OK, Guys, Another Question

[Herb Kelsey]

Recall that Bridgton Jct had no siding.  No runaround track.  Trains into the Jct stopped on the hill, the engine would duck in out of the way, the train would be coasted down the hill using handbrakes, the engine connected to the opposite end and the train pushed into the depot on the end of the single track main.

My question comes from the scheduling of Trains 3 and 4 at the Jct.  Train 3 arrives at the Jct. at 9:55 AM.  Train 4 leaves the Jct. at 10:10 AM.  So, just what does Train 3 do for the fifteen minute overlap?  Do the passengers just cool their heels until No. 4 leaves and No. 3 can do the gravity dance to get them to the station?

Timetable attached:

[Allan Fisher]

There are many pictures of B&SR passenger trains pulling all the way into the Jct station. After passengers detrained is when train backed up and did the run around.  The same locomotive and equipment would then ;eave  as #4.

Making a dutch drop of the train did not take but a couple of minutes - and even allowed time to water the engine.

[Herb Kelsey]

I agree that you are right regarding the "Dutch drop" being done after the passengers were unloaded.  Should have realized that one.  But I beg to differ on the Train three becoming Train 4.  What happened to the locomotive and cars of train No. 1?  That's the 10:10 AM Train 4, IMHO.

Train No. 2 runs from Bridgton to Harrison, turns and becomes No. 1.

No. 1 runs from Harrison to the Jct., turns and becomes No. 4.

No. 4 runs from the Jct. to Harrison, turns and becomes No. 5.

No. 5 runs from Harrison to Bridgton and ties up.

No. 3 runs from Harrison to the Jct., turns and becomes No. 6.

No. 6 runs from the Jct. to Harrison, turns and becomes No. 7.

No. 7 runs from Harrison to the Jct., turns and becomes No. 8.

No. 8 run from the Jct. to Harrison and ties up.

That's the only way the times work out for crews.  Other wise you have one crew only working four hours and another crew working well over 16, unless you assume a third train out on the line.  Remember there were only four engines on the road at that time and with necessary repairs that would strain the motive power week in and week out.

This schedule allows the north end freight activities arround Bridgton to be handled by a locomotive out of the Bridgton shops  or by the crew coming in off of No. 5, since they've only worked about 8 hours at that time.  The Jct. switching and sawmill switching on the south end would be handled by Train 1's crew and then by Train 3's crew during their dead time between trains, with tidying up being done by the crew of Nos. 7 and 8.

But it still leaves the question of what was done during that 15 minute overlap?.

[Richard "Steam" Symmes]

This is the B&H, not the New York Central.  15 minutes here or there?  Did the real crews care?  Did anyone? This CGI fantasy railroading is obviously not for the faint of heart.  Don't leave Bridgton Jct., without a supply of track torpedoes!

[Mike Fox]

What is missing is the explanation of the times. The times in Bold mean something different than the times that are in regular print.

Looks like the locomotives could have also been scheduled to work the freight on the way back to Bridgton. There is enough time there.

[Herb Kelsey]

Right Mike.  The bold print is PM, normal print is AM.  Since they are labeled AM and PM I should have made them all the same.   

[Steve Smith]

Well Herb, it's not such a bad idea to make one half of the day in bold and the other in normal. It may help some goofhead--me, for instance--to notice.

One time I wanted to take an evening B&M train from Troy NY to Greenfield MA and I showed up at the station about 12 hours late, having failed to notice the little "AM" line at the top of the column. Got a good ribbing from my train-chasing pal over that one, but he was kind enough to drive me to Albany so I could catch a Greyhound bus to Greenfield from there.