A journal following the history, design, construction and operation of Bernard Kempinski's O Scale model railroad depicting the U. S. Military Railroad (USMRR) Aquia-Falmouth line in 1863, and other model railroad projects.
©Bernard Kempinski All text and images, except as noted, on this blog are copyrighted by the author and may not be used without permission.
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August 13, 2016

Op Sessions on Aquia and PoLA

We had a special crew visit the layout today and they achieved a first. My colleagues from work brought 4 of their children and two cousins to operate the layout. The oldest was Skyler at 8, the youngest was Esphan at 3. In between we had Arianna 8, Alexander A. 8, Alexander T. 6 , and Riley 6.  These excellent operators were the first to run three trains at one time on the Aquia Line. With me dispatching and flipping switches, they each ran a train each way on the layout. They did  great job. It was a hoot watching them run the layout.


Norm operating PoLA
USMRR crew with dad (L-R) Riley, Skyler, Arianna,
Bayo (Dad) and Alexander.
Alexander T. needed a stool but expertly handled the train.
David Skripka worked as an intern for me this summer. He had
a chance to see the layout before heading back to Georgia Tech to finish his PhD.

Later Norm Wolf showed up and I put him to work on the PoLA. He learned that when you are spotting cars, you must pay attention to the spots on the switch list.

2 comments:

  1. Phenomenal layout, Bernie! The operating was entertaining and engaging. I felt I could've used a "man on the ground"; definitely feel it is a two man job, although that's probably my inexperience. Only criticism and it is more of a personal preference, is ditcu the plastic couplers and ALL trip pins. To me, they are a nuisance. Thank you, thank you for an enjoyable afternoon!

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  2. great to bring new people into Operations!

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