Crew Call for HO Prototype Operating Session
General plan is to have the sessions on the 2nd Saturday of the month so mark your calendars.
When: Saturday April 13, 2024 12:00 pm
(please try and arrive around 11:30am to be ready to roll by 12)
Where: Delmarva Model Railroad Club
103 East State Street 2nd Floor (stairs only)
Delmar, DE 19940
RSVP to: Operations@delmarvamodelrailroadclub.org
It makes for a better session if we know how many are planning on attending, also let us know if you want to work with an experienced crew member
The Sessions are open to anyone interested in Prototype Operations. Members of the club do have seniority on choice of positions. We get around 12 to 15 people per session but can easily accommodate twice that amount.
The rolling stock and motive power is all on the layout and staged. Please do not bring any rolling stock or motive power.
We use FRS Radios. The control system is DCC by Digitrax. We have both Simplex and Duplex wirelesses. We have a few UT4Rs and 2 new UT6Ds and FRS radios available for those that need them. Please bring your own if you have them.
We use Car Cards and Waybills and a loose TWC / OCS (Track Warrant Control / Occupancy Control System). The Dispatchers panel has full main line occupancy visibility and the main line is signaled. Track Warrant Control authorizes the dispatcher to verbally instruct the train to proceed, via radio. This is sometimes called the Mother May I Move Method. The dispatcher selects the stations or mileposts between which the train may move.
We model primarily one sub-division of the B&O (Parkersburg Sub of the Ohio Newark Division) mainline from Parkersburg, WV (PH) to Chillicothe, OH (CH). Parkersburg is fed from the east by a staging yard, Grafton, WV (GR) on the PH Sub of the Monongah Division. There is a small amount of this Parkersburg Sub on the Monongah Division Modeled between GR & PH. Then the West end staging is at Cincinnati, OH (CI) feeds almost directly into CH. We also model the OR Sub from Parkersburg low yard to Huntington WV. The low yard is feed from Wheeling another staging yard.
The time period modeled is early to mid 70’s Chessie System with some modelers license to include passenger traffic based on the mid to late 60’s.
We also have a few interchange tracks with the NYC @ Athens, OH and PRR out of Zanesville, OH which are both Penn Central in the 70’s. No Conrail or Amtrak in this little part of the past yet.
