To me, not only is having the proper paperwork available to your crews VERY important to almost any layout, but having the proper paperwork (in my case, of a prototypical nature) helps not only guide the operations but also set the theme. Paperwork, at it's very least, should be car cards and other diagrams to help spot cars in sidings, etc, etc., but I'm one of those kind of guys who like to go all out. Like my very good friend Dave Ramos and his New York Harbor Railroad (www.nyhrr.com) and other hobby notables like Tony Koester and RMC author Tony Thompson (http://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/), we believe more is more! This goes beyond car cards and waybills (we've "invented" our own to be just like the real thing), to car tags, interchange logs and the like.
I've presented NMRA clinics on the subject over the last 6 years, and I have refined my forms to something that is both modelable and usable without being overly complex. Which brings me to the point that most people look at paperwork as an over-complication of things. Some people think of paperwork (past the old CC&WB system) as "taking work home with them", and are of the mindset that "I want to run trains, not push paper". It's perfectly understandable - Not everyone is a prototype modeler, nor wants to run their layout in a prototypical manner, and just wants to watch their trains run round and round - If that's what makes the hobby fun for them, so be it. However, in the circle of friends I operate with, there is always at LEAST three non-train operating jobs available In fact, I think I've run maybe five train jobs on my friend Dave's layout over the space of four years and at least thirty op sessions! Why? Well, I enjoy it (obviously!), and I enjoy the mental gymnastics of replicating the realistic movements of cars, without having to do all the billing that the real clerks once had to do! It's no different to me than a Civil War reenactor making sure to have all his period-correct (and especially in relation to what we're doing, specific) accoutrements on and with him and no modern gizmos anywhere in sight, with the goal of setting the theme. OK, maybe most of us model railroaders aren't as obsessed with the details (I know I use mechanical pencils, highlighters and sticky notes to help me), but I think you get my drift, or at least I hope you do!
So, back to the point of my post.......I've been printing out tons of waybills, empty car orders, swtichlists and other such items for Friday. I know, I know I don't need to have EVERYTHING in place (it's only a shakedown, after all) but I still want to make sure it's available to the guys and if there IS a question on how to indentify or do something, I want to be able to provide that answer or job aid. So, below are a couple of forms I have created (all designed from prototype forms, though not always LV or CNJ-specific) for your consideration, and in a followup post, I'll get into talking more about the rather esoteric or layout-specific ones.
This first card is an LCL car "tag", designed after an actual PRR tag. These are the kind of tags that would have been found on door tack boards. Tony Thompson recently posted in his blog about the SP's use of such tags. While I have found no actual LV tag, I feel that I am still being prototypical by using an actual piece of paperwork that could have for all I know, been used by the LVRR, too.
This second form is patterned after an actual LV train manifest form, T-156 if I recall correctly. Here, I have re-purposed it to serve as a tool for my active staging crews, to help them make up trains and carfloats correctly by car type, no by destination.
Here's an Empty Car Order, patterned after an NKP form. Pretty self-explanatory.
Here's a terminal spotting card, patterned after LIRR, NH and PRR forms. Since I don't use CC&W's on the layout, this takes the place of, and serves as, a way to keep track of on-layout deliveries.
And the last one for now, this is a a modified version of a form that friend Dave Ramos designed for his layout to provide crews with a "train brief", telling them their train make up and what they are expected to do.
As you can see, there's a lot of paper planned for this layout of mine! But it all supports the operation and will hopefully not only support the theme, but more importantly support the operation and make it enjoyable for all. I realize that in the process of posting these, that some of these might not be very legible when clicked on, so if anyone is interested, post a comment and I can send you the file direct if you're interested in learning more.
Until next time,
Ralph
No comments:
Post a Comment