Operating Sessions
Signups for operating sessions are now open. Slots will be filled in the order received. So that everyone has a chance to join an operating session, only one assignment will be granted on the first round. After April 7, all open slots will be filled with the remaining requests. Please email Doug Smith at Operations2022@pcrnmra.org with your first, second and third choices. Once all slots are full, Doug will notify operators via email. The schedule will also be posted at the convention.
NOTE: all layout owners have asked that operators be fully vaxed and boosted - bring your cards!
| Layout Owner: Gus Campagna, Penngrove, CA - Thursday, April 21, 7:00pm-11:00pm | |||
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| The California Western Railroad is a triple deck layout in a 31' x 25' garage, with a connecting 10' x 25' crew lounge. The layout is Lenz DCC controlled, with mostly hand thrown turnouts, and steam and diesel operations. Most locomotives have sound installed. The prototype CWR is a 40-mile railroad connecting Fort Bragg on the coast with Willits on the NWP mainline. The HO scale CWR has 270' of mainline track. The Willits portion is 50' long and connects to staging at both ends. The railroad runs on Timetable & Train orders, point to point. | |||
| Web site: https://pbase.com/campgus/inbox | |||
| Video: https://youtu.be/ZK0xNYkcSP8 | |||
| Scale: HO standard gauge | Number of Operators: 7-8 | Control System: Lenz DCC controlled | Dispatch System of Choice: TT &TO |
| Fully vaccinated please. Face masks required indoors as county still requires it that way. | |||
| Layout Owner: Adam Palmer, Kentfield, CA - Thursday, April 21, 7:00pm-11:00pm | |||
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| The Sierra Central Railway: Sierra Division: The SCR is a proto-freelanced bridge line set in the mid-1970's running between Merced, CA and Coos Bay, OR, hauling mainly lumber products and interchanging with numerous other class-1's and shortlines. The Sierra Division models the section between Stockton and Merced, CA. The layout draws a lot of inspiration from Allen McClelland's Virginian and Ohio, and essentially transforms the Appalachian coal hauler into a west coast lumber hauler. Trains include drag freights, perishable hotshots, mainline and branch locals, logging, and narrow gauge. | |||
| Web site: https://modelrailroadopera.wixsite.com/website | |||
| Video: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXPFb1Q2OOvZI0WX-t2opfA | |||
| Scale: HO | Number of Operators: 5, Dispatcher, Yardmaster, 3 road crews | Control System: NCE DCC | Dispatch System of Choice: Track Warrants |
| It would be preferable that all operators be fully vaccinated, special priority for those with their booster shots. | |||
| Layout Owner: Jim Providenza, San Rafael, CA - Friday, April 22, 7:00pm-11:00pm | |||
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| The Santa Cruz Northern is walk in, walk around double deck point-to-point; proto-freelanced modeling a joint WP-Santa Fe subsidiary from San Jose to Santa Cruz in 1971. Positions include a dispatcher, two agent-operators, a yardmaster and two person train crews. | |||
| Web site: http://bayrails.com/layouts2.php?m=providenza | |||
| Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSxabgVMhM4 | |||
| Scale: HO | Number of Operators: 12 | Control System: NCE DCC | Dispatch System of Choice: TT&TO |
| COVID vaccinations with booster required. Masks depending on current mandates. | |||
| Layout Owner: Jon Schmidt, San Rafael, CA - Thursday, April 21, 1:00pm-5:00pm | |||
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| Nicasio Northern Railway: The Nicasio is a 1920's era, northern California, "rails in the mud" railroad. Freelanced from the North Pacific Coast and the Northwestern Pacific, the model occupies a 15x21 foot space. It is an around the wall design with a central peninsula. | |||
| Web site: http://nnrwy.trxndesign.com/ | |||
| Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_WGX9t2nrw | |||
| Scale: HO | Number of Operators: 6 | Control System: Digitrax | Dispatch System of Choice: TT&TO |
| Not disabled access: stairs. | |||
| Vaccinated attendees only, please. Masks optional. | |||
| Layout Owner: Ernie Simard, Petaluma, CA - Friday, April 22, 6:30pm-10:30pm | |||
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| Western Pacific: Operations on the Western Pacific in the desert and the mountains in the early 1950s are the focus of Ernie Simard's layout. Railroad operations center on the division point yard at Portola, with trains running west and then north on the WP's High Line, and east on the mainline across Nevada and Utah to the Rio Grande's Roper Yard in Salt Lake City. Ernie built a CTC machine to replicate the WP style of train control; authority is conveyed to train crews by signal indication. Operations are purposeful; as with almost any model railroad, Ernie has made some compromises with the prototype to make it all fit. Fascia-mounted track diagrams, station names and a timetable (for the passenger trains) create a solid information base for boomer train crews to facilitate their work. The layout combines single and double deck construction in a three-car garage. The control system is Digitrax DCC. Ernie uses a fast clock; car forwarding is handled by switch lists. The layout is about 95% scenicked, with painted backdrop, rock and tree-covered mountains, towns and industries, etc | |||
| Web site: http://bayrails.com/layouts2.php?m=simard | |||
| Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PK5QpT6yYhw | |||
| Scale: HO | Number of Operators: 8 | Control System: Digitrax | Dispatch System of Choice: Advance on signal indication |
| Not wheelchair accessible, One walker is ok but access is limited. | |||
| COVID vaccinations with booster required. | |||