I sit all day in front of a computer at work. The last thing I want to do when I get home and head to the basement is to do a bunch of paper work because “it feels more prototypical”.
I participate in my hobby because I enjoy it and it is a change from what I do all day long. And I won’t apologize for keeping it simple and having fun. I have two goals for when it comes time to run trains on my small industrial switching layout. First, I want some form of structure and second, I try to keep it as simple as possible.
Southside Industrial District trackplan
A little bit of order goes a long way when running a small layout. The task of simulating the movement of products rolling on two rails of steel is called operations and shouldn’t need an advanced college degree in order to be enjoyed.
The literature on operating a model railroad is plentiful and I won’t review it here. Without a continuous run option, switching layouts like the Southside Industrial District need an operating scheme to get things moving.
Sitting at a dispatcher’s desk shuffling papers is not my idea of fun after a long day at the office photo: Robert Yarnall Richie, DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University
Car cards and waybills are a popular option (see Model Railroader’s operating session for the Winston-Salem Southbound project layout), but for me, even that is too much work.
I operate almost exclusively solo, and occasionally with a friend. I want to walk into the train room and start running trains with very little setup. And if I’m explaining to a friend who has never held a throttle, I want to be able to do it in less than ten minutes.
For car forwarding, I’ve settled on a system called modified wheel reports. The system is simple, flexible, and can be as expanded as desired.
Without space for an adjacent staging yard, my freight car storage is a disconnected table-top and chairs with no turnouts or wiring. Cars are selected from here based on a wheel report card and moved by hand to the RIP track on the layout. You could do away with the track all together or switch cars in a proper operating yard and drive the train to the area to be worked.
The basic principle is that there is 1 card per train (I use 3”x5”) which lists how many of each freight car type are delivered to each industry. Any car will do and there is no need to track individual reporting numbers. Pickups are optional unless the space is needed for a drop off. The local train crew decides how the cars should be switched.
That’s pretty much it. Of course there are some details that come into play on each pike. Let’s see how it plays out on my particular model railroad – the Southside Industrial District.
The Layout
The Southside Industrial District is a 30”x88” HO scale industrial switching layout set in the present day. I run one switcher with modern cars along with some older 40-foot equipment. The track configuration is loosely based on John Allen’s Timesaver with a run-around track and six spurs plus a RIP track. There is no fiddle yard attached, so I use on-set staging on the RIP track at the front left portion of the layout.
The Industries
I have six spur tracks that can receive cars: one each for National Transfer and Storage, Sylvan Foods, and Ames, as well as 3 tracks for DuPont. Each DuPont track is considered a single “industry”.
Each industry can technically receive any type of car, but I try to keep it fairly realistic to simulate the flow of raw materials and finished product. The tool company doesn’t get reefers and toxic chemicals don’t get dropped off inside the dry storage. When I designed my layout, I planned for a set of industries that could receive a mix of types of rolling stock. Also, there is no movement of cars directly from one industry to another – all car movements originate and terminate at other industries off-stage via an unconnected staging yard.
The Cards
Cards are created in a grid format with industries down the left side and car types across the top. You could use official AAR car designations or make up your own like I did. The cells hold the total number of cars of that type for that specific industry. Add up all the cells and that is how many cars are in the train. You can create the cards right before each session (they literally take just seconds), or have a pre-made stack to draw from.
The Setup
To start, the train master or conductor picks one of the pre-made cards, then selects the number of cars for each type and places them on the RIP track in any order.
In the photo you can see a wheel report with the cars marked to be set out and the total number of cars circled in the bottom corner. Cherry picking IS allowed. Pick your favorite or most colorful car. Enlist the help of youngsters and have them choose some cars.
A single locomotive is placed in a starting position. I use the run-around track in front of the “Southside Industrial” sign as a sort of home base for my loco.
The Play
Crews consist of one or two members. Once the setup is complete, the crew first decides the actual location of the drops, as well as any pickups. For example, the train might have two boxcars to set out – one for Ames and one for DuPont. The conductor can select either car to go to either industry, it doesn’t matter. If that spur is full, at least one car (any type) must be removed to make space for the new car.
There is no writing. Everything is done from memory. With only a few cars to move, it is not difficult to keep track of.
Then the crew gets busy actually switching the cars. Pickups are placed back on the RIP track in any order to make a return train. The motive power is returned to its original position. These cars are removed from the layout by the old “hand of God” 0-5-0 switcher method before the start of the next sequence. Refreshments at the Third Street Deli soon follow.
That’s all there is to it.
This is a single sequence. With the on-stage fiddle track cleared, more sequences can be strung together for a longer operating session.
Enhancements
If you want more of a challenge or your operators have more advanced skills, you can always tighten some of the rules to your desire. For example, you could simulate unloading of freight by having removable loads or require “sure” spots at loading doors for specific types of cars. Increasing the number cars as well as their length also increases the difficulty level. The good thing about this system is that you can start simple and add as much complexity as you want.
If your module is part of a larger layout, you can still put wheel reports to good use. Instead of specific industries on the wheel report card, industries get replaced by towns along the line. The crew still decides locally at each stop which cars to switch at what destinations. Your train will be longer and you can have a separate crew make up and break down trains in the yard with actual switching instead of using a fiddle yard.
Remember, wheel reports are for organizing the movement of individual freight cars, not entire trains. Depending on the size of your layout, you may want to combine the wheel reports (or whichever car forwarding system you decide on) with a method of systematically tracking train movements. As my layout grows, I plan on scheduling series of train movements with sequence lists.
So that is my version of what I call wheel reports. A small layout doesn’t need a complex system to make it run in an orderly fashion. If I want a quick 10 minute session, or if I’m giving a primer on the basics of model railroad operations, wheel reports fit the bill. In no time you can be moving some serious freight around your miniature empire, no matter how large or small. So, if you’ve been considering adding operations to your layout but have been hesitant to take the plunge, give wheel reports a try.
