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Extreme Operations Layout

Travel to Missouri to visit a couple who have a massive model railroad operations layout.

From "Workin' On the Railroad"
episode DWRR-207L

Host Chris Chianelli visits Stephen and Cinthia Priest of Kansas City, Mo., who have an impressive, accomplished—and bit extreme—model railroad operations layout. The couple is joined weekly by a dozen of their friends for a weekly operations session.

The Priests model the era of 1978, an era Stephen is extremely fond of since he actually worked for the railroad line that he and his wife have modeled.

Chris demonstrates a "real" turnout or switch of a railroad track.

Figure A

Figure B

What is Model Railroad Operations?

Operations is simply the moving of rolling stock and locomotives around a complex network of track. This is accomplished by the use of a turnout (see the image, right)—or switch, which controls the direction of the train.

Managing a real railroad can be an extremely difficult and challenging task, and it can be no different a scenario for model railroaders.

Stephen and Cinthia Priest (figure A) have taken their model railroading hobby to the extreme—and oh-so fun—level with an operations that would impress even the most avid model railroader.

Running a Model Railroad Operations Session

The goal of an operations session is to run the layout like a real transportation company and railroad line.

Here are "some" of the responsibilities for model railroad operations session participants:

Yard Master—makes sure the cars are placed in their correct trains so they'll reach the proper destination for loading and unloading.
Dispatcher—keeps all the communication lines open and handles all the details associated with operating multiple trains on a large layout.

Stephen, who is a master model railroader, says running an operations session is a "chess game for 10 [more or less] people. What it does is you get 10 of your best friends together and create a transportation company."

The operations session is simply a simulation of how an actual railroad would run— with one big exception:

The clock is sped up, meaning on Stephen's layout time is scaled down just as the track and the rolling stock cars (figure B). This means you have strict schedules and each freight car has a commodity it has to deliver on time. Cars are spotted at industries and cars are pulled from industries.

With multiple trains running on a single layout, it's not uncommon to have train collisions, which confirms the importance of communication within the operations team that you assemble.

When it came time for Stephen and Cinthia to create their impressive layout, there were two goals they had in mind:

How to create a layout that wouldn't take up too much space.
How to create a space that keep the trains visible at all times to make their Saturday evening operations sessions fun.

Stephen said he tried to get the longest run possible in his layout design. He built what's called a "constant climb" railroad, which basically means to take the east end of the railroad and the west end of the railroad and make one of them the upper level (elevated) and you spread the grate out along the entire railroad between the two points.

Check out the Priests' operations and layout:

Control Central

Love the DIY sign!

Communication is vital to any successful operations.