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Operations on the Rockbottom & Beatte 2007 Railroad, Continued
By John D'Angelo
Listing of Trains Created
United Central Local Passenger: Runs north and south, stops at Rockbottom Station on the main line, picks up passengers then continues to the opposite portal.
United Central Passenger Express: Runs north and south and drives nonstop to the opposite portal.
United Central Coal Drag loaded: Runs north and south and drives nonstop to the opposite portal.
United Central Freight Train: Runs north and south and drives nonstop to the opposite portal.
United Central Peddler Freight: I use the 2-8-2 Mikado and a car mix of all the freight cars I might want to use on the Rockbottom & Beatte Railroad. This train runs south only. It stops at the track mark for Tower A on the southbound track and waits for one minute, then proceeds to Southington portal. It is possible to run a peddler freight in the opposite direction as there are switches it can use to get to the holding point, but I haven�t ventured there yet!
Programming the Portals
You only need to program the two sending portals. The receiving portals will just keep eliminating trains as they enter. I�ll choose the Northville outgoing portal. Use the objects menu, choose the question mark option and click on the portal. The menu will appear. Your first choice is how long you should program the creation of rolling stock for. Every 5 minutes can really make things interesting! Every 10 minutes allows things to quiet down. What the heck, I went for 5 minutes.
You then pick the consists you want the portal to generate. Since I already created them, I use the option to select a previously created consist. For this example I chose the United Central Peddler Freight. The consist appears showing the locomotive and the cars in a vertical list.
Next I pick a driver. Once I have chosen a driver, I immediately edit his/her name. Instead of a driver�s name I use a description of the train, for example �2-8-2 Peddler Freight�. By doing this, when I am in map view I can see exactly what is running down the tracks.
Beside the driver�s picture is a green arrow. That is where you place your driving orders. Click on the arrow and a number of choices appear. I chose �Drive to trackmark�. A list of the track marks appears and I choose the track mark where I want the freight to stop. I click the green arrow again and tell the driver to �Wait for� then put in the time of one minute. I then click the green arrow again and use the �Drive to� choice and write �Southington In�.
Programming the portal for the peddler freight.
Drive to Tower A Southbound.
Wait for 1 minute.
Drive to Southington.
In operation, the peddler freight will exit from Northville portal, drive to the track mark, stop for a minute, then proceed to Southington. All of the other trains are picked and programmed as I wish. One other thing, I also program the portals for random operation to make things really interesting! OK, once all the trains are programmed in and ready to go, it�s time to operate.
An Operating Session
As soon as the operation starts, things are pretty quiet. The first trains on the main line will not be coming along for about 6 minutes. I choose the 2-8-0 sitting in the yard and direct the engineer to drive to the switcher track. The switcher makes its way to the track and stops where the flagman is. It will stay there until the peddler freight drops off any cars. I still have a few minutes before the main line gets active, so I give the engineer of the local passenger train his driving instructions:
- Wait for 2 minutes, drive to West Marion, Load, Drive to Beatte, Load
I then can return to the waiting switcher and watch the action from there or I can go along for the ride with the local. After reaching Beatte, the locomotive will be manually uncoupled and turn around on the turntable, couple back up to the opposite end of the train and be ready for a run via West Marion to Rockbottom Yard station.
If I keep the driver display up and click on the driver�s image, the screen will show on the left hand side of the screen all the active trains. If they�ve been programmed properly they will drive through, going in either direction with some passenger trains stopping at the station then proceeding on. You can see what the orders are from the box next to the driver�s image.
Finally the peddler freight appears. Following its instructions it stops at the Tower A track mark and pauses for 1 minute. As soon as it pauses, I direct the engineer to �Stop Train� and this gives me control over the peddler freight. I set the brakes of the cars behind the car or cars I will be taking from the train. I uncouple the cars and move the peddler past the switch, change the switch to the drop off track and then back up the cars to the other flagman. I lock their brakes and uncouple from them, return to the main line, change the switch again and back up to couple to the remaining consist. I then direct the engineer to �Continue Schedule� and return to the switcher. After a pause of close to a minute, the peddler will head south to the Southington portal.
I then use the 2-8-0 to hook up to the cars and deliver them to industries. After the cars are delivered I can return the switcher to the locomotive track in the yard or to the switcher track to wait for another peddler. What is good about having the peddler pause for a minute and then proceed on its own is that if I am tied up working the cars at an industry, the peddler will just continue on and things will not get backed up on the main line.
You can operate to your heart�s content and use the Save option so you can continue with the operation later on. As time goes on and more cars are dropped off and moved to industries, things will get very busy indeed. The loaded cars will need to be picked up from the industries and then brought to the main line for movement to Southington. You could use the 2-8-2 to build up the train as it visits the industries. The 2-8-2 could actually be given instructions to proceed to Southington with the consist it collected. You could replace the locomotive when the next peddler comes through by stopping that train�s operation and removing the locomotive. You could stop the next freight manually and let the cars be added to it. In any case, this small layout can generate a continuous stream of operation for as long as you wish.
There are no active industries on the layout and that is because you may want to use industries of your own choice. You might want to use the LARS system. You may want to also use a switch list generator such as the one Al Barten designed in Excel (here). We have a few articles in Virtual Railroader on ways to operate freight movements including the use of the LARS system (here).
I hope this article, along with this version of the Rockbottom & Beatte 2007 layout will enhance your Trainz railroading experience.
John
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Article and screen shots �2007 John D'Angelo. All rights reserved.
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