Видео

Rodney thanks for your efforts and all those who contribute to the fun we enjoy in model railroading. Mike

Im very familiar with capital crescent. It looked like they saved the facade of the Georgetown heating plant. I was just down there farting around. Awesome presentation Ben . My grandfather worked for capital transit. He told me in 1964 when they went to busses. Some of the fellas did switch over because they didn't have a drivers license. Lol

Thank you for all the in-depth research into the B&O Georgetown Branch. As a board member with Coalition for the Capital Crescent Trail 1989-2001 I took on Volunteer Rail-Trail Preparation. I came up with the term Rail-Trail in 1990 to promote precisely preserving the main rail alignment as a bicycle parkway. Surprisingly there was no clear concept of that before the term Rail-Trail. The Rails-to-Trails conservancy who our chair Karen-Lee Ryan worked for as their publicity director took my term Rail-Trail and push it out all over the world. I put so much effort into the CCT because it was inside the Capitol Beltway and had not been compromised still with the rails down where an exact preservation of the rail alignment as a bicycle path would be seen by tourists from all over the world. The CCCT extensively cleared the tracks to show case that idea and encouraged the purchase of the railroad. The mile markers were surveyed and designed by me being installed by volunteers. They are typically within the width of the RR tie post to the precise valuation map calculated milages. Valuation maps are laid out in feet. Mile marker 8.5 is off about 2-1/2 feet. The mile marker posts are actual Georgetown Branch RR ties. Just having a wood timber with no tie plate marks doesn't look like a RR tie. The mile marker placement began in Georgetown winter 1994 with mile maker 10.3 and finished with mile marker 0.0 in 2001. Mile maker 1.0 was the last of the mile markers to be placed. Mile maker posts 8.5 and 1.0 had to be extra long switch tie posts. Survey points were taken from the centerline of culverts passing under the centerline of the main alignment. The Georgetown Branch Metropolitan Southern RR section was purchased under rail banking by Montgomery Co. and is not abandon. I have a copy of the sales documents which are similar to a dead. The Montgomery Co DOT sent me the valuation maps stating they were the plats. Common carrier railroad corridors are federal imminent domain real estate and don't appear in county real estate records because they don't have imminent domain over them. Some make a note about it being a RR. It can normally be determined from the other property boundaries around them. Along the GB branch there are additional federal imminent domain real estates such as the Dalecarlia water treatment plant. Thank you for sharing all your research! I started Z-scale because that 1:220 scale allowed me to place that scale track and railroad cars on the 1" to 20' scale drawing 1:240 of the real estate of the Georgetown Branch between Wisconsin Avenue and Bethesda Avenue along the railroad curve 32-foot wide 23-foot high railroad easement. Doing that at meeting to promote the integrity of the GB really gives attention. I had thought about creating the entire GB branch in Z-scale, but run ability and lack of a good communication and control system such as with MTS keeps me from pursuing it farther. The street running in Georgetown back when it was separate and horse drawn between 1892 - 1908 I think could be an interesting scene. CSX could have a lot more than just a switcher down on the streets of Georgetown. I got an ear full when I called up CSX in 1992 about something and they were still infuriated that Montgomery Co. had removed their tracks in Bethesda trapping six locomotives in Georgetown with CSX having to put the tracks back.

Very good, just greatly detailed presentation. It was interesting to follow along with google maps to see what still existed along the right-away, like the Safeway at 38:11 seems to be in same area (although looks different now). BTW, I used to park in the new yard when visiting Georgetown Library in the 80s. The tracks were still there then. Who knew? And… Thanks for the Dremel tip. Happy holidays.

Impressive historical research. enjoy the building!

Ben, great presentation. I worked in Bethesda/Chevy Chase area in the mid 80's so it brought back memories. Thanks

Very good video. Love the amount of detail he went into with his research. And to see his layout was a bonus! Thanks for sharing.

Riveting

If someone wants signals, who cares how long it takes. Do the homework, avoid trying to find shortcuts and quick solutions that aren’t satisfying. The results will show the effort put forth just like scenery or structures.

Very interesting Michael thank you, Just one extra thought about making rolling stock run well , back to back measurements can be critical for smooth running, they are often poor on new stock. Mike

Eric would you check the Carcards without numbers Group email reference please - it does not seem to be working- thanks

Is it possible to have an article on building switch lists and how to use them for complete novices?

I would more than happily pay extra to design my own layout so I could test it before I build it.

I suggest a trio of gp's for your pulp train. This gives you a little extra tonnage capacity going up the hill. I set my spot cars in nantahaha siding and have my pulp train pick them up. That allows me to run almost all my switching stuff directly into snowbird yard. It saves a lot of time.

Very nice, Adam!! Unfortunately, I'm a Mac guy so as I understand I can not play it.

Fantastic presentation - thank you!

why is Erika's volume so low even at full volume?

Why not do TT&TO just on paper outside the game. TT&TO is on paper it has no reason what so ever to be inside the game. I look at it as a layout that you are looking at via a camera aka remote vie. The real TT&TO did it on on paper via telephone on paper.

