Hi! Would you be able/willing to make your switchlist spreadsheet available to others somehow? Thanks!

Various ways to move a railcar without a locomotive. Winches are very common -- that's why there's usually either some kind of hole in the frame near each truck bolster of hoppers and gondolas or, in some designs, a thing that looks like a small semi-circular grab-iron, in a similar location. Typically labeled "pull here". A common solution today is to attach a knuckle coupler to a front-end loader. A lower-tech version that may be applicable to your era is to do the same to a farm tractor, or even just weld a big ol' plate to it and use that to shove against the car's knuckle. Not sure if they used horses in the US -- very common in the UK, but our rail cars were much smaller. Finally, something else that would work in your era is a device called a "box car mover". Basically, a six-foot pole with a hinged mechanism on the end. You push the mechanism under a wheel with the pole at a 45-degree angle, then push the pole down towards the horizontal. The mechanism pushes on the wheel and moves the car a couple of inches. Not fast but not as physically demanding as it sounds. Search KZbin for "Using a box car mover to move a tender and caboose" and you can see a guy who doesn't look very physically fit use one to move a tender and caboose (obviously, baddum-tsh) a few feet each.

May I ask where you got the decals for that RS1? I have an undecorated one I want to paint in that paint scheme but can't find the decals. I enjoy your videos of operation on the LIRR lived here my entire life ride the rails to the city all the time.

Nice boxcab! I tried building the Roundhouse kit for one, converting it to DCC, but failed. I've always been interested in the very compact yards served by car floats on the west side of Manhattan. Operating a layout based on the Erie's would be fun. But the yard with the circular freight house (Lehigh Valley?) was the coolest, in my opiniion, although coupling and uncoupling cars on the tight curves could be a nightmare in HO. Cheers from Wisconsin!

I watched the entire video ... I " obviously " loved it .... 🤣🤣🤣

Always entertaining watching your videos! I like your shoot from the hip style of operations. Your layout is looking better with each episode. I also like the depth of information on the how's & why's of where each freight car is destined.

These videos are a fantastic guide to model railroad operations!

I just learned this week that the boxcab diesel that Grand Trunk Western used to switch it's ferry yard in Milwaukee, Wis. for many, many years was purchased used from the LIRR.

Good enjoyable video. look forward to seeing the box cab run. Good job detailing it out. Where did the details come from?

Beautiful Layout .... Hats Off 👍

I just came across this video ... I am starting an L shape point to point, I loved watching this .... Subscribed 😁👍

do you share your excel file ?

good demonstration!

I love the barge. I'm building a bunch of barges for my layout. Some are kits and some are scratch built. I just got the new kit from Jason Jenson Trains, it looks a lot like the Sylvan coal barge kit.

Another great vid for sure. I've lived on LI most of my life but never knew just how extensive the freight ops are as most of it is done during the over night hours when passenger traffic is at it's slowest.

Evidently you and I started at the same time. I bought a caboose and a piece of flex track in 1960 because id never seen anything like it. I bought an engine ( B&O dock side switcher when I was in the Navy in Rome Italy and saw them in a hobby shop. I finally bought a set with a power pack ( Mantua Santa Fa passenger set ), in1972. Hasn't stopped yet. 🤪🤪

Very informative, thank's for sharing, waiting for next one.

Nice, keep an eye on the camera

Very enjoyable video. Interesting procedure for IDing car order in train. Good for newcomers to operations.

Is that the Walthers car float? I have one but I haven't built it yet. I also want to scratch build a container barge.

well done... and on the 7th day he rested

Nice work, definitely inspiring me to get going on mine. Off the wall guess about the quote - Sneakers?

Nice work ... thanks for sharing

It's all looking good! Love the security guard trailer and table...

Nice add on in the port, modification at Phelps are just fine too. Keep up your work.

I enjoy all your updates, the Conveyor build is very realistic. I'm always inspired by seeing your work.

I love the camping trailer and the way you have it displayed. just fantastic. Cheers Rob

Layouts looking great. Very nice job on those jets!

