Set up an Operating Model Railroad

Discussion in 'Operations' started by klrwhizkid, May 7, 2010.

  1. klrwhizkid

    klrwhizkid Administrator Staff Member Administrator Frisco.org Supporter

    The first step is to produce Car Cards for all of your rolling stock.
    Attached is a pdf file of my own design that can printed on card stock. Then cut out the cards, removing the shaded section and first fold the tabs up and in and then fold the bottom section upward making a pocket for waybills. Apply a small amount of white glue on the tabs and glue the pocket in place.
    Label car cards with the reporting marks (ex. SLSF 86652) and a description of the car (ex. PS2 CD Covered Hopper).
    Next produce waybills to indicate what the car is carrying.
    Attached is a simple waybill document that will prouduce four waybills and can be printed on plain white paper. The bold lines indicate where each waybill would be folded to produce double-sided waybills easily. To assist in filling out the source information, I would recommend going to www.opsig.org and locate the Industries Database (a compendium of industries that supply raw materials or finished goods).
    Go to www.opsig.org . The OpsIg site is good for learning more about operating a model railroad and using the car cards and waybills.

    Additionally, cards can be made for Passenger Cars, Locomotives and Cabooses. Attached is a Word file that is used by Rick McClellan to produce his cards in this category.

    Any other operator, please chime in to help develop this thread to get more owners operating.
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited by a moderator: May 11, 2010
  2. bob_wintle

    bob_wintle Member Frisco.org Supporter

    I used Microsoft Works to input my cars into a Database and the Made my Car Cards and Waybills with Microsoft Publisher. I merged the data from my database onto my carcards, using the mail merge wizard of Microsoft publisher. As the old saying goes there are many ways to skin a cat.
    Bob Wintle
    Parsons Ks.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 7, 2010
  3. Joe Lovett

    Joe Lovett Member

    Would you please post an example of a car card and waybill filled out?

    Thank you for starting operating setup thread!!!

    As Oliver Twist said "Please may I have some more?"

    Joe
     
  4. klrwhizkid

    klrwhizkid Administrator Staff Member Administrator Frisco.org Supporter

    The waybill is placed in the pocket of the car card to give the car purpose. During an operating session, only one position of the waybill is used. Between operating sessions, the Superintendant (layout owner) will rotate the car card one or two positions to give the car a new direction/purpose, but it should make sense.

    Here are some examples:

    1) A Pittsburgh & Lake Erie gondola delivering gypsum to Marquette Cement. Position 1 of the waybill reflects this information. Position 2 gives the car a direction to go when empty that an operator can identify without asking (by using position 2, I can direct the car in a compass direction on my layout that would be prototypical and also happens to end up in staging). This particular car (full) will possibly run on a a through train to some other location further south and/or west (off-layout) on another trip but on my layout that would be from staging in the north to staging in the south, however the next trip will have to get the empty car from the south back to the north (its home road). In some cases, the Superintendant will remove the waybill and allow a car to simply return by the cognizance of the operators. (note Empty area filled out on the card.)

    2) A Frisco 2 bay covered hopper is originating at Marquette Cement to be delivered to a business in Paducah, KY. Since the Frisco does not go there, the car will have to interchange to the MoP (Position 1). Position 2 of the waybill just happens to have that same car returning to Marquette, however the MoP will have to drop the car in the interchange track in Cape for the Frisco to deliver. Position 3 is a way to get the empty car to Marquette from someplace on the Frisco domain. Position 4 is yet another load to deliver.

    3) A MoP 40' box is headed for Superior Electric in Cape with a load of cardboard cases in Position 1. In Position 2, that same car was loaded with small electric appliances and now will head to Kansas City on the Frisco (south, west, and north). Position 3 loads the car with mattresses in KC and sends them to Cape via the MoP to the MoP Depot (Excelsior Furniture Co was not served directly by any railroad [and this example follows something that my dad had a direct experience with when he worked for the furniture store]). Position 4 returns the empty boxcar to MoP staging.

    Car cards aren't necessarily "married" to a particular car - they would be associated with particular type of car however. (Box, Gon, Hopper, etc)
     

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    Last edited by a moderator: May 9, 2010
  5. Joe Lovett

    Joe Lovett Member

    Thank You for the samples.