I have been playing and loving this game since it came out. Can’t wait for the future of this game!

Well after watching this, I took the plunge and bought it. Have to see how it goes. Cheers Lee

TT&TO is entirely possible on this platform. Excellent work. The dispatcher's office could include a link to a trainsheet, rulebook, etc. Timetable and rulebook available to the crews. Bulletins and special instructions. The works! All this can be modulated at various depths as well. TO operators at stations could be "AI" or real human employees. Commo from the DX could be by phone or (gasp) simulated or real telegraph...at that point the Morse Telegraph Club expertise could be brought in. But that's way beyond the fringe, But letting AI use Morse could provide cool sound effects in a TO office! And the written orders and clearances would be available to be "picked up" by the train crew at the station. TO signals would also be a must. And train register entries also required; but semi-automated for ease of use. Again, fantastic work. Thanks! Linton von Beroldingen

I have been wanting virtual railroad games to get the recognition they deserve from the general model railroading community. I have been a rail fan and model railroader since the late 1970s, and though I do love making actual models, space, time and cost have reduced my ability to persue the hobby. Programs like Trainz, Railroader and hopefully Century of Steam offer amazing opportunities for RR ops. I have a few friends who help me in Railroader and it is a fantastic way to get gamers intetested in trains and operations. Shout out to Virtual Railroad Acadamy for sharing real world railroad experience through virtual rail games.

Missed this live. What a great presentation.

Hi from the UK. Interesting discussion. Lee Ward

I like the C&IG shirt!

Perhaps making the website easier to understand. Am I correct that there have been no events or operations around Philadelphia since 2022? I quit bothering to check the site since there is never anything going on. Possibly I’m using it wrong?

Great presentation by Mr. Koester. I absolutely loved the story about the burned-out corn cob pile and his visit to the store in Michigan on his search for "HO corn cobs." LOL

Thanks for sharing, could not attend due to time zone restrictions being on a Monday in Australia!

I'd like to apologize to everyone for my not being able to share in full screen. Rather than detract from the meeting by working to resolve the technical issue, I opted to continue with a reduced view. I will ensure this does not happen again. Rick Watson, OpSig President

Great job by everyone

Suggestions to recruit into ops. Find out what NMRA divs/reg are doing and sponsor, participate in, or help. Example is TCD Operations Retreat. Do clinics for the public, not just members - Ops 101 type clinics. Recruit ambassadors within the OpSIG across the country to show up at model railroad and 1:1 train events to advertise and speak the gospel of ops. Rate operating layouts as beginner, intermediate, and expert ops so people don’t end up for a first time at something that would intimidate them out of ops. Have some sort of certification for beginner layouts so folks are comfortable signing up to operate on them. Just a few ideas from a former OpSIG member.

I always love these. Thank you sharing this with the world. Congratulations on your new position!

A superb quality presentation. More of Tony Koester please!

Thanks to Tony for the tour and OpSig for the production.

Thank you, Tony. It was a great presentation.

great presentation. Nice to hear from such an experienced model railroader.

Another great video gang!

Minute 27 ish this is the link www.loc.gov/collections/historic-american-buildings-landscapes-and-engineering-records/about-this-collection/

Excellent explanation of car cards vs JRMI Ops, and of how to use JMRI Ops - Thanks!

I wonder how many people that watch this would be new to operations. It seems like it’s aimed at the new people. I feel a refresher that’s a little bit more engaging than lecturing to a zoom call of 5 other people who look bored as heck. As a beginner, I also don’t know who these people are that you’re mentioning are or their layouts. “Getting started in operations” shouldn’t have any more than 5% of the time devoted to basement filling layouts, or “destination” layouts at least. It seems unlikely that the people you’re aiming for will spend much time there or be able to build something like that. There’s mention of simple things or things that are great for beginners, but I felt throughout this video there are mentions of things that are good for beginners but then that’s skipped over to go to more complicated things. Staging tracks…I want more photo examples, but those staging tracks are huge and unrealistic for most people I’d guess, at least for those getting started. By showing or talking about these huge layouts so much, it almost feels like that should be the standard to be reached. Who is your actual audience here though? Are you trying to convince people to get started in operations, or is that just a phrase that’s getting chipped in? I want to know how to operate that L shaped layout you showed, instead of disparaging that you feel you have to lift the train off at the interchange track. Show the person with the 4x8 what kinds of things they will be able to do in an L shape layout. Don’t tell them about so-and-so’s layout that has 2 levels and a helix. If they don’t know what they would do on a point to point layout, you won’t convince them to make something else, being such a large investment. If they have the 4x8, show them how they can operate there, and make them want to make something different. Where I’m coming from? I live in a very small home. I built an N scale layout that is 2.5’x4’. It’s two loops of track with a Walthers power plant as well as a freight house, both because they are something that are significant to me. I run Penn Central because of my grandpa. I also have a team track that I have to fudge on the spacing. I made this size because I wanted to be able to fit it in my car to take to my dad’s house who’s 83. Luckily, I built an interchange track that runs to the edge of the layout, and recently I’ve built a small staging “yard” that is about 1’x4’. That’s my staging area, and I’m proud of it because it’s where I tried new things with how I put down track and because I isolated my Peco electrofrogs and powered them separately with a manual turnout controller, a FastTracks Bullfrog. It’s a ton of fun, but I want more of how to actually start operations. I have the starter kit of car cards and waybills but they’re still sitting in the box because what I hear about them isn’t a great instruction on how to actually get started, so instead I just make it up in my head. I say to myself, “leave the tank car at the power plant, but switch the empty hopper for a full one. Take the two box cars (one empty and one freshly loaded) from the freight house and add two that are full. Take the empty flat car from the tram track. There’s nothing to leave there this session. Circle around the layout and come back to the yard so the switcher can sort them all out and build a new train.” I might even leave a car on the train that doesn’t get spotted anywhere on the layout to assume that there’s another place it gets taken that isn’t on the layout besides the staging yard. Basically, this feels like a video that should be called “getting somebody else started in operations.” I want to know how to operate my small layout realistically and what kind of paperwork is best for this layout. Thanks, I’ve joined the opsig by the way because I still feel there are good benefits.

