Christmas Session

Yesterday was a not-so-ordinary operating session here on the St Paul Pass in 1:160! Unusually heavy (real) snowfall here in Vienna and - so they say - the coldest days since 1995 (-8 C) made the way to the session really hard for many of our crew members. But, except for 2 calling in sick - they all made it from as far away as Styria or a small town somewhere over the danube, despite icy highways, derailed streetcars, cancelled trains and 1 foot deep snow in the streets.
So, I can really say: that is a dedicated, hard to beat crew that assembled here to operate trains. And besides running trains, they got a cold cellar (+10 C in the beginning), not enough Punsch (w/o alcohol, as Rule G applies!) and some chocolate.
It started all with delays - I was nearly not able to make it on time, as I forgot my driving license at home and had to return home in the middle of the crazy pre-Christmas friday evenening traffic madness. And then finding a good place for the car (this is one where you can get your car not only in, but also out) wasn't easy, either.

Our dispatcher from Berlin was right on time, but most crew members were not so we started with the snow plow train and a few local freights (and forgot to turn on the fast clock!) Traffic density grew with each member arriving from the cold and stormy outside world and we soon had more and more fun!

3 issues came up during the session:
Because of the low temperature, 4 of my AlanCurtis 89 foot flatcars lost their kingpins and made running #99 difficult - not only that, but following trains usually found the missing kingpins when they run over one, hereby derailing themself. Now, this is an easy fix with some superglue.

The second issue has to do with the FoxValley metal wheels - as good as they are, they are not really compatible with Peco turnouts, not to speak of the Shinohara 3-way turnouts, where they tend to fall in between the rails! I'm tempted to replace them soon, despite having paid more than 70 Euros for each. They are a real PITA.

The newest issue is that the 3 Amps the Intellibox is providing for the staging yards is not enough when they are full of locomotives, as even if they are just idling away, they consume power. It would be good to be able to turn off the staging tracks, alas I did not make any provisions for that. <Sigh> I already ordered a 4 Amp booster from LDT but they delayed that product for a year and it will not be here before March 2011. In the meanwhile, we'll have to live with that.


But let's focus on what was fine:
The dedication of the crew (I hope everybody had a safe trip home and those who needed to catch a train did so!)
The relaxed atmosphere.
The patience of the crewmembers - it is not so easy to be stuck in the hole somewhere in a siding and no other traffic is in sight and not knowing the dispatcher's overall plan.
Just one failed decoder!
No Skype and Go-To-My-PC problems, no UMTS connestion drop!
Just one rear-ender. (A train without a lighted caboose is always in danger to be rear-ended, as the protecting signal goes to "approach(yellow)" long before the train left the block.) When will Kato bring us the caboose trucks again as they are simply the best option if you wanted to provide electrical pickup for a caboose.

It was a great night - and it lasted from 6pm till midnight and we run all trains!

Have a merry Christmas and those who won't be here for the planned worksession between Christmay and New Year - "Happy New Year"