Category: Operations

A One Turnout Layout

A layout with only one turnout?  One that offers diverse, hour long operating sessions without ‘make work’ complexity?   A layout that could be built in two weekends and then morph into something that provides several years worth of craftsman projects?   A gimmick?  Absolutely not.  It’s all a matter of selecting the right theme, understanding prototype […]

Crossing Flashers Explained

I’ve never understood crossing flasher behavior in industrial settings.  Regardless of location when a train approaches a crossing at speed, industrial or main line, the behavior is simple enough.  A predetermined time/distance away the lights activate and the gates drop.  After the train passes a few moments later everything resets to normal.  Not so during […]

Locks

 In modern times at least, railroads lock everything.  Switches, gates, derails you name it, nothing happens without the conductor reaching for the keychain first.  To have a model railroad where opening things is as simple as an  instantaneous flip of a toggle strays from the pace of the real world.   I’ve written before that it […]

Solo Operating Sessions

Whenever I’m at an operating session I invariably ask the host how often they run their layout just by themselves.  The answer is an almost unanimous “never”.  There are number of reasons for this.  I suspect in many cases the layout owner derives most of their hobby enjoyment from building things and operating sessions are […]