Feb 21 Operating Session

Another operating session on the WRS is now in the books. Barry headed for his normal job at the Mill, Pierre and Jeff ran the 202/203. This train departs the Yard for Dogwood and then does the local switching before returning to the Yard at the end of the day. Glen did the Roseton Switcher. And as usual Wayne was at the controls of a pair of leased MEC GP38 to handle the mainline trains.

There was a major change in this operating session. The Crews of the WRS and MEC have been busy installing a transfer track between the WRS and MEC. This has changed a few things in the operations. First, no more "fast Freights" back to or from the Yard and second it will allow more cars to be moved. Trains 102S and 103N currently transfer with MEC, hopefully in the future the 104s and 105N will also. Also there was a change in the Mill Operation. Only the 101N and 104S service the Mill now. But the MEC also has a train now servicing the Mill.

When Wayne was not busy running his GP38s, he also did the RDC service between the Yard and Greenfield.


Wayne with his back to us, on his way to the Yard with a pair of leased MEC GP38. Barry on the right is busy switching the Mill.


Jeff on the left, and Pierre in the Centre taking a break from switching Dogwood to watch Glen at the controls of the Roseton Switcher

This is a shot of the newly rearranged town of Greenfield. The RDC is stopped at the Station with the MEC Transfer in the background. The Metal Works have moved to the other side of town.

The addition of the MEC Transfer track has improved operations on the WRS, but there are a few new issues to be addressed. Some of the paperwork still needs to be adjusted. There is an "issue" at the switch to the MEC Transfer causing cars to derail. Crews are looking at everything to see if it is the switch, trackwork, the roadbed or ?????.

later

Doug

Operating Session Feb 7th

The WRS was rolling again today, with one a largest crew in along time.

One of the visitors was Mr Murphy. He was busy causing problems with the loconet and throttles, which lead to runaway locos. Had to reset the loconet twice. More work for the Maintenance Department.

Wayne did his usual in handling the mainline trains. Pierre and Glen traded towns with Pierre doing Dogwood and Glen doing Roseton. Barry headed for the Mill. David helped Wayne on the Mainline Trains. After Wayne returned with 102 S, he headed out with an RDC for a run. Yes Passenger Service has returned to the WRS. With not one but two RDCs. David also ran a visiting DAR RDC on the layout. Also two other leased units showed up on the railroad, a pair of MEC Geeps. Wayne like to run MEC units.

Doug M dropped in for a visit, the reason for the Passenger Services. Another returning engineer was Barry R, yes we had two Dougs and two Barrys today. With the larger crew, Bartown and Riverside had rail services today.

We all had a great time, even with Mr Murphy, of Murphy's Law fame, showing up and causing problems.





Wayne (far right) passing thru Dogwood with one of the Mainline trains. Glen (background) was busy waiting for Wayne to arrive. And Pierre (on the left) trying to figure out the mistakes the Freight Agent made in the Paperwork for Dogwood.



David (front) and Barry R (back) returning to the Yard after switching Bartown and Riverside



Doug M (far left), Barry R (middle) and Barry W (right) reviewing the action at the Mill


This picture of one of those things when a train wants to be on two track at once. And yes there is no crossover under the Covered Hopper.

later

Doug

Getting Dirty

I have in the past done a few weathered pieces of rolling stock, but I have not been happy with many of them. This is mainly because I went to far in doing weathering.

Over Christmas I came across an Utube video on weathering when viewing a layout video. So I looked for more. Some were good, some where hard to watch because of the video quality. After reading the article on weathering Canadian Grain hoppers in January issue of RMC, I started working on a few of my older Blue Box pieces of rolling stock.

This is a covered hopper before anything is done to it. The second picture show what it looks like with a couple coats of white wash, some chalk power and dull coat. The trucks and wheels were also weathered. This show a car early in its life.

This shows another car near the end of its life. Rust has started on the body of the car. The car also has had the new owners marking added.

These are a couple of gons I have finished. They are not a shiny red anymore.

The more I do, the better I will get at it. I hope....

The one thing I have learned is to look at pictures of the real car if you can to see how Mother Nature did it. There are many sites one can use to find this information.

Until next time

Doug

Something is going on

The Train Crews have noticed heavy equipment working on the old Quarry lands between Dogwood and bridge over the White River.

Operating Session Jan 17

The WRS had it first operating session in 2010 on Sunday afternoon. This change allowed a few operator to attend.

The Train Schedule was changed for this session. The 202/203 now serves Dogwood only, while at Dogwood, it does all the switching during the day. Also 101N now stops at Roseton instead of Dogwood to allow the 202 to arrive at Dogwood and begin switching. The 102 S now stops at Roseton as well as Dogwood. The 103 N now stops at Dogwood as well as Roseton. The 104N only stops at Roseton. Note all 100 series trains stop at White River Paper Company.

For the session, David and Jeff manned the White River Paper Company Switcher, Glenn operated the 202/203 Local serving Dogwood, Pierre operated the Roseton Switcher and Wayne operated the 100 series trains with a pair of MEC RS11. I had Yard duty.



Pierre and Wayne reviewing the new paper work .... Glen busy at Dogwood



David and Jeff at the paper mill .... Wayne waiting for clearance to Dogwood

The new changes improved the train flow, but in the next few weeks I am going to have to operate a few of the jobs and time myself to adjust to the schedule for the 100 series trains.

We all had fun, and that is the most important part.

The WRS maintenance crews will be busy for the next few weeks dealing with a few small issues that raised during the session, which happens when you have not operated in six weeks.

later

Doug

Another Year in the Books

The White River Southern (WRS) has finished its third year and is about to start Year Four. There were a couple major changes this year. The first was the change between Roseton and Dogwood, where Junction and the Blue Ridge Branch were removed. This will allow for changes in the railroad this year. The second is a change in operations. Up to this year the WRS operated as a branch line from the Yard. Starting in mid year, operations changed into operations between two yards. The South yard has not been connection yet, but operations reflect that it is there. Instead of three locals, there are now two locals and four mainline trains (two in each direction).

Crew members have been added, but also few have left. Also there were a few visiting Engineers this year.

Looking back to the reasons I started the WRS, some of the items have been addressed. I have spend more time understanding my Digitrax and Decoder Pro systems and how to use them. There is still many more things to learn, but for now the basics are covered. Operations have been developing over the years, some of the Crew thinks I change the operating instructions each session. Have found what works and what does not and made adjustments. It is getting closer to the final product.
The one item that has not developed, is the work on the scenery on the layout. This is mainly because, I can not stop changing the layout. And this will not end for another year or two. But I am hoping to this year to spend a little time on working on some of the new buildings that will be required. Also there are a couple areas that will not be changing, so I am hoping to work on these areas.

Now that is the yearly update, it is time to get back to getting the railroad ready for the next session.

thanks

Doug

Season Greetings and Update

First the Crew and Management of WRS wishes all the Best of the Season.



WRS has picked up a second MEC RS11, number 802. Once the Shop have completed the updates and check of the new unit it will be working with its sister unit 801 on the Mainline Trains, replacing leased the BN 424s.




The Shop has also been busy working on Cabooses, with four now in the fleet. Shown here on a test run over the line. This will address the issue of late with foreign caboose.

Doug