H.
• 3:05pm CIM #7 Southward freight from East Peoria. Dan J.
• 3:15pm ATSF #13 Westward passenger from ATSF staging (Streator). Gary H.
• 3:30pm ATSF #50 Eastward way-freight from East Yard.  Gary H.
• 4:30pm PE #90 Eastward freight from East Peoria.  Dan J.
• 4:45pm ATSF #49 Westward way-freight from ATSF staging (Streator).  Mike A.
• 6:07pm ATSF Extra 715 West coal extra from ATSF staging (Streator) to East Peoria.  Bob M.
• 6:49pm ATSF Extra 721 East local freight from East Yard.  Gary H.
• 7:00pm ATSF #18 Eastward mail and express from Pekin.  Chris C + Matthew C.
• Clock off at 9:03pm
• DID NOT RUN 1:20am PE #99 Westward freight from PE staging (Bloomington)

ATSF train orders issued during this session, afternoon/evening of Thu 9/17/1959:

Order #	To	Body	Complete
7	C+E Eng 721 at Streator	Eng 721 run extra Streator to Pekin East Yard	1:42pm
8	C+E Eng 715 at Streator	Eng 715 run extra Streator to Pekin East Yard	6:07pm
9	C+E Extra 715 West at Roanoke C+E Extra 721 East at East Yard	Extra 715 West meet Extra 721 East in Morton Extra 721 East take siding	6:47pm
10	C+E Eng 721 at East Yard	Eng 721 Run extra East Yard to Streator	6:49pm

PE train orders issued during this session, afternoon/evening of Thu 9/17/1959:

Order #	To	Body	Complete
1	C+E No 95 at Tremont    C+E No 12 at Peoria	No 95 Eng 5607 meet No 12 Eng 5606    In East Yard No 95 take main	1:15pm

Thoughts on how the session ran:

• Overall the session ran well.
• The 3:1 clock ratio continues to work well.  It allows me to not feel rushed when thinking about and writing train orders.
• Everyone is doing a good job of signing and reading the registers, and getting a pretty good handle on TT&TO operations.

The current state of scenery

Someone asked for some pictures showing the current state of the layout, so here goes.  After taking a few snaps of the layout I'm noticing that I keep way too much random stuff stored under the layout.

The north-east end of Roanoke, IL where trains come out of staging

Roanoke, IL looking north-east

Cruger, IL on the TP&W, looking south-west towards Pekin Jct where the TP&W and ATSF split

North-east end of Washington, IL

Washington, IL

Crandall, IL interchange with NKP not pictured

Morton, IL

South end of Morton, IL with IT/PRR interchange not pictured

Pekin East Yard looking north-east.  Left side is ATSF, right side is P&E.  The P&E heads into staging along the backdrop curve.

Pekin looking south-west.  P&E on the left, ATSF on the right.  The ATSF ends here at Big Four Jct.  Heading right along the curve takes you to the P&PU.

P&PU A-yard in East Peoria, IL.  Corn Products in South Pekin in the background.  P&E #12 heading to Indianapolis on the P&PU main.

Operating Session 16

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.

Operating Session 15

Operating session #15 took place on Thursday 9/15/2022.  Usually for operating sessions I re-stage the layout and start the sessions at ~ 6:30am railroad time.  This time I decided to try out continuing the day where the previous session left off.  We started off with the clock at 4:15pm.  The afternoon and evening schedule of trains is a bit mellower, and is optimal for 5 people.  This time I had 4 operators in addition to myself.

The session started at 4:15pm railroad time, and ended at 9:00pm railroad time.  I decided to run the clock at a slightly slower than usual 3:1 ratio.  I felt like this worked well, but one person commented that they thought the 4:1 ratio might work better for an afternoon/evening session, while perhaps the busier morning/afternoon sessions might benefit from the 3:1 ratio.  I'll try that next time and we'll see how it turns out.

Here were the assignments for the session, afternoon/evening of Wednesday 9/16/1959:

• Clock on at 4:15pm
• 4:15pm ATSF/P&E/C&IM/P&PU Dispatcher on duty.  Dan J, all day job.
• 4:15pm ATSF Pekin switcher on duty, all day job.  Dan J, doing double-duty.
• 4:25pm ATSF Eastward extra local freight from East Yard.  Frank S.
• 4:30pm PE #90 Eastward freight from East Peoria.  Mike A.
• 4:45pm ATSF #49 Westward way-freight from ATSF staging (Streator).  Bill S.
• 4:50pm PPU Transfer from East Peoria yard to ATSF East Yard.  Charlie S.
• 5:30pm (delayed from 3:30pm) ATSF #50 Eastward way-freight from East Yard.  Charlie S.
• 5:30pm PE Pekin switch job, including American Distilling job.  Mike A.
• 7:00pm ATSF #18 Eastward Fort Madison Fast Mail from Pekin.  Bill S.
• 8:05pm ATSF Westward coal extra from ATSF staging (Streator) to PPU East Peoria Yard.  Bill S. + Charlie S.
• Clock off at 9:00pm
• 1:20am PE #99 Westward freight from PE staging (Bloomington).  Did not run before end of session.

Train orders issued earlier in the day during the previous session:

• 1.  To: C+E x707 West at Streator, C+E x2395 East at East Yard.  Body:  Extra 707 West meet extra 2395 East in Morton.  Complete: 6:15am.
• 2.  To: C+E Eng 707 at Streator.  Body: Eng 707 run extra Streator to East Yard.  Complete: 6:17am.
• 3.  To: C+E Eng 2395 at East Yard.  Body: Eng 2395 run extra East Yard to Streator.  Complete: 6:19am.

