Thursday, July 19, 2018

Reducing Paperwork, Increasing Realism

Some of the feedback I receive from my crew is clearer than at other times...
While I strongly believe that operating realistically and prototypically requires proper paperwork (and I am, admittedly, still very much in the learning phase), this past session it became clear that I needed to try and whittle it down where possible. Perfect example - the Train Registers which I just instituted last fall. While originally conceived as a way to get a "real time" view of when trains got to particular locations and how many cars they had with them at particular points in time (both useful bits for tweaking/balancing the session), crews usually "forgot" to fill them out and probably thought they were "make work." But the real death blow for them was the one-two punch of their not being perfectly prototypical or all that necessary.

First off, while I do run TT/TO, only one train is on a particular line at any one time. So signing a register isn't really necessary - who are you telling? And also, it turns out on the Valley Line only Wethersfield, Middletown, East Haddam(?), Essex, and Old Saybrook were order stations - so I think those would be the only register locations (I'm not positive about East Haddam yet). And interestingly, Middletown, East Haddam, and Old Saybrook also happen to be the only places on my layout where trains exchange cars with each other. So the registers are prototypical at those stations - and also useful to let a subsequent train know you've been there.

And so I've eliminated the registers everywhere else, including at the staging yards (which will no doubt make Tom happy!)

Now, this reassessing the registers has prompted a reassessment of my paperwork generally. Here's a link to an overview of how I currently do may paperwork. And here's a link to a discussion between model railroaders and real railroaders, who also happen to be model railroaders too. That thread is particularly interesting in that it started as a CC&WB vs. Switchlist discussion, but then evolved into a more in-depth discussion of how the real railroads deal/dealt with paperwork and the best way to adapt those practices to a model railroad that you want to operate prototypically.

So I'm going to spend some time reviewing that thread and evaluating my ops in light of what's most prototypical and also adaptable to a model railroad. In the meantime, I hope you'll weigh in with how YOU replicate prototypical operations on your layouts and/or point me to some more good resources.


  1. My understanding is a train register book is used by a signalman (tower or station operator) to record the time and description of every bell code sent or received (train arrival/departure), and any other information pertaining to the running of trains - such as abnormal events. The train register acts as a memory aid to the signalman, reinforces the systematic working of the block system, and serves as a permanent record of events in case of any mishap or accident.

    May i suggest that your form has too many columns for what you want to achieve operationally. Eliminate columns 1,2,3,6 and 7. What you have left is your base line need - the record of arrival and departure of trains - that supports the TT/TO (as it applies to determination of superior trains).

    My plan is to use a train register form similar to the form used by Mike Dodd on his Virginian Railway Company

    How many cars they had with them at particular points in time (for tweaking/balancing the session) can be monitored using a wheel report (number of L/E cars picked up/dropped at each station). Jim Hediger described one he used on his Ohio Southern Line in a MR article - I am still looking for find his specific format.

    Western Washington Short Line

  2. Chris,

    For the record, I have asked why we need these train registers (TTTO) only to be told, that " the L&N local needs to know if No. 94 has come out Andover before he proceeds out of Big Stone gap..." I countered with ...the CVL Dispatcher keeps a train sheet and thus has that this same DS SHOULD issue a form 19 to the L&N Local advising of meets etc . FYI my register has time and train designation only. Location is on the form. BTW the
    CVL Union Rep (Slats) gave me a big blast when I asked that question. After all I just the owner/builder/ Super...

    Roger Sekera
    ClinchValleyLines, 1959