What? An Operating Session!

Phil, James and Ethan (l-r) work Train 7 At Aquia Landing

It has been a long time since I hosted an operational session. According to my records, the last session was September 5, 2024! (I didn't do a blog post for that session probably because it was part of MARPM and I had to leave my house as soon as the ops were over to go to the hotel for do the final paperwork and payment).

Nick, Jacob and Amby (L-r) work Falmouth

So it was great to host a group of 9 operators on Saturday, 10 Jan 2026 for an official op session on the Aquia Line. That was session number 28. And what a great session it was! The basement was full of laughter and camaraderie as Phil Taylor, James Rodgers, Joel Salmons, Joel Salmons, Remy Salmons, Ethan Rodgers, Jacob Hol, Amby Nangeroni and Nick Ozorak ran the railroad for nearly 3.5 hours. Five of them were first time operators. Remy was only the second woman ever to operate the railroad.

Remy, Joel and John (l-r) at Falmouth

Because we had 9 operators, we ran the normal scheduled trains and an extra. That makes things a bit crowded in the front room when trains meet at Brooke or Stonemans, but everyone seemed to make it work. 

Screen shot of the virtual Aquia Line in Trainz 

Nick is the host "The Roundhouse" podcast. He also builds virtual railroads in Trainz. He brought screen shots of the Aquia Line railroad he is building in Trainz, a virtual model of the Aquia Line. He has been working on that for quite a while. It looks really neat. One of the views he showed me was the layout without the house walls in the way. That was an interesting use of the virtual layout.  After the ops, Nick spent some time taking photos of spots that needed more work in his virtual plan. We also discussed some possible changes to the layout including the foundry at Brooke and the installation of the machine shop at Aquia Landing. When it is done, he will make it available for downloading.  To see more of his podcasting work and virtual railroads go to https://www.youtube.com/@NickOzorak

Nick's concept of the foundry at Brooke. Looks good, but that W&A Car has got to go!

Attention to Orders

 Amby stopped by this morning to see if he could figure out why the telegraph system only works when all the stations are plugged in and turned on. He, Steve, and Seth think it is something to do with the ground not being at the proper voltage.  Before he worked on that I presented him with his official appointment as Chief Signal Officer of the USMRR Aquia Line. Amby, in true Hermann Haupt tradition, asked if he could refuse the appointment, but so far he hasn't declined it. He wasn't able to solve the problem, but at least it all works when plugged in. 

Cracked fascia at Brooke.

Meanwhile, I have been working on repairing the fascia by Brooke. It was damaged when the contractors were doing the  flood repairs and they jacked up the layout. 

Room for the telegraph 

I had extended the fascia in the area by the rock cut south of Brooke. That piece of fascia cracked along the seam and became loose when they jacked up the layout. Unfortunately, there was no easy way for me to access it from below to securely repair it. So I took this opportunity to extend the fascia about 3.5 inches. 

This achieves three objectives. First, it will allow me to fix the crack, second, creates a nice secure place to mount the telegraph station at Brooke, and third,  extends the scenery.

I plan to add a large foundry building between the tracks and the aisles. This will create a "urban canyon" for the tracks in Brooke.  I was inspired by the foundry in Fredericksburg that the USMRR used to repair rolling stock in 1862 and the iron works rolling mill on Thom Radice's layout.  The interior of the foundry will have full detail. I haven't decided if I will leave a wall open so one can see the detail, or to make it a fully enclosed building. 

The telegraph is resting where the new foundry building will go.