Replay: https://youtu.be/ft8ruKUzEyE
This meetup had a Q&A format.
Replay: https://youtu.be/XZmbRUOpi38
Lee Nicholas presented more about his railroad, the Utah Colorado Western, showing some aspects that he didn't show during his talk in October. He also talked about active vs. passive staging, as well as showing his home-grown software applications. You can see more about his railroad here: http://www.ucwrr.com/Enter.html
Replay: https://youtu.be/JW1rZ9pUYn0
Rick Watson models the Southern Pacific in the San Joaquin Valley in central California on his SP Exeter Branch railroad. This HO scale railroad was specifically designed for switching. He has been operating the railroad for 11 years and has hosted 248 op sessions to date. Rick will be sharing his experience and lessons learned over the 11 years of operations.
You can see more about his railroad here: https://spladivision.blogspot.com/
These downloads are available:
Replay: https://youtu.be/P3wiy69DGIY
Stefan Bartelski showed us how he uses JMRI to operate his railroad. You can view his full presentation here: http://bit.ly/BRL-OpSig
Replay: https://youtu.be/S4lfaIzxupU
00:00 Dave Husman - Hazardous Materials
14:35 Lee Nicholas' Utah Colorado Western
1:04:00 Dave Husman - continued
Note: Dave lost his network connection during his talk and finished his talk after Lee Nicholas' presentation.
Replay: https://youtu.be/Y-wPbmQL1l4
00:00 - Chuck Laggan - Reciprocal Switching
26:25 - Seth Neumann - Operations on the Union Pacific Oakland Sub
These downloads are available:
Replay: https://youtu.be/omFVF2Dw-w8
00:00 - Steven Prevette - Operations on the Burnt Hills and Big Flats Railroad
24:32 - Stephen Sprinkle - Continuous Operations for the Marietta Industrial RR
Replay: https://youtu.be/fl90WTBi6hE
This meetup had an open Q & A format.
00:00 - Opening discussion
17:10 - OpSIG YouTube channel
18:35 - OpSIG printed magazine question
24:45 - Adding a steam excursion/photo run-by to an operating session
30:10 - Question about openrails.org, an open source train simulator
31:19 - Railway Express Agency (REA) car operations
37:55 - Adding a work train or derailment into an operating session
41:20 - LCL peddler cars
48:34 - Writing meet orders for passenger trains under TT&TO
52:20 - Recruiting/retention efforts within the OpSIG
58:44 - Setting up remote operations
1:03:58 - Blocking instructions for yardmasters
Replay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VMESQygpy8
00:21 George Sinos - Working the Can Job
30:52 Bill Messecar - Operating my UP Los Angeles Division 3rd District Layout
These downloads are available:
Replay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFoBDRjG8Z0
00:00 Dave Husman - Trackage Rights
Dave's presentation is available for download, as well.
Replay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0CBwrNbYFc
00:00 Gary Evans - Nowhere Line operations scheme
29:50 Bob Rodriguez - Nickel City Lines and Remote Operations
Bob's presentation is available for download.
Bob also provided the design files (.gcode) for his train camera bracket and the powerbank so if you have a 3D printer, you can make them yourself:
Replay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERwDGdPWc9o
00:00 Mark Dance - Adding operational aspects to engine servicing.
23:15 Cal Sexsmith - Discussing his Canadian Pacific Parkland Division railroad
Mark Dance's Hostling Job Aid: Download here
Replay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE7jXFV6WZY
This was a Q&A forum with no formal presentation.
00:15 - Virtual Operating Sessions, JMRI
25:00 - 2021 NMRA convention
29:00 - What are the typical jobs on an op session?
47:00 - Layout tour question
48:30 - Difference between off spot and constructive placement?
55:50 - Small vs. Large layouts?
59:00 - Using RFID
Replay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGLw4HHHqdo
This was a Q&A forum with no formal presentation.
