Sunday work group.

A few of us pulled feeder wires for the new quad unit and relocation of one of the others. A low voltage wire was also pulled for the power supply to the island branch. We also can install the new quad unit under Lincoln, and hook it up first, doing the upgrade in 2 parts. The transformer will then be plugged into the main power supply, so everything is turned off with one switch. Glen did some scenery around Northdale and Miller. Trent helped locate missing car cards and/or rolling stock. Seems that we are still on a learning curve with them. One that is often confused is one the rolling stock is delivered, the waybill is turned over to the pickup side, not removed from the card card. If you leave rolling stock at an industry the next person must be able to find it and the only way is if the waybill is left in the car card pocket to tell us where it is. We also discussed future changes to the Elsewhere yard. One idea is to add 2 new sidings off the backside of the run around. Another idea to think about is cutting the yard in half, making it 2 yards. Yet another thought to ponder is to shorten tracks 3 and 4 and turning tracks 1 and 2 to lineup better with the turn table. This will move the 3 storage tracks to the back and the 2 run around tracks to the front, there may be room for a caboose track also. The last idea is to move the turntable under the Wellington one and have it hinge up and down. Lots to think about.

Tuesday night at the Huff and Puff.

This was our monthly meeting and work night. The turnout at the east end of Wellington was replaced. For some reason it was causing shorts as engines went through it. A new turnout was installed at Lincoln to service the lumber yard. More scenery was added at Northdale. The other problem addressed was a joint on the mainline curve around Lincoln. There had been a an expansion problem there causing the track to go out of gauge. Track nails and glue were used to secure it, hope this works. Jim brought up an interesting idea. He thought we could have switchers stationed at some of the towns like Lincoln. The freight going through this town would just drop off and pickup, the switcher would do all the switching. With the card system we now use, the first freight would leave the deliver and pickup cards for that town and the deliver cars, but would not pickup any cars. After that, the next freight would both pickup and deliver cars. This has the added benefit of putting more operators to work.  All in all a good night, thanks to all.

working on the mainline and new turnout for the lumber yard

ballasting the siding to the lumber yard

ballasting the replacement turnout in Wellington

Tuesday night at the Huff and Puff

The railroad was a busy place with visitors watching as crews worked through traffic jams. We may need a dispatcher to sort things out, or at least use the train orders. I think we could have each freight do most of its switching in one town and only switch a couple of other towns. An example would be an oil train switching Springbank and Herons Landing with one pickup at Valleyview.  Another idea would be to have Lincoln switched by west bound freights only as most of the turnouts favour west bound traffic, the Miller interchange could be switched by east bound freights. I also think Wellington should be switched with the other towns. Next Tuesday is work night, 2 turnouts to be put in and lots of wiring to install the new Quad unit.

busy switching

Glen and Donald talk trains

Bill pulls the coal train

Tuesday night at the Huff and Puff.

Happy to see Jim Long back after his long vacation, it took him a while to take in all the changes. Then he jumped right in with Glen to run a freight from Wellington. Trent was the yard master again, it was a hectic night. I guess baseball will be keeping him away for a while. We still have to start using the train order cards so all the different trains get run. As the Miller interchange yard was full, Don and Tom run the branch line freight. Hey, all the new track at Northdale performed well, but the wye has moved and will need to be adjusted. Jim spent most of the night pondering how to set up the new blocks when the new quad unit is installed. Operators are getting the hang of using the card system and running in pairs is helping out a lot. Bill and I ran together and I was intrigued the different ways we would approach the same switching job. I think it would be beneficial to make sure we run with different crews, learning from each other as we go. Each person should also be the yard master as this is where all the trains and cards are setup. A very sad note, Rick informed us that Don Stoddart's Grandson  passed away suddenly. Our prayers and thoughts are with his family at this sad time.

Cliff waits to start his run

Did we miss that pickup?

I was told this was an important meeting?

Trent had to take a break, tough day as yard master

Don and Tom rn on the branch.

Tuesday night at the Huff and Puff

The monthly work night. The club bought 2 turnouts and a few bright boys. Members cleaned track, repaired a few dips in the roadbed, soldered on more feeders, fixing all of the blue pin areas. The new trackwork at Northdale was also wired. At the meeting we decided freight trains should be run with an engineer and a brakeman.  The engineer will check all on coming turnouts, assist in switching, and run the train. The brakeman will carry the car cards, assist in switching, and return turnouts to the mainline as the train leaves.  Any new rolling stock will be checked to standards before being put on the layout. To this end some repair supplies we donated for the club rolling stock repairs.  We would also like to have all steel wheels on our rolling stock at sometime in the future. Extending station platforms to the second mainline was also talked about. Thanks for the Timbits Cliff.

track cleaners

more creative minds at work

another work group

Tuesday night at the Huff and Puff.

I was setting up a couple of trains before everyone else arrived when I found a lost box car hiding at Heritage Furniture, wonder how long it has been sitting there? The first 2 trains to run we're passenger trains. The picture below shows a meet at the Long River Bridge. Next a couple of freights started switching. As always, this is when problems pop up. We are still in the learning curve, where is such and such a place, sorry I forgot to put the switch back to the mainline, there is a hump in the track, my engine stops here all the time. Everyone needs to have a bright boy with them to clean the rails, if their engine stalls in one place. Please remember to put the switch back to the mainline. Next Tuesday is a work night, perhaps some of the track problems will be repaired. As the second picture shows, Jim ran his first switching train. What? Yes, it's true, this is a testament to how much people rely on him to program their engines and solve electronic problems, for which we are deeply indebted.

meet on the Long River Bridge

it may be Jim's first run but he has lots of help

Tuesday night at the Huff and Puff

Bill and Glen were up on Friday to do some running and Bill added more feeder wires. The club bought a new Quad unit to reduce some of our bus wire length. This will stop run away engines and voltage drops.  One power supply and Quad will be moved below Warwick. It will supply Herons Landing, Wellington, upper main to Valleyview and lower main to Jutland. The next one under the loops will supply the upper and lower loops, the turn table and Elsewhere. The new one under Toms Hill will supply the upper main from Toms Hill to Valleyview, the lower main from Toms Hill to Jutland the Island and the branch line. We will reconfigure the bus that feeds the branch to supply power to the new Quad. All the bus lines will be fed from the center thus reducing the length in half. We estimate that no run will be over 30 feet. Most of the night was spent running trains and talking to a new member, Butch, and a guest Barry White, visiting from Ireland.

Trent discuses our card system with our guest Barry

Woodstock/Wellington station now has shingles