It all looks very real! Awesome. Working on a diorama that nobody watched... Sometimes making content really feels like that doesn't it?! Yeah, I have an area where I want to add a light but it's directly above a framing beam, so a similar problem as you're having. I think your modelling is great. Weathering and extra items only fills out the model to add more realism. I think we need to pat ourselves on the back sometimes. Being proud of what we've accomplished helps us push forward on the next model. Your layout is great! Well done. Happy Modelling

You are very talented.Every thing looks great .Thanks for sharing

I got some Champ decals for custom lettering of my railroad back in the late 1970's. I may have purchased some additional ones about 20 years later, as well. A couple of years ago I dug into the remains of them and found enough to letter a GE 70 Tonner for my current layout. They were old and delicate, so I feel your pain. I'm thankful they were smaller than those you had to use on those fighters. Thanks for this update on your layout. I've kind of plateaued out on my layout (at least for now), so I'm building a diorama/photo platform to try some new (to me) scenic techniques. Love the trailer. Cheers from Wisconsin!

Looking great. Very cool layout, nice work👍

Nice switching video! Neither my timeframe, nor my scale, but still enjoyed it! 😊

Do you have a 3d resin printer?

The problem with older Peco power routing turnouts is that they use blade contact on the rail to switch the power. To be fair, most makes of turnout do this and as such, dirt, paint, glue etc will mean that power can be interupted. Frog juicers only work on the frogs, not the blades. Peco are now slowly moving over to what they call Unifrog turnouts and these can be used with or without frog juicers, on DCC or DC control and do not rely on the blades to route power as both legs of the turnout will be powered. This does mean that if using DC control, you have to add usolating sections and switches if you want to route power. Unifrog are optimised for DCC and work amazingly well compared to the old Insulfrog and Electrofrog. This is also pretty much what Walthers have done with their new turnouts. My advice to you is to keep the faces of the blades and the corresponding rail scrupulously clean as even the slightest bit of dirt will cause a dead spot like you describe.

You could put frog juicers on the turnouts, there are only two.

Loved your overview. What are the titles of your other two videos. Thank you, Phil from Georgia.

Looks great.

I've always been told, a good craftsman can hide his mistakes.

That’s a really neat little project…nice scratch building skills…something I need to improve on

Your ops are so nice and calm. No rushing , or pressure . That makes it a lot more fun.

Interesting project, LIRR, with lots of scratchbuilding and re-purposing of rolling stock. I've also taken a break from my main layout and am working on a small diorama (9 x 24 inches) to try some new (to me) scenery techniques. I hope to use it as a portable photo platform, but we'll see. It's been a long slog, as the background buildiing kit I chose for it is taking forever to build. As usual, thanks for sharing. Cheers from Wisconsin!

You've been busy! Looks good!

You could run 12 volts through the wires and the cat will only eat them one more time and not get hurt, lol. I really like the switch machine you built, it was very realistic.

Wondefull trains...o subscribe❤

Grant, your videos have motivated me to get back to work on a planned small switching operation. I was especially intrigued by your carfloat operations and the spreadsheet you built for that aspect of your operations. Jokingly in that first video, you note "that for anyone who might be interested, here's what the coding looks like behind the spreadsheet," followed by a few quick frames of the coding. Honestly, I've very interested in the spreadsheet and that coding as it would help me immensely in my planned carfloat operations, so I was wondering if you would mind sharing the spreadsheet.

Hi Grant, I really enjoyed this video. I too have carfloat operations on my layout, I found it interesting that you use the car weight as a guide for loading, where as I use the length of the cars and what fits on what track, I might visit your weight idea, makes sense. I too have laminated cards for my DCC locos for functions. Keep up the great videos 😊

Excellent videos! I am trying to do a track plan based on LI as well, this is inspiring! Thank you for publishing the plan, I am trying to incorporate it into my own ideas for the East End.

If the cards show the cars that will be placed in each of the 5 positions, what is the rest of the text info below the picture on each of the cards used for?

Nice. What couplers do you use? What did you use for ground cover?