Thank you Dave. Youre presentation is really great. Its a real inspiration for our model railroading here. Greetings from Walter from Germany.

Sorry I missed the live presentation, had a family dinner. Looks really cool. Congratulations on a great railroad!

Will CATS now work with the latest version of JMRI? I heard updates were needed before it could work with 5.6+

Some railroad you been there Eric

Great session, good questions and good advice.

In a yard direction is relative to the engine front. On a train, the direction is relative to the direction authorized.

From Steve Sandifer, to the person who asked about train numbers: The first branch that the Santa Fe built was from Emporia KS to Howard KS, later extended to Moline. Emporia was on the main line while Moline was on the South Kansas Division. There was another line that went off of the Howard District at Madison and went to Benedict and on to Chanute. Around WWII, the government built Toronto Lake that covered the Virgil District south of Virgil, so it became a branch off of a branch. This was a mixed train line. The train originated in Emporia at 6:30am and went to Moline. After an hour for lunch in Moline, and interchanging a few cars for the S Kansas line, it returned to Emporia. When it got to Madison Junction, it took the wye and went to Hilltop and Virgil and then returned to Madison Junction and back to Emporia. Train numbers changed for the Virgil district, but it was the same train. Most of the cars originated and/or were taken to Emporia. A major exception was a limestone quarry near Moline that produced up to 100 cars a day largely for the concrete industry. This line is in the edge of the Bluestem grass Flint Hills, so it was used seasonally for livestock. If stock was being moved from Emporia, priority was given to unloading ASAP, including going to Virgil or Hilltop on the way down instead of on the way back to Emporia. On the other hand, if they were picking up fat cattle, they would be loaded on the way to Emporia to reduce time in the stock car. There were many times when they had no work on the Virgil line so they just skipped it. Don’t worry about the fact that it was a mixed train. They rarely had a passenger. The inclusion of a combine was primarily to satisfy the ICC and by 1951 most of the LCL, REA, and post was handled by highway. I do have an digitized 8mm movie from 1956 that shows them picking up school children in Severy and taking them to Moline so they could ride the train. They also unloaded some milk cans in Moline. The times shown in the schedule have little relation to reality. The crews I interviewed said they only paid attention to the time leaving Emporia and the time leaving Moline. It was a 20 mph track, so you never got ahead. There were more stations on the track than this shows, but the ones omitted were stock pens only - no depot. Utopia which is on the list, was only a stock pen. In the early days, there was a MP line that also served Madison. The Frisco to Wichita crossed the ATSF at Severy and the MP main to Wichita crossed the line at Eureka. Both Severy and Eureka were gated diamonds dispatched by the MP and Frisco.

Interesting idea about tying the refer icing to actual temperature. I recently built a snowplow for my layout and am modeling an area far away from where I live. So maybe I'll check the weather at the real location at the start and if snowing, will bring the snowplow out.

#Momentumorbust! The common "I want to be able to stop" argument against momentum is pretty moot IMO for three reasons. First, you can add starting (CV3) momentum without effecting stopping (CV4) momentum. That said, even adding a little bit of stopping momentum doesn't drastically effect stopping distance, but DOES smooth it out considerably. Second, high stopping momentum without a function-controlled brake is just as un-prototypical as no momentum at all, so both should be used. Third, most DCC systems and/or decoders offer an Emergency-Stop button/function, so you can still save that theoretical runaway train before it runs off the edge of your layout, but I'd contend the mere possibility of that a fault of layout design and not momentum. The way I see it, operating prototypically in every other way but not using at least moderate momentum is insincere, but hey, it's your layout.

enjoyed it. Very good. Sorry I could not make Sunday night.