    I remember seeing photos of boxes on the front of Ricks layout that held car cards. Are these placed near each destination and yard areas? Are blocking instructions used for each train? On the blocking instructions I have seen, car groups are listed in order of destination. Is the group on top at the front or back of train?

    Joe
     
  6. Rick McClellan

    Rick McClellan 2009 Engineer of the Year

    Joe,

    Yes those card boxes are strategically located in yards and towns along the line and represent the information the agent would have for the switch crews. In the yards I have multi slot boxes with each box representing the contents of a track and a few extras for cars we sluff off. In each town I have a three slot box - Set Outs, Pick Up Northbound, Pick Up Southbound. The crews have to hunt a little for the cars but my towns are pretty simple to this is easy to do even for new guys.

    My trains have blocking instructions and my yard crews are good at blocking the trains. Unfortunately, my real railroad buds here in KC say that trains, locals typically have the cars "shotgunned" in the consist meaning the crews will have to dig the cars out that they need when they need them. Less terminal time, more switch time down the road.

    To understand where a block goes on my train orders, I first list the caboose and then each cut of cars in order in front of the caboose. That seems to work pretty good AND that is the way the Frisco did it on their operating instructions.

    Hope this helps. Keep operating.



     
  7. Joe Lovett

    Joe Lovett Member

    What would be the basic size of a box for a 10 to 15 unit train and what material seems best to use? Do you have a drawing of a box?
    Do you use a fast clock or just go with the flow?

    Thank You for all the info in this thread!!!

    Joe
     
  8. Frisco2008

    Frisco2008 Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Joe, check out this site...they are THE source. Will have info on car cards, waybills, boxes, etc.

    www.opsig.org/
     
  9. Joe Lovett

    Joe Lovett Member

    Downloaded some car load data the other day from opsig. Now just need a rainy day to start car cards and waybills. Hey, today IS a rainy day! LOL. Must be time to go to work.

    Thanks guys for your time and expertise!!!

    Joe
     
  10. klrwhizkid

    klrwhizkid Administrator Staff Member Administrator Frisco.org Supporter

    The interior dimensions for each of the card card sections in the boxes you are describing would be about 2 1/2" w x 1 3/4" deep. I use 1/8" plywood and CA glue to assemble. See attached drawing. The bottom would be 2" x 7 7/8". The front and back panels and dividers sit on top of the bottom piece with the dividers between the front and back panels.

    Just adjust the Bottom, Front and Back panel dimensions and number of dividers for more slots.

    When I get a little more time, I will draw up a variation that has a lip that sticks out in front of the boxes for pencils, picks or use as a temporary card sorting rack (good for yards). Simply described, the base would increase in front to rear dimension by about 1 1/2" and have a vertical lip about 3/8" high on its front edge.
     

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    Last edited by a moderator: May 10, 2010
  11. Rick McClellan

    Rick McClellan 2009 Engineer of the Year

    Joe,

    I use a fast clock from Keeler Rail Specialties that is adjustable for time compression and gives you AM/PM or military time.

    I compress 8 hours to 2 hours 40 mins by using the 3:1 ratio. About three hours is the limit for most folks around KC.

    My card boxes were made by John McBee of Bella Vista AR. I will check the dimensions but they are probably close to the ones Keith mentioned as we are using the same size car cards.

    Good luck operating.



     
  12. SteveM

    SteveM Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Keith's description of extension and a lip--he may be talking about the boxes he used on my layout in March. Only they are made of foamboard. No power tools needed. The "lip" is just a 3/8" wide slice of the foamboard.
    I'll probably do something more permanent (read able to withstand the mass of the average operator) someday. Meanwhile I can test the Setout/Pickup scheme as opposed to individual industry boxes with something that took a couple of evenings of TV time and used free material (the best kind.) With eight to twelve industries per switching area, the fascia will get pretty busy with individual boxes.
    I don't think I have a good picture of one, perhaps I can get a couple. By the way they are held together by straight pins and "tacky glue."
     
  13. klrwhizkid

    klrwhizkid Administrator Staff Member Administrator Frisco.org Supporter

    Joe, et al, here is a drawing, for reference purposes, of a section of a card box for a yard, complete with tray for Picks, Pencils or card sorting. I drew it as an orthographic projection so you can get a better idea of the shape - it was easier that a three-quarter view.

