Here I am back again with another Question!

[Herb Kelsey]

As the B&SR route for the simulator gets closer to completion, the questions about the actual operation of the railroad begin to pop up.  So here goes:

1.  The published timetables found in books show eight passenger trains a day, four in each direction, with two originating in Bridgton and two originating in Harrison.  But the tables produced are products of May and June and I can't help but wonder if this isn't the Summer tourist schedule and not indicative of what was run during the rest of the year.  Since the railroad never seemed to have more than four engines on the property at any given time, it would seem that this breakneck schedule would severly tax the system to run year round, with two engines dedicated to the passenger operations, one or more to freight and probably at least one of the four in for a boiler wash or running gear work.  So the question is, were less trains run in the off season and does anyone have any timetables for the October to April months?

2.  What of the freights?  What was their normal operating schedule?  We know there was only one caboose and a full crew of the day (Conductor and two brakemen plus the engine crew) would require some conveyance besides a box car roof walk, so was there just one freight running at a time or??

Attached is a timeline based on the June 23, 1924 timetable and there isn't much time for switching freight if the trains were mixed.

Any Ideas?

[Glenn Christensen]

Hi Herb,

Here's a partial answer ...  by 1924 most steam trains were mixed, although some freights did run as extras.  Railbus #2 didn't appear until 1933.

My recollection is that the engine on train #1 left the Jct. as the engine on train #4. Likewise the engine on #3 left the Jct as train #6.  Very little switching was done at the Jct for the final round trip.  If freight was heavy, the engine on #3/#6 could have left a cut of cars at the Jct. for the final daily return. Different locomotives over-nighted at Harrison as maintenance schedules dictated.


Best Regards,
Glenn

[Herb Kelsey]

Thanks Glenn, that's just what I was looking for.  Man, there sure wasn't much time in those schedules for a lot of switching enroute. 

Does anyone know the timing on the MEC connections at the Junction?  I would think that making those connections would be a priority for the B&SR.  I wonder how much "pad" they had between arrival at the Jct. and the arrival/departure of the standard gauge connecting train.

Here's one of those mixed trains leaving Harrison.

[Glenn Christensen]

Hi Herb,

VERY nice image!  I'd be interested in getting a copy of the route once you're done.  What would I need to do this?

My recollection is the narrow gauge arrived before the standard gauge train arrived and left after the standard gauge train left.  If time was running tight, making the standard gauge connection always came first.  If the MEC train was delayed the B&SR tended to wait for it unless directed otherwise.

I suspect that most of the on-line loads and empties tended to migrate towards the three main terminal yards after being either picked up or before being set out by the regular trains.  Most on-line sidings were single-ended and connected on the southern end.  This implied that the tendency was to service these sidings with southbound trains.  Similarly, northern end connected sidings tended to favor service by north-bound trains.  When an exception to this rule occurred, the cars could either be polled or pulled (with a wire rope) in or out of a siding as needed.  I also suspect that occasionally cars were pushed ahead the engine with appropriate brakeman/conductor protection. 

In any of these cases, a regular train might have had the time to service one or two sidings during a normal run.  But an extra train would have been called if the on-line business required more than this.

Log trains ran as extras and the late Robert Outland told me that most of the log loading was done "after regular hours" at appropriate ramps built alongside the main line.


Best Regards,
Glenn

[Richard "Steam" Symmes]

Sorry, but that Harrison "picture" looks like a painting by American primitive artist, Grandma Moses. 

I just saw a preview of the new movie, "The Lone Ranger".  It showed a "train" (or someone's demented idea of what a train looks like), and the entire movie seems to be CGI.  Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels are already spinning in their graves.   This whole CGI "thing" is like a cartoon.  That awful TV series of a year or two ago about the Transcontinental Railroad used CGI effects and it was absolutely dreadful.  Like electronic "steam punk" on steroids!

Not to rain on anyone's hobby, but what do folks get out of this electronic model railroading?  I guess it's easier to put derailed cars back on the track as your eyesight ages??

[Herb Kelsey]

Richard asks, "...what do folks get out of this electronic model railroading?"  Well, as I mentioned in an earlier post, I have been a model railroader most of my life and modeling narrow gauge for about 53 years.  But I have an abiding interest in all things railroad from 2 foot gauge lilliputs to heavy mainline operations.  Problem is there isn't enough space, or time, or money to model everything that interests me.  And those things I have modeled had to be done in selective compression.

With the train simulator I can have any railroad I want that is available in the ether and/or I can build one myself.  I never have to clean track.  Rather than just a little diorama of, say, Bridgton or Harrison, I can have the entire B&SR, mile for mile, curve for curve.  Or, for that matter, I can and do have nearly the entire mainline of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe from Chicago to Los Angeles/Bakersfield/San Diego.  And I never have to clean track.  I also do not have to turn around and come back at the end of the room.  I can make up trains from individual cars and run them over any track available.  I can make set outs and pick ups as necessary, and I never have to clean track.  I can have all of those systems and operations without ever having to crawl underneath the benchwork to do wiring – no more holes burned in my shirts from hot solder.  As far as watching what I’m doing I can watch the train pass from trackside, I can watch the train’s movement from the front or the rear of the train and I can ride the train either in the cupola, on top of a freight car or in a passenger car’s seat or vestibule.  One thing I can do that I can’t do in a brass and plastic model environment is to run the train from the engine cab.  And I never have to clean track.  All of my engines have sound and realistic exhaust smoke and authentic sounds emanate from the cars as they roll over the line.

And did I mention that I never have to clean track?   

As for realism and detail, well, you decide.

[Richard "Steam" Symmes]

All points well taken, but the picture still looks (to me, an artist) "fakey", like most video games I've seen kids playing.  To each his or her own, but these computer cartoons don't do anything for me. They may be novel and cute, but they're still super "etch-a-sketch" images.

And who would want to model the Santa Fe RR from Chicago to LA?  Cleaning track or not.

We've come light years from PacMan but we still have a long way to go.  Party on.

[Herb Kelsey]

Glenn, thanks for the response.  That is about what I figured.  As the Junction is merely a stop on the MEC, it's times would dictate the actions of the B&SR.

As for being able to run the B&SR on the computer, you would need a legal copy of MicroSoft Train Simulator (MSTS) which, despite it's age, is still available at WalMart or on Amazon.com.  If you do get it and load it don't be turned off by the 2001 routes and trains which are horrible.  We'll be using all aftermarket third party stuff.  As of this writing, the Monson is in Beta Testing, the B&SR is close to Beta and the track has been laid for the SR&RL.  All of these routes are being done by Christian Schroeder in Germany and all are and will be freeware.

A good resource for what's going on in the sim and for downloads of 2-foot gauge equipment is the Elvas Tower website (www.elvastower.com).

And Richard, to each his own as the farmer said when he kissed the cow.    I have run to and from the west coast to Chicago both via Raton Pass and through Amarillo and love it, and am not alone.  But you will more often than not find me in Southwestern Colorado.

[Richard "Steam" Symmes]

"Elvas" has left the building!

[Herb Kelsey]

LOL!

[Mike Fox]

Nice Job Herb. Looks great