Planning to Operate

Operating on Tom Sullivan's Sheepscot & Sandy River layout

Model railroad operation extends the life of a layout by keeping it interesting long after construction is essentially complete. Operation turns the layout into a role playing game, providing rules for train movements that operators, or train crews, have to follow. Usually operation is set up to take advantage of the animation of model trains in order to add a dimension of realism to the modeled scenes.


Preliminary track plan for Bill Davis

Operation has to be a priority in the planning phase of a model railroad in order for all the parts to add up to a realistic whole. A certain setting, theme, era, and operation need to be in mind as track is planned and scenes are developed. Usually a model railroad depicts a common carrier that cycles traffic onto and off of the layout from an implied national rail network.


Riverton Lime's industrial narrow gauge

On an industrial narrow gauge traffic still circulates around the layout but it is captive within the system. Freight is loaded at one scene on the layout, then unloaded at another. It can be a challenge to find historical information that provides insight as to what kind of equipment small industrial railroad operations used and how they were integrated into the workflows of the industries they served. Every operation was unique and many were temporary, not receiving much attention from railfans.


Barry Cott's examination of industrial narrow gauge operation

In order to put together an operating scheme that depicts a small soapstone operation in the Blue Ridge foothills of central Virgina, I began by studying Barry J. Cott’s Primer for Narrow Gauge and Short Line Operations. Barry makes no mention of soapstone in his primer, but he does explain how to operate a captive system where the entire railroad serves just one industry and all the loading and unloading cycles take place within the confines of the layout.


Operations on the Buckingham Branch Railroad in Beaverdam, Virginia

If a model railroader is planning to depict a common carrier operation on his layout it would probably mean that the railroad needs to run as a profitable transportation company. That would impact the track layout because rail service would need to be provided efficiently. On a common carrier layout, the railroad runs for its own best interest. The layout operates for the sake of the railroad itself. On the other hand, a private industrial railroad runs for the sake of the industry being served. There may be less of a priority on efficiency and more priority on accommodating the need for moving material and products in a way that reduces inventory and cost. The train crews use the railroad to run the industry.


Preparing to operate on my layout

A distinction without a difference?

When I was in grade school I went through a wide range of hobbies in rapid succession. My mother was an art teacher and my father taught mechanical drafting and photography, so they were more supportive of my whims that involved making things. Model ships then model airplanes then model cars. Eventually I showed an interest in model trains and my parents allowed me space and helped with construction of a layout.


The setting and theme of a model railroad are prototype based

Back then, I was intent on building a model railroad while my parents thought a layout would better suit my needs. In the June 1971 Railroad Model Craftsman, Bill Livingston's article about his On30 Venango Valley Railway explores the difference between the two. As Bill sees it, the setting for a model railroad exists on maps. A geographic place in a particular timeframe. The theme of a model railroad can be developed by studying historic publications, trade journals, and taking rail fan trips.


The setting and theme of a layout are more about look and feel

The setting and theme of a layout are more about atmosphere. The setting is the room the layout occupies, and the theme is what the trains appear to be doing and how they are doing it. Bill sites the writing of Lin Moody and the preservation work of Ellis Atwood for providing him the inspiration for building an On30 layout. Personally, I might credit the writing of Garth Groff, H. Reid and Archie Robertson about the Nelson & Albemarle Railroad for providing a story around which a layout could be built.


Blocking together a scene with a hand painted backdrop and hand laid track

I would like my layout's setting to give a visitor the impression that the layout is hand made. I hand painted my backdrop, I hand laid my track. That motif will extend through construction of scenery and structures and even the locomotives and rolling stock. As Bill pointed out in his article, On30 is particularly well suited for hand made modeling. 30 inch gauge was never particularly popular among American railroads, so a 30 inch gauge layout seems to lack a priority on precisely depicting a prototype.


Switching cars at the mill is very similar in On30 as it is in any other scale or gauge

I would like my layout's theme to give a visitor the impression that I am interested in operation. Operation, with its high priority on functionality, is far more common on model railroads than layouts. Many excellent model railroads featuring operation are being built right now, and I am interested in following their progress. But I am often dismayed to find out how few model railroaders understand that operation is possible on narrow gauge layouts. It is different, but the basics of car forwarding and train management are the same.


Renderings do a better job of depicting the desired effect than mechanical drawings

Layout building, as my parents suspected, suits me. I like being able to interpret the historic facts and transfer them onto a project that is more creative and unique. A lot of creative thought goes into developing a scheme for operating my layout as well. The system should generate work for crews that complements the atmosphere and mood I am after.