The first op session since the Alco Mania DVD production drew a smallish crew of 11 boomers. The session was probably constrained by there being two other op sessions on the same day! Ouch, talk about feast or famine for operators! Needless to say a lot of scenery construction got done since the March 2010 session (and even more since the last documented session). There's a ton more scenery in Oakhill, about 50 more freight cars looked more suitably grungy, the road between South Jackson and Millbend is showing up, and the Millbend and Deschutes Jct. received some major facelifts.

As might be expected after a 6 month ops layoff there were some problems. It seems that the decoders in some of the locos are just plain going belly-up. It looks like the Superintendent of Motive Power will have to get to work before the next session. We wound up sending the railroad's helicopter to move some locos from completed trains to trains that needed to run but were having power problems. We did however manage to run all the trains although we didn't on time. Ahem. It seems that a number of turnouts in Millbend went out of adjustment after the ballasting/scenery occurred there. The Superintendent of Trackwork will be summoned and put to work prior to the next ops day. Horace sez "Ya know, it seems that building a railroad is only the beginning of the work. Keeping the sucker running is like an infinite process of sumpthing". Management has to admit that for once Horace may actually be right.

We ran train line-up L which adds a Deschutes Hauler East that runs from Salem to Millbend, then on to Deschutes. Mike T. brought over a pair of newly painted Oregon Electric RS-1s that looked really sharp with a crummy also in Oregon Electric. Management liked their looks so much they were pressed into duty as power for the Deschutes Express. Lookin' good!

Jordan D. sat in the dispatchers chair for the full session with Brandon T. running the yard and Jim B. handling the Redland local switcher. The company photographer managed to take some photos of the session until he got drafted to run a train. Some of the photos sorta came out and are presented here for your enjoyment.

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