More visitors

Oran (left) and Rob (right) bring the Whiton into Stoneman's Switch

We had more visitors tonight, humans this time. My brother Rob is in town for business. He and a colleague, Oran Dial from Houston, Tx, stopped by to visit the layout. They are working on an important proposal for their company. Oran is not a model railroader, but was interested in the history of the area and war. He had a chance to operate the Whiton and a 6 car train from Falmouth to the entrance to Aquia Landing.  Along the way he dropped 4 cars off at Stoneman's Station. Thus he got look at the basic operational aspects of  the layout including using the  throttle control, sound features, coupling and turnout operation.  I think he enjoyed it.

The Whiton front truck derailed at the siding into Stoneman's Switch. Afterwards I checked the turnout and sure enough, the gauge was tight there.  I placed a note to fix it when I get a chance. Funny how only the Whiton front truck derailed there. It is the most finicky locomotive I have. Hopefully as we operate more, these types of problems will manifest themselves so I can do repairs and fine tuning to improve the operation. But I can use the Whiton as my flaw detector.