Part 31 - BN industrial switching in Interbay using an HO Rapido SW-1200 loco and eight tank cars

[@Perfusionist01]

that was fun to watch. Sometimes a quiet little stitching assignment can be the most fun.

[@muchfunwithtrains]

I agree. Thanks!

[@debbiemilka2251]

Burr, Your switching yard looks absolutely amazing ! The speed on that BN SW1200 is perfect ! Your tank car consist for switching is a high interest set up. Everything else is just what I would love to be doing ! Just beautiful.

[@muchfunwithtrains]

Glad you liked it! Lots of fun! :)

[@genejablonski9909]

Great video. I love the two screen approach.

[@muchfunwithtrains]

Glad you like it. It takes some extra work, but I think it makes it more interesting to watch. I do it whenever I can...

[@michaelrogalla9620]

Awesome video Burr 41years on the Bn BNSF

[@muchfunwithtrains]

Thanks for checking in, and be sure to let me know if you think of information on the operations that would improve my videos.

[@MikeG42]

Good video thanks. I like having a large roster of different tank cars as well.

[@muchfunwithtrains]

Glad to hear it!

[@socalscalemodels]

Another fun operations video. That rotating beacon does look nice.

[@muchfunwithtrains]

Glad you liked it!

[@johnathanlewis2049]

Hi Burr A pleasure to meet you and your channel. SoCal Scale Models recommended your channel so I subscribed. I’ll definitely be checking out your videos! Have a great day Sir!

[@muchfunwithtrains]

Welcome aboard! :)

[@scotabot7826]

Love that Rapido SW-1200. I consider Rapido products to be the Best, as they are the only motive power I have right now. I'm really looking forward to the new U-Boat and GP-38. They are going to be out of this world!!!

[@muchfunwithtrains]

I agree, except I wish they would use the Tsunami-2 decoders that are easier to program and recover from shorts better.

[@NewHavenRails]

Great video! Your ops sessions are very cool. Thanks for sharing!

[@muchfunwithtrains]

Glad you like them!

[@debbiemilka2251]

Fantastic op session ! I need to learn how to design an operating classification yard like yours.

[@greeneyedggirl]

I was really enjoying the PIP view! Thank you so much!

[@muchfunwithtrains]

Glad you enjoyed it! I like the picture-in-picture (PIP) a lot with trains because you can have several angles of the same action. In some of my videos you'll see I incorporated a cab view as the PIP, which is my favorite. But it's a little harder to pull off so I don't do it often enough.

[@mysticrailroad]

if the tank car explodes on you, you may be a bit too prototypical! 🤣interesting variety of tank cars. awesome switching video :)

[@muchfunwithtrains]

Thanks! 👍 I do have a fire extinguisher in the room, just in case...

[@nicholaschard7143]

Great video. I remember the icing station just west of the Emerson pl. Overpass and the the 4 wooden Railroad bridges in the Interbay cut just west of the Emerson pl. Overpass three of them were auto bridges and one was a pedestrian bridge, they were removed in the 1980'S the Fort street bridge was rebuilt with a new concrete bridge. The Time oil tank farm was still in operation, up until the early 1970'S the oil spur tracks were still in the Time oil complex. Time oil had a old classic truck on display in front of their office. It was painted red orange and black, I remember there was a yellow jackets nest