    (That old high school drafting class stuck - Mr. Varnon would be thrilled that he actually made an impression)





    LOL in the initial submission, I forgot the drawing. Mr Varnon would have said, "Smooth move RO BIN SON!"
     

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    Last edited by a moderator: May 10, 2010
  14. Joe Lovett

    Joe Lovett Member

    Since I have had good results with building mockups using foamcore and hot glue, will probably use same for first couple of boxes. Have two friends that could build final boxes later, since my health makes it hard to use power tools.

    Thanks Guys for all your help!!!

    Joe
     
  15. yardmaster

    yardmaster Administrator Staff Member Administrator Frisco.org Supporter

    Keith, this thread is a great idea. Well done!

    Joe and others, I'd written up a blurb in the March, 2010 Meteor (Vol. 2, No. 1) on requisitioning empties for forwarding; I'm realizing now that I didn't put my name on my work!

    Rick McClellan provided some great pictures and examples of his waybills/car cards, and I've included the AAR list of Home Districts and Rules governing car selection.

    It may be a bit beyond the scope of what you're wanting but I think it's a fun aspect of operation to try and recreate (e.g. providing your scale shippers with cars that will be heading back to their home districts).

    Best Regards,
     
  16. klrwhizkid

    klrwhizkid Administrator Staff Member Administrator Frisco.org Supporter

    I had forgotten that there are some pictures of card boxes in use present on the forum:
    http://www.frisco.org/shipit/index.php?threads/layout-infrastructure.2267/#post-13119

    http://www.frisco.org/shipit/index.php?attachments/imgp0545-jpg.8172/


    Chris also points out an excellent source for traffic information; the AAR list of Home Districts and Rules governing car selection. As he indicates, it can be found in the March 2010 edition of the Meteor newsletter:
    http://www.frisco.org/shipit/index.php?threads/the-meteor-volume-2-issue-1.3299/
    also attached below as images and a PDF file.

    AAR List of Home Districts.jpg Car Load Preference.jpg
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited by a moderator: May 14, 2010
  17. Joe Lovett

    Joe Lovett Member

    Hi,

    I have duplicate road numbers on some cars. Are there any problems that may come up with duplicates or will waybills and blocking solve these?

    Thanks for all your help!!!

    Joe
     
  18. klrwhizkid

    klrwhizkid Administrator Staff Member Administrator Frisco.org Supporter

    Duplicate car numbers....well, not an ideal situation. At some point in time, chaos theory dictates that they will try to occupy the same space on the railroad at the same time - which would prove confusing, especially to those of us with less than ideal vision. One way around it, if you are careful, is to change eight's into threes, sixes or nines; fours into ones; or some other chicanery by meticulously scraping part of the digit away or covering it up with carefully matched paint.(I even bought a fine point white paint pen from Hobby Lobby to doctor some duplicate numbers; very fine point Sharpies work, too!).

    I do try to keep the car number in the proper range while I'm at it. I am going to have a bit of a challenge with the sixteen Athearn 55 ton 2bay Frisco hoppers I have that are all numbered 91763 - I think some decals may be necessary although I am considering having two each of eight numbers - one loaded and one unloaded that I can swap between sessions.
     
  19. SteveM

    SteveM Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Well, in an attempt to keep this Frisco-relevant, I'll jump in. In order to be anywhere near prototypical, we need more Frisco numbered cars for a medium size layout than the manufacturers have provided. I have a drawer full needing new numbers. As Keith notes, keeping those yellow boxes apart is pretty difficult in a modeled yard.
    For the non-home road cars, I can program a car to stay on the MP and its twin to stay on the Frisco. I guess I could even have one captive on the KCS. So two of the three never go through Ft. Smith yard or interchange.
    Joe and I are in N scale, so the challenge of matching the lettering size and style, much less getting them straight and spaced, is perplexing. And the bulk of the Frisco fleet uses white letters which are harder to touch up. Maybe with some help from Dale or others we can come up with decal sheets with replacement numbers for the most prevalent series.
    For the special runs, an unnumbered car with decals should increase potential sales.
     
  20. Joe Lovett

    Joe Lovett Member

    My wife just happens to have the pens. Thankfully only have ten models with a duplicate, two of those have three of. Using the load on one and empty on the other, brings number of cars that need modification down to three. Guess I'm pretty lucky!

    A numbers only decal sheet with a few different fonts would be neat.

    Thank You for all your help with this thread!!!

    Joe
     

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