Switching

I see that I need to figure out a way to change the orientation of my smartphone video camera while it's being held by the tripod. Arnold

No, leave it like it is and tell everyone it is a wall mounted layout and they will all ask you how you did it!

TJ

I am very excited about the switching maneuvers video I am about to share with you.

When I designed and constructed my layout 25 years ago, I wanted it to be a switching layout with lots of 022 switches. Now, thanks to the electrocouplers on modern locomotives and the ability to run trains at a snail's pace, and with the use of a tripod that sits on the layout and can hold my smartphone video camera, I can not only do the switching maneuvers, but I can also make videos of them by myself.

The above video I made last night was not very good IMO.

The video below, IMO, of my LC+ Erie Camelback (fabulous engine IMO) in remote mode shows the Camelback doing the following by remote control: slowly backing a cut of gondolas into a siding, uncoupling, then slowly leaving the gondolas in the siding while the locomotive pulls out for its next assignment:

I love this!

What do you folks think of the above video showing the switching done by the LC+ Camelback?

I have a few other LC+ engines and MTH Railking Proto 1, 2 and 3 engines that are good at switching. I plan to make videos of them performing their switching maneuvers, and sharing them with you during the next couple of weeks. This will be a lot of fun.

If you have any switching videos to share, or want to create some, I would love to see them.

IMO, switching greatly enhances the pleasure of operating a model railroad.

Arnold

More switching maneuvers.

Take a look at this MTH Proto 3 Railking VO-1000 diesel switcher with Lionel Postwar operating milk car as it backs into a siding, uncouples, leaves the milk car on the siding, and pulls out of the siding:

I am not familiar with DCS and other advanced operating systems and the switching maneuvers that can be done with them. I would love to see them. However, I am very happy with the switching maneuvers that can be done with LC+, MTH Railking Proto 3 and 2 and the Z4000. Arnold

I guess you folks know by now that my latest passion is having my LC+ and MTH locomotives do switching, and making videos that show this switching.

Below is a video of an LC+ Erie Camelback coming around the bend, passing a siding, after which I throw the switchtrack, back up a bunch of Postwar ore/coal dump cars into the siding, uncouple the locomotive using the LC remote, leave the dump cars in the siding, and have the Camelback head down the line, all by remote control:

For those interested in how such videos can be made by one person (4 hands are needed to simultaneously take the video and run the train to do the switching), I used the tripod in the photo below and attached my smartphone (with the video camera in it) to the top of the tripod:

Arnold

@TonkaNut posted:

No, leave it like it is and tell everyone it is a wall mounted layout and they will all ask you how you did it!

TJ

This is the way haha

Cool videos! I do not have the means to shoot videos because I'm still designing the layout but I think I'm into something for my coal mine yards:

It would be a drift mine. I don't know if it's prototypical to have two shafts coming from the mountain (the brown area) but I thought it would look cool. You can see I created a mainline run around so that I can shuffle filled and empty cars between the sidings to the upper left and the sidings under the mine. The left most track would (in theory) go down to a lower level. The opposite end of the layout should have a steel mill for that coal to go to. But we'll see. I was going to go with a much smaller mountain but I thought the back and forth switching style would get boring. So I thought it would be cool to plop it into two hollows in the hills. Hopefully the mine has live coal loads that can really fill the hoppers. 

I never understood switching as a youngster. It did end up explaining why trains stop on the crossing in Struthers, OH though. There's a yard maybe 500 yards from the crossing. Switching definitely seems like a great way to give a model railroad more purpose. I actually think I got out of it because the 8x8 loop wasn't cutting it for me. A job and college didn't help much. But now I see the perks of setting up switching yards. I intend to have a train run the loop while I make up and break up coal trains. Hopefully I can find more operators locally and have sessions when the pandemic ends. Either way, switching makes things more interesting for me and I've been reading the track section and learning little tidbits. Hopefully I can get to the video making eventually. 

MTH Railking Proto 1 Jersey Central FM Trainsmaster pulls into passing siding with a cut of boxcars, drops them off into passing siding, and heads back out to the main line

Arnold