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A Message From The President: September 2004
President Reardon hard at work
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A long fast passenger train comes into the Appalachian hills off the mid-western prairies and
grinds to a halt at the western edge of the division. The station is Williamsport, home to a
small but busy freight yard at the base of the first major grade into the high rolling hills.
The sleek train crosses over to the opposite main to pass a slow-moving freight lumbering up
the right-hand mainline. If all goes well, the through passenger will resume travel on the
right hand main and speed past the station at the small town of Summit.
Meanwhile a tiny, somewhat decrepit old short-haul train has left Summit for Georgetown with a
few heavyweight cars filled with persons hoping to connect with the eastbound or westbound
fast trains that stop at Georgetown just long enough to change crews and pick up and drop
passengers. The engineer of this local knows that he must clear the mainline at the
Georgetown station in time to stay out of the way of these speeding first class trains. His
counterpart piloting some RDC units, comprising
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the westbound local from Garfield Courthouse and Bridgeport, also feels the heat to keep the signals green far behind him as he crawls
along, trying to stay ahead of the fast eastbound passenger run, also bound for Georgetown.
This train has just made a stop at Clarendon Gap, at the eastern edge of the division.
If all goes well, all four passenger trains will arrive in the Georgetown station within minutes of each other. After the fast trains continue on with their new crews, the locals will try to stay on schedule as they pick their way back home between the numerous freights that now occupy the mainline at both ends of the division.
Long through freights move from east and west to the arrival and departure tracks of the Georgetown division point. Slow local freights move along the tracks of the division in both directions, making deliveries to spurs at industries and picking up coal from several mines. Signals drop from green to red and back to yellow and then green as the line opens up block by block.
I offer this potential snapshot of an operating division of a busy Appalachian railroad to show how our Garfield Central could look if it ran as a coordinated railroad.
Most of the time a Garfield Central “operating night” is actually just a random collection of individual trains run in long circles, with no apparent point except to perhaps test if they can move without too many derailments. Indeed, there are times when the “engineer” of such a train doesn’t even remember where his train is.
I suggest that we could enhance our enjoyment of the wondrously complex creation we have inherited and continue to build if we occasionally begin to operate the Garfield Central as a railroad division, rather than a simple toy train test track.
Several factors would have to come into play for this type of operation. I will only begin to discuss a few here and hope to continue the discussion if members of the Club are interested. First, members would have to realize that the Garfield Central is a complex and delicate instrument that requires care to operate well. All of us should spend some time discussing and agreeing on the best methods of running trains on the layout. New members should be afforded a training period to master these methods. It should not be acceptable for people without any training on the layout to simply grab a throttle to run a train any way they wish.
Second, good operation requires some planning. This might mean that on a given night a particular train won’t fit the operating scheme. Could we live with that?
Third, people would have to set up trains according to assigned stating points so that the scheme would have a chance of working. Could we live with that?
Fourth, people would not be able to arbitrarily leave equipment at random points on the railroad from week to week, since those sidings and spurs will be an integral part of an operational scheme. Could we live with that?
Fifth, people would have to learn to pay attention to trackside signals. Could we live with that?
Sixth, people would have to honor the policies set up by our rolling stock manager as to coupler types, heights, wheel gauge, length of trains, etc. Could we live with that?
I am sure you can think of other factors. But my point is that to enhance the operation of this unique and complex instrument will take just a little care and patience. Like any new endeavor, we will probably falter and find some frustration before achieving success. I submit that, in the long run, we will find the task to be very worthwhile.
- Pat Reardon
President, Garfield-Clarendon Model Railroad Club
September 10, 2004
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