01:30 - Shenware Balancing
04:30 - How to get started with JMRI
18:00 - How figure out what type of car a commodity goes into
20:50 - How does a short line operate in the 1990's
25:40 - Keep JMRI from Picking up and setting out same cars
35:15 - How to Use Active Staging
51:00 - Flat file cabinets for storage
54:00 - Operating passenger operations into multiple terminal
Replay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNR6W4h2DhA
00:17 - Feather Mountain Railroad, Dispatching Presentation
28:50 - LA&SL's Third Sub
Scott Sabo - I have been modelling trains for about 45 years; 40 of that in N scale. I have been an OPSIG member since 2011 and a NMRA member since 2016. The Feather Mountain Railroad is a freelanced railroad. I have based my operations on Canadian National Railway practices. I began construction in 1995 and just 5 years ago I started scenery. (Life just kept getting in the way) The layout has a home built ABS signal system based on a 1978 MR article and modified for DCC operation. I have been using JMRI (Decoder Programming, Panels, Speed Matching, and Operations) for about 12 years.
Scott's presentation is available for download here.
Dana Driskel - The LA&SL Third Sub is an N scale layout occupying roughly half of my garage. The year is 1920 and the Moapa, Nevada junction is the focal point. The Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad's Third subdivision runs from the recently established town of Las Vegas to the division yard at Caliente. Six passenger trains and two listed freights run daily past the Moapa depot. All other traffic is run as extras and TT&TO is in force. Moapa is the junction to the St. Thomas branch, an active 21 mile, single track run full of agriculture and mining.
Dana's presentation is available for download here. The video he showed is available here: https://vimeo.com/423242121
Replay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHUdZYPcN6I
00:00 - Carl Blum's Misery And Short Life Railroad
26:50 - Tom Cain - Creating switch lists in JMRI Operations Pro
Carl Blum owns the Misery and Short Life Railroad. Carl discovered toy train collecting in 1994 and operations in 1995. First Place in the K-Line layout design in 1996. Publishing model railroad articles since 1998. Convention Clinics since 2011. You can see more about his layout here: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=300992497192775
Carl's presentation is available for download here.
Tom Cain (backup presenter) has worked on the board of the Central Indiana Division of the NMRA for at least 15 years. His layout was built with the help of three good friends and he's been running trains for 10 years and doing operations for at least 7 years. He will discuss how the JMRI Operations software uses the layout owner's car inventory and information regarding the size of layout sidings and cars needed at those sidings to generate switch lists for layout operation. You can see more about his layout here: https://www.atsf93.com/
Tom's presentation is available for download here.
Replay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RYIoU2chsQ
Dan Hinel's railroad is the RailXpress, which is a terminal switching railroad with a CTC controlled double track beltline configuration surrounding a metropolitan area of Gotham. You can download Dan's presentation here and you can view more about his railroad here: https://www.operatingsessions.com/Layouts/Hinel
Replay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-JSL3R9qBU
00:00:00 - Wyoming Division Model Railroad
00:24:05 - Conrail Onondaga Cut Off
01:19:55 - Wyoming Division Model Railroad additional photos
Bob Ellis is a member of the UP Wyoming Division Historical Society and discussed passenger operations. Download this document for more information about the layout You can see more about the organization at http://www.wyomingdivision.org/
Dave Abeles provided this guide to all the software used for remote operations on his railroad.
Unfortunately, the meeting did not get recorded. However, you can download Burr Stewart's slide deck here:
https://www.opsig.org/files/virtualmeetups/2020-05-09-Burr-Stewart.pdf
Replay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nS3QZ1VAne0
00:00:00 - Burlington Southern Railroad
00:30:00 - Operating on a layout that wasn't designed for Operations
John is from Syracuse, Indiana and his railroad is called the Burlington Southern. You can see more about his layout here: https://www.operatingsessions.com/Layouts/Hanske
Thomas Stephens presented the operations scheme for the Texas Northern Model Railroad Club. You can visit the club site at http://texasnorthern.org.
Notes from the session:
Replay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDliJSeke8M
00:00:00 - Richard Sieben's Illinois Northern Railroad
00:22:35 - Mark Dance's Columbia & Western
Richard Sieben is from Island Lake, Illinois and he's modeling the Illinois Northern, which also includes the Chicago Junction and Belt Railway of Chicago. You can see more about his layout here: https://www.operatingsessions.com/Layouts/Sieben
Mark Dance is from Vancouver, BC, Canada and his railroad is called the Columbia & Western. You can see all his videos here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwSBKwDynjb0ZyfZHSlTcDg