I hosted an operating session recently on the B&O Wheeling Freight Terminal. This was the first session held in my new Philadelphia home and the first session since the spring of 2017 in El Paso, Texas.
I spent much of the week before the session cleaning the rolling stock, layout surface, and layout room. It seemed like El Paso dust had remained on parts of the layout and freight cars. I pulled several freight cars off the layout as they had not been painted and decaled. There were also a few too many cars and I didn’t want total congestion with new operators.
I was anxious about hosting the session as my layout isn’t like many others in the area. I decided to use the opportunity as a shake down session just to see how well it can operate and how the crews participate. It was time to take the next step and share the layout with other modelers. Here’s a look at the track plan.
Drew Marshall, Val Pistilli, and Steve Salotti arrived in time for the 10:00 am start. Steve and Drew took the team yard crew. They are seen in the above photo as they plot their next move. Val and I worked the freight house.
One of my usual 4-6-0 locos was acting up so Proto 2000 USRA 0-8-0 switchers were used for both crews. A four-wheel bobber was also assigned to each crew.
I acted as the clerk before the session and took car inventories and marked up locations for inbound and outbound cars. My clerk processes were featured in a 2015 blog post.
After everyone checks out the layout, the crews sort through all the inbound cars. They arrive haphazardly from Benwood yard south of Wheeling. In the photo above, Val and Steve discuss a couple of loco movements to trade off strings of freight cars. The freight house crew pulls all the team yard cars and passes them off to the team crew. The yard has two operating areas so both crews can work at the same time. The team crew pulled all the cars destined for the freight house and passed them over to the other side of the yard.
Steve watches a string of cars roll into the team yard in the image above. Both of the steam locos operated well and I think there were only a couple of derailments. I stressed to the participants that there’s no need to rush through the work and to ask any questions along the way. I did forget a step in the process which we cleared up quickly. The crew had not used the type of switch lists I created. Signage around the layout also helped in understanding spot locations.
Some of the inbound team yard cars have sure spot locations. These need to be sorted before the crew can head to the team yard to start pulling outbounds and spot the inbound cars. Most of the inbound freight house cars have sure spots, so there’s additional thought and work to get those in the proper order before the freight house crew can move cars into place.
After a couple of hours, we took a lunch break and enjoyed hoagies from a local joint. The photographer went off duty, too. Lunch is a good moment to discuss layout problems and tasks for me to improve for future sessions.
Everyone was back to the layout to sort outbound cars after lunch. Smaller switch lists identify cars at the freight house and team yard, along with their outbound destination. Wheeling was a hub of several lines for the B&O. I use a random number generator to mark freight cars for five different destinations plus a clean out track in the yard.
I’m very satisfied with the Philly op session debut. There are a few things to improve but the crews enjoyed their time on the rails. It had been a long time since I’ve seen my layout come alive. I think operating sessions are one of the most rewarding exercises in the hobby as they reinforce all the layout work and time spent. It’s especially great to see other modelers enjoying the layout.
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I like the placement of turnout controls at the fascia of the layout. This will prevent awkward reach-ins and makes the presentation a bit neater. How do you link them to the turnouts? Blessings
Thanks, Andy! I need to post about the turnout controls. It’s old fashioned but works, plus the linkage activates a momentary-contact SPDT to change the frog polarity. Let’s see what I can post in the next month. – Eric H.
Neat! How many cars do you anticipate moving per session? Will you manually remove/add cars during a session to simulate interchange with the outside world?
Regard,
Vince
Thanks for your comment, Vince! The crews moved 97 cars during the session. I can remove and add cars between sessions to simulate interchange, but I don’t have 200 freight cars for 1926. About twenty undecorated cars are off layout and need to roll through the paint shop. There’s another twenty cars for the era that were not on the layout for this last session. Plus, I have five more freight cars progressing on the workbench. So….. I’m getting there! – Eric H
Hi Eric,
Looks like fun. Can I ask what height the track is on your current layout? I am hoping to start buildling a small, portable/movable switching layout this summer and am experimenting with heights. I was thinking about 55 -56 inches -maybe?- and your benchwork looks rather tall too.
Best of luck with future sessions.
Gerard
Thank you for your comment, Gerard! Track sits at 50-inches above the floor. It’s one of the elements I used from the Free-mo specs. If you check out my blog posts tagged with Wheeling Freight Terminal, the 2012 and 2013 posts featuring construction should pop up. I thought you were going to drop by this spring? – Eric H.
Thanks!
Doggone, Eric: Your layout is at the perfect height. Like mine. Thanks for this blog/view, etc. You are an inspiration to all model railroaders.
Thanks for your comment, Morgan! I chose the height after attending a couple of Free-mo set ups. The rail is 50-inches off the floor, which is one of the Free-mo specifications. – Eric H.
Eric……….
The second-to-last photo shows a Soo Line single-sheathed boxcar.
Is that something one can buy or find readily somewhere?
Tom
Tom, that’s an old Dennis Storzek resin kit. It builds into a very nice car. You might find those kits at some train shows or maybe at the St Louis RPM this summer in Collinsville, IL. It was reissued by Speedwitch Media as Kit 108 with a few upgrades. It’s currently out-of-stock. That’s another option to keep your eyes open for. – Eric H.
Didn’t one of the 3D Printing guys offer a few variations on the Soo sawtooth car? Maybe on 3DPTrain?
Close, but not exact: https://3dptrain.com/products/zmw-ho-2001
Yeah, it’s surprising how many variations of that design were built. There’s also an automobile box car version IIRC. Plus, some Missouri Pacific affiliated lines had some. Look at the rabbit hole you have dug, Drew!! – Eric H.
I love it! Maybe a turntable, which would add some different ops opportunity, or a requirement to water and coal load the locos at specific times during the session. I’ve operated on a layout much like yours, mostly a yard with switching in and around the yard. A truly fun time and a break from the usual layout op session.
Thanks for your comment, Bob! The layout features most of the prototype elements. There weren’t any locomotive facilities here. They were about a mile south at the Benwood yard. The next layout will have loco facilities as well as a car repair area. I am planning to host more frequent sessions and host a session or two in conjunction with RPM Valley Forge. I hope you can attend one in the next year. – Eric H.
Hi Eric. I said height like mine. But at 50″, you must be shorter than I. Mine is more like 56″. But the idea of being able to look at the trains from somewhere lower than an airplane.
The Free-Mo standards were set up by a huge number of intelligent people. So I always thought their “standards” as worth looking into. As for modeling the older times. Having enough cars is always going to be difficult. I model 1952, so can get a huge number of RR cars that look “normal” t me. 85′ box cars are ugly. And I do love the look of arch bar trucks, K brakes, roof walks, truss rods, billboard reefers and 36′ cars. And in my world, they all existed in 1952.
Looking forward to how you wired turnouts and ground throws.
FYI. My last name is Bilbo.
Thanks for your reply, Morgan. I like the 50-inch height as it also works well with the two-foot layout depth. I plan to keep this height for the next project. As far as having enough freight cars, there are more plastic freight cars suitable for Teens into the Forties now than ever before. Check out my resource page, A guide to 1920s era HO scale plastic freight cars, for the list. Some are out of production but may be found on the second hand market. I need to update that with the latest Rapido products. Those can beef up a fleet and then a few Westerfield Models kits can enhance the era appearance. While I used about 100 cars in this recent op session, I have about 160 freight cars for my 1926 modeling moment that are ready for the rails. Granted, a couple dozen are undecorated but they could be used with simple tags. – Eric H.