Adding timetable and train order control to the C&W: Pt. II
evant station (as on local Vancouver modeler Brian Pate’s Klondike Mines Rwy). The dispatcher could pass orders to me in the layout room as I circulate, but I am often running transfer trains or otherwise indisposed. So we stole an idea from the Starbucks’ “hand off sta- tion” and created a central place where orders could be left by the dispatcher and retrieved by the crew “asynchro- nously,” i.e. without having to physically meet at the same time. I refer to this as a “pigeon hole” board as it is made up of multiple through-holes like a reception area message board where the orders may be inserted from the dispatcher side and retrieved from the layout side. It hangs above South Slocan right at the entrance to the layout which is a nice, central place equi-distant to every- where in the layout. It is labeled on both sides and has holes for terminal sta- tions as well as east and westbound holes for each train order office on the line. If I am running a westbound at Coykendahl for example, and I under- stand I have orders because the train
order signal is down/red, I stop
Lessons from the prototype: Improving the realism
I
n September of 2013 I was fortunate to host three days of operating sessions as part of the bi-annual VanRail Invitational. The Columbia & Western’s TT&TO (timetable and train order) systems got a thorough work out and great feedback from visitors likes Don Mitchell and Rick Kang, both of whom are very familiar with dispatching practices. I also uncovered more information about how train order signals were used on my prototype in southern British Columbia from many experts on the Yahoo®
BC-InterioRR group. I am
thankful to everyone for all their comments. One point commonly made was that having crews acknowledge receiving orders, and then the dispatcher clearing the signals, was philosophically incongruent with their prototype TT&TO experience. The feedback was that once the dispatcher had assured orders had been delivered to the pigeon hole board and the correct train order signal set, their jobs should be over. From that point on they should trust the crews to properly fulfill the orders. Additionally, I found out it was common on my prototype in the era I model for train or- der signals to be used almost like a block control signal to prevent trains from over-run- ning preceding trains or work extras. It seems that a common operation was for a train order operator to drop their board once a train was 200 feet past their signal and to keep the board down for a minimum of 20 minutes. Should a train be restricted by such a board, then a clearance needed to be issued by the operator. Both of these changes are something I’d like to experiment with to improve the realism
of the TT&TO system. To this end, I envision having crews passing any train order signal to press the acknowledge button on the fascia panel when their cabooses clear the sig- nal location. I can then use either the Logix or Python script functionality of the JMRI/Panelpro, and the fast time from the DCC-connected fast clock, to either drop the board at that location or keep the board down for 20 fast minutes after the train passes. In both cases the board would be raised automatically when the 20 minutes is up. The dispatcher could still see and hear the status of any crew action at the train order station and would still be able to control the signal directly should the crew mess something up or forget to press the button. One potential problem is that the crews need to not only phone in their OS but also to “acknowledge” their departure with a button press and this may be more steps than the crew can comfortably accommodate. We shall see. What I hope is that this article highlights is the flexibility of the system–with the crew
“acknowledge” buttons and signal indicators at each train order station, the audible and visual train order indicators on the dispatcher’s panel, and the power of the JMRI/Panel- pro software allowing all sorts of interesting operational wrinkles to be simulated. No set up need be permanent and changes can be made quickly until that mythical “ideal” sys- tem for the Columbia & Western is reached!–MARK DANCE
60 my
train and go to the central pigeonhole board where I should find orders for me in the “Coykendahl – West” slot. Finally there were the issues around train
the order
signals themselves.
How would the dispatcher signal to the crew that they had orders and how would the crew signal back that they had received them? The idea of func- tional, two position train order sema- phores – just like on my prototype – was very appealing, but recall again that I was retrofitting the system into an already constructed multi-deck lay- out. One where I had inconveniently neglected to leave space and access for Tortoise switch motors, or other control mechanisms, to be installed, aligned and adjusted beneath the stations. Added to this was the fragile nature of any reasonably-close-to-N-scale sema- phore and I was looking for a different, simpler type of actuator which could be installed pre-adjusted from above the layout deck and which could be easily removed for cleaning or maintenance. I ended up designing the two position semaphores using Nitinol “memory metal” wire as actuators. Two Nitinol wires in the semaphore contract if ¼ amp of current is passed through them, which in turn rotate pulleys to which the semaphore blades are at- tached. Simple music wire springs were bent to provide the return force when the current is turned off. The blades themselves are laminated from flexible acetate transparency sheets while nanoLED’s from Ngineering pro- vide the aspect light. DIP pin plugs
MARCH 2014
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