Train orders issued during this session:

• 4.  To: C+E No 50 at East Yard, C+E No 49 at Streator, C+E x707 East at East Yard.  Body: Train no 50 run 2 hours late.  Complete: 3:25pm.
• 5.  To: C+E Eng 707 at East Yard.  Body: Eng 707 run extra East Yard to Streator.  Complete: 4:20pm.
• 6.  To: C+E x707E at Roanoke, C+E x2101W at Streator.  Body: Extra 707 East meet Extra 2101 West in Roanoke.  Extra 707 East take siding.  Complete: 7:28 pm.
• 7.  To: C+E Eng 2101 at Streator.  Body:  Eng 2101 run extra Streator to East Yard.  Complete: 8:05pm.

Thoughts on how the session ran:

• Overall the session ran well, with no track or power problems.  5 people in addition to myself dispatching would be the right number of people for an afternoon/evening session.  We made do with 4, but me running the ATSF Pekin job in addition to dispatching lead to a lot of unsorted cars in ATSF Pekin East Yard by the end of the session.
• The 3:1 clock ratio worked, but next time I might try 4:1 for an afternoon/evening session, and try 3:1 for a morning/afternoon session.
• The new-ish UR93 radio receiver continued to work well.  All operators used radio throttles and there were no reports of radio problems.
• The new-ish UT6D throttle continued to run well.  I like that it works well off of rechargeable Eneloop NIMH AA batteries.  I should probably get one or two more of these throttles.
• I haven't been able to get the LogicRail loconet clocks to sync their time with the Digitrax command station without having a computer with JMRI running as clock master.  I have concluded that I just need to continue having the computer clock master involved.  It appears that people using older Digitrax command stations have more luck with the LogicRail clocks working correctly.

Operating Session 14

After a long break due to Covid, operating session #14 took place on Sunday 11/21/2021.  I had 7 operators in addition to myself.

A recently added track in the ATSF East Yard has helped to hold the ATSF #17/#18 trainset that now is staying in Pekin longer after the recent-ish time-table change.  I still need to add another track behind the Pekin depot to give better access to the team track when the depot house track is loaded with cars.  This will also make room to store a few cabooses by the depot, like the Santa Fe did in real life.

The clock came on at 6:30am, and went off at 4:28pm.  It ran at the usual 4:1 ratio.

Here were the assignments for the session, Wednesday 9/16/1959:

• 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, all day job. Bob H.
• 6:30am PPU yard switcher on duty, all day job.  Mark V.
• 6:30am ATSF Eastward extra local freight from East Yard.  Frank S.
• 7:00am ATSF#14 Eastward passenger from Pekin.  Bob M.
• 7:30am PE #94 Eastward freight from East Peoria.  Bill S.
• 7:45am ATSF #47 Westward green fruit express from ATSF staging (Streator).  Kurt V.
• 8:00am PE Corn Products switch job.  Did not run.
• 9:30am ATSF Westward extra local freight from Streator.  Mike A.
• 10:00am ATSF #48 Eastward through-freight from East Yard.  Bill S.
• 10:15am CIM #6 Northward freight from CIM staging.  Bob M.
• 12:05pm PE #11 Westward passenger from PE staging (Bloomington).  Bill S.
• 12:20am ATSF #17 Westward mail and express from ATSF staging (Streator).  Bob M.
• 12:50pm PE #95 Westward freight from PE staging (Bloomington).  Kurt V.
• Afternoon TPW Eastward coal extra from ATSF staging to TPW staging (East Peoria).  Did not run.
• 2:00pm PE Pekin switcher on duty.  Bob M.
• 2:00pm PE #12 Eastward passenger from East Peoria.  Frank S.
• 3:05pm CIM #7 Southward freight from East Peoria.  Bill S.
• 3:15pm ATSF #13 Westward passenger from ATSF staging (Streator).  Mike A.
• 3:30pm ATSF #50 Eastward way-freight from East Yard.  Delayed, did not run before end of session.
• Clock off at 4:28pm
• 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 extras on ATSF if needed.  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 x707 West at Streator, C+E x2395 East at East Yard.  Body:  Extra 707 West meet extra 2395 East in Morton.  Complete: 6:15am.
2. To: C+E Eng 707 at Streator.  Body: Eng 707 run extra Streator to East Yard.  Complete: 6:17am.
3. To: C+E Eng 2395 at East Yard.  Body: Eng 2395 run extra East Yard to Streator.  Complete: 6:19am.

Thoughts on how the session ran:

• Overall the session ran well.  7 people in addition to myself dispatching is the right number of people.  4:1 seems to be the right clock ratio.
• I'm going to try running smaller follow-up sessions where a smaller crew runs the ~ 4:30pm - midnight part of the railroad day.
• Not having the P&E Pekin switcher come on duty until 2pm has some pros and cons.  This does however match reality.
• Pro: The people running the ATSF Pekin switcher and the P&E Pekin switcher spend less time being in each other's way.
• Con: The P&E Pekin yard tracks end up getting more congested.
• Neutral: The passing P&E way-freights end up having to handle their own car pick-ups and drop-offs in Pekin, which my operators need to get used to.
• Even though the P&E Pekin switcher is no longer on duty in the mornings I may need to try having a morning P&E switch-job for American Distilling and Corn Products.
• We had less Digitrax radio issues than in the past, but still got a couple of reports of iffy radio.  I'm now using the new UR93 radio receiver.  I may need to set the older UR92 back up, to see if having both in operation fixes things.
• The new UT6D throttle ran well and was liked.  I will likely get more of these.

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.