OPERATIONS: Classification 101

That's enough slam-bam double switching for me! I won't be shipping anything on your line!! Glad I'm retired!!!

OK that was cool!  And inspirational.   Do the uncoupling tracks not work very good?  I have just purchased one but hadn't had the time to wire it yet.   Seems to be a lot of "sky crane" operation going on there! LOL  Still a very nice video!

Jim

Jim:  Yes they work, but sometimes a car(s) has issues.  In my opinion, Kadee Couplers are simply the best by far!  However, I'm in "O" scale for many reasons including my vision isn't what it used to be.  I'm thankful that the one "standard" for "O" (99%) is the oversized coupler--THANK GOD!!!  No miniature springs.

For an operating session, you take your time, you use the magnets, but if you are trying to do a video and be brief, less than 10 minutes, you become the physical brakeman.

And, you have to be the brakeman to couple.  I have only had the capability in the last two years (DCS) to use a great innovation--the operating couplers on the engines via DCS!  I'm NOT a big fan of these uncoupling magnets but they do work well.

It is just as easy to do it by hand LESS if your yard tracks are close together, like mine, it is better to use the magnets so you are not knocking everything other trying to uncouple.

Thanks for sharing the video ! 

I hope you  buy some electric motors for that four way turnout .  That should add more fun ! 

WRGMILW posted:

Thanks for sharing the video ! 

I hope you  buy some electric motors for that four way turnout .  That should add more fun ! 

 

Don't need switch machines on that 4-way.  It is within EASY reach and the sets of points are "non-derailing" via train wheels.  At one point, I had installed throws on the 3 sets of points.  Then, people wrecked cars too much and I took the throws out.  Zero problems since.  

What is double switching?  Mentioned by Big Jim

 Extra unnecessary moves    but who's counting  as  long as we're having fun.?

Gregg posted:

 Extra unnecessary moves    but who's counting  as  long as we're having fun.?

Right.   The video even said it was for adding time to train time lol  

Hey!  :-)  I challenge you guys to make a switching video and do EVERYTHING absolutely correctly while narrating, playing engineer and brakeman!  :-)  It isn't as easy as it looks to do all these things at once!  I'm lucky to get up and remember to dress before walking outside these days!  :-)

Big Jim posted:

That's enough slam-bam double switching for me! I won't be shipping anything on your line!! Glad I'm retired!!!

That was a good start John Now here's where it gets more interesting. Efficiency! Think like a real train crew. Count your moves!

Looking at your task, I would have used a different strategy. My first move would have been to pull all the cars off one track, then you would have had 3 open tracks to do your sort. Repeat with the second and third strings. This will cut down your moves, cut down your time, and improve Big Jim's mood.

Your railroad, your rules, but on my railroad, picking up cars to uncouple would be a big no-no. Get a Popsicle stick and use the coupler tabs that the 3 rail gods have given you. Better yet, install magnets. Today we just finished installing 74 of them in critical locations around the layout.

As with anything, the more you practice, the better you get.

Elliott:  If my eyes were better, if I had any desire remaining, I would put Kadee couplers on everything!  However, I have run out of steam.  I have too many irons in the fire and actually I prefer just manually performing this task.  It gives me and others actual involvement and makes you an actual crew member (brakeman).   

John, when it comes to couplers, yes Kadees are nice, but they have some disadvantages over the "lobster claws". I know that I won't be converting my fleet of close to 1000 cars, for some of the same reasons you mentioned, cost and time.

The guy to talk to about getting the standard couplers to work well is Bob Bartizek. If you have the OGR video (#11) featuring his layout, he does a quick bonus piece about how he gets his couplers to work smoothly.

I was never suggesting that you not have your crew involved, but rather that it should be unnecessary to pick the cars up to uncouple. By using the little thumb tabs on the side of each coupler, you can uncouple without lifting and rerailing each time.

If you want to get fancy, install magnets in the track. I use old 027 uncoupler sections and take their magnets.

Cut away the rail and ties to receive the magnet.

Once you get going, this is a fairly easy process. Forum member Miggy was doing the install here. He was able to do 20 of these in a 5 hour session yesterday. There is just the wiring and painting left to do.

This is the finished product.

Elliott:  We have the Gargraves phantom uncouplers...but some of the cars don't have the trip pin on the side and if a coupler is closed and you want to hook cars together it is easier for me to just lift.  I have it down to an art form.  :-)

If you want to see how to install uncoupling magnets anywhere you want them., click here. OGR Backshop Foreman Jim Barrett will show you how to do it, and it is not all that hard!

The OGR On-Demand Video is only 99 cents.

carsntrains posted:

Gregg posted:

 Extra unnecessary moves    but who's counting  as  long as we're having fun.?

Right.   The video even said it was for adding time to train time lol  

Double switching is fun? Ha!!! I don't care what the video says!
Besides, I couldn't watch it that long.
Too much Wham! Bam! 
No thank you Ma'am!

John I enjoyed your video and from what I can see, your yard is well designed.  I confess that one of my run arounds for switching industires in town businesses is my town loop.  I have probably broken every model rr design rule in the book which makes my operations even more intriguing.  LOL

pennsynut posted:

John I enjoyed your video and from what I can see, your yard is well designed.  I confess that one of my run arounds for switching industires in town businesses is my town loop.  I have probably broken every model rr design rule in the book which makes my operations even more intriguing.  LOL

There isn't one of us who hasn't had to make a compromise.  I wanted to duplicate the actual track arrangement in Essex, Montana....I would have needed Z scale and it would have taken the largest part of my basement.  I have reversing loops at both ends of my main line so that everything may be turned.

Lastly, those reversing loops are a lot more common than you may believe.  Check out the Avon, Indiana yard....there is a reversing loop near the east end.  I felt like stopping and telling the workers that it wasn't prototypical.