Video Thursday

This YouTube four part series is THE BEST tutorial I have seen explaining how model railroad operations work. This has helped me immensely as I modify my track plan for operations.

Mike Hamer and Chris Lyon hosts us on the Lyon Valley Northern in this four part series on helpful tricks and hints for operating model railroads. In part one, they explain some of the things you should do when visiting a model railroad for the first time. How to familiarize yourself so that operations are more comfortable.

In Part 2, Mike and Chris bring a Way Freight into Shelby on the LVN and they explain some of the better practices of protecting against mainline traffic. They efficiently handle lifts and drops in the yard and provide insight into good operations practices that can be applied wherever you run trains. They take the mystery out of operating a layout you have never worked before..

In Part 3, they explain the yard throat, arrival departure activities and the track occupation principles. By understanding these practices, the new operator at a layout will be less intimidated by yard movements, track occupation and locomotive servicing.

In Part 4, our hosts take us through a process of bringing a cut of cars into an industrial area with timesaver design on the Lyon Valley Northern and they describe in detail useful approaches to simplify lifting and dropping cars, They explain, classification, blocking, facing and trailing switches, using the runaround and yard leads. Also how to best reduce the number of moves to accomplish the switching task. The video is intended to provide you with some new knowledge or confirm what you know. Having a good handle on these concepts will simplify model railroad operations so that you can go to any layout and feel confident that you can step in and do your part to enjoy the experience of model railroad operations.