Bob Batson's layout has block wiring, is well thought out, and only takes a few minutes to learn how to use. The controls include a rotary switch for each block. Normally each yard is a separate block. There are little colored dots that you align with the rotary switch. The dots correspond to the colored dot on the throttle, or cab, that you are using.
I decided to operate Rutledge Yard, since I hadn't done that one yet. In putting together the train at Rutledge Yard, I was using a cab, or throttle, that was connected by cord to that area, and found that most of the time, it was easier for me to leave it attached to the side of the layout with velcro, which left my hands free to hold the clipboard containing the switchlist and pencil which I used to check off each car as I picked it up or dropped it off.
TEXAS CENTRAL Switchlist for train RUT TANK RUTLEDGE PICKUPS RUTLEDGE REPAIR tc 35 t RUTLEDGE REPAIR mobx 11129 t RUTLEDGE REPAIR dowx 383557 t RUTLEDGE REPAIR tc 54 t RUTLEDGE PAINT tc 05 t RUTLEDGE SERVICING cgw 264 t RUTLEDGE PAINT sccx 709 t RUTLEDGE PAINT tc 55 t RUTLEDGE SERVICING gn 1153 t RUTLEDGE PAINT atsf 98424 t RUTLEDGE SERVICING tw 1000 t RUTLEDGE SERVICING tc 50 t RUTLEDGE SERVICING tc 57 t SETOUTS RUTLEDGE REPAIR tc 05 t RUTLEDGE PAINT cgw 264 t RUTLEDGE SERVICING sccx 709 t BRAZOS YARD PICKUPS .......(same as RUTLEDGE SETOUTS below)........ SETOUTS .........(same as RUTLEDGE PICKUPS above minus RUTLEDGE SETOUTS above)......... RUTLEDGE SETOUTS RUTLEDGE PAINT utlx 12614 t RUTLEDGE PAINT utlx 12723w t RUTLEDGE PAINT tc 53 t RUTLEDGE SERVICING tc 94 t RUTLEDGE SERVICING tc 25 t RUTLEDGE WAREHOUSE tc 507 x RUTLEDGE WAREHOUSE drgw 23015 f RUTLEDGE WAREHOUSE bar 2573 x RUTLEDGE WAREHOUSE v&o 19295 h RUTLEDGE WAREHOUSE fwd 8521 x
After I was given my switchlist, I took a few minutes to orient myself as to what each section and column on the switchlist meant, with some help from the other men there. I also took a few minutes to locate all the sidings I would be using. Beginning with the Rutledge Pickups, these are the cars I would pick up at this yard. The Setouts are the cars I was transferring from one siding to another. The next section of the switchlist, where it says Brazos Yard, the Setouts are all the cars that I was taking from Rutledge to the Brazos Yard. I drove the train over to Brazos, on the other side of the layout. The Pickups were the cars in the train that the yardmaster put together. The setouts I just dropped off as a block on one of the Brazos Yard tracks. Pickups had already been put together by the Brazos Yardmaster. All I had to do was pick those up and take the train over to the Rutledge Yard and drop them off at the locations under the last Rutledge Setouts locations on the switchlist.
On the list are several columns. The first column is the siding in the yard where I pick up or drop off a car. The second column is the name of the company owning the car: tc (Texas Central), v&o (Virginia and Ohio), etc. The third column is the number on the side of the car. The fourth column is the type of car: t (tanker), x (boxcar), f (flatcar), h (hopper), and ch (covered hopper). The fifth column tells me whether that car is loaded or empty. The sixth column is the later destination of the car. I didn't include the fifth and sixth columns here, since they were to be ignored.
When I first started, the caboose was already on the caboose track, so I didn't need to drop it off there. First, I picked up the cars listed under Rutledge Pickups - Repair. These were transferred to one side of the runaround tracks. On the diagram, this is the track at the bottom with two parallel tracks joined at each end with a turnout. Then I picked up the cars on the Paint siding. Sometimes a car I picked up had to be returned to where it came from because the car I wanted was behind it. The SCCX 709 was picked up from Paint and was destined for Servicing. However, if it was placed there now, it would be in the way of pulling cars off that track. So I temporarily left it on the Repair track, writing a note to myself on the switchlist. After leaving the Paint cars on the runaround track, I moved the ones on the Servicing track. Then the SCCX was moved to Servicing.
Lastly, the TC 05 was moved from Paint to Repair, and the CGW was moved from Servicing to Paint. That completed the three local transfers.
I coupled the locomotive to the front of the train, and asked the dispatcher for permission to take the mainline to the Brazos Yard. Jim McCartney came over and looked at my train and said I wasn't ready to leave yet. I couldn't figure out why, so he told me I was missing a caboose. To attach it to the end of the train, I first had to break the train in half and leave some cars on the Repair track. The train was longer than one side of the runaround track, which prevented me from accessing both turnouts on it. The caboose was then coupled to the front of the locomotive. Then I backed onto the runaround track parallel to half the train, and pushed the caboose onto the back of the train. The other half of the train was then retrieved and attached to the front of the half train on the runaround.
At this point, I was given the radio control throttle, and appropriate switches were thrown to give it control for all the track to the Brazos Yard. I again asked for clearance, but had to wait a few minutes for the yardmaster to get everything ready. I went to Brazos and exchanged trains, listed on the switchlist under Brazos Pickups. The caboose was retrieved from the train I dropped off, and the train taken to Rutledge Yard to be placed at the proper locations: Rutledge Setouts on the switchlist.
At Rutledge, I backed the caboose and two cars onto the caboose track. The remaining cars were placed on the runaround track, and the loco moved to the opposite end of the train, so I could back the cars into the sidings. I picked up two or three cars at a time, and backed each to it's Setout location. Lastly, the two cars still on the caboose track were retrieved, changed positions with the loco on the runaround track and placed. Then, I picked up the caboose and did the runaround with it.
My next assignment was the Busich Yard. It has several interesting characteristics. There is a crossover between Bergstadt Cannery and Knox Flour. My last car was to be dropped off at the cannery, and since there were 5 cars filling it's siding, it was left on the other side of the crossover. There is a small wye next to Schwarzkopf Vinegar. The wye can only accommodate the 2 locos and one car, so some extra switching was required so that I only had one car moving in or out of there at a time. Schwarzkopf also has a magnetic uncoupler. Since my throttle had momentum, it took some practice to be able to stop the correct coupler over the magnet. I uncoupled the locos a few times, and had to resort to Giant Hand Action to put them together. The caboose had to be moved several times, as there is no caboose track. It can't be left on the approach track, as it is too steep, and it would go rolling off about a half mile.
The Texas Central is a very interesting layout to operate on, as there is great variety in the configurations of the various yards. At one end is the large Brazos Yard. The track winds around to the other yards and ends in the closet in the Austin Yard. Most of the turnouts are manually switched, except for the ones that are difficult to reach. The layout is large enough so that all five of us had room to operate at the same time. Texas Central is well designed and scenicked. Bob said that it could be operated for days at a time continuously. He wants to begin regular operating sessions, so contact him if you want to try it. I think you will find it a lot of fun. For me, there is no substitute for operations to get the most out of model railroading.
