Saturday, Oct 6, 2007

The railroad has been down for scenic enhancements during the previous three months so the crew was ready to go at it again. The crew call yielded 14 crewmen (including the Superintendent of nearly everything.

We ran train line up 'G' with 14 trains (2 passenger and 12 freight trains). The schedule called for a 12 fast hour session - at a 4:1 fast clock that makes 3 real hours.

Well, we didn't quite make it, but almost! The final train tied up about 15 (real) minutes late (which is better I think than we'd done before. The crew seems to be getting better at running the ol' Bare Crick!

For the most part things ran pretty well. The exception was the Redland local switch engine, an old Proto 2000 0-8-0. I'd installed power pickups on the tender trucks and it had seemed to run ok when I'd tested it. However shortly after the session began the 0-8-0 began to require the crew to climb down and push to get over most turnout frogs. It also developed a nasty tendency to split points, something it hadn't done before. The maintenance crew jacked it up and took a look underneath and found the new axle wipers weren't staying aligned. Sigh. This either need to be fixed for the next session or a new switcher procured.

Joe Brugger ran a marathone shift as DS and delayed for the whole session. Len and Jim took the yard positions again displaying that they've gotten that job down pat.

Many thanks to all the trainmen that showed up. It certainly would make no sense to have a layout this size and not have people to run it!

We all seemed to have a good time!

Click 'em to expand 'em.

Charlie Comstock Superintendent of Nearly Everything
The Bear Creek and South Jackson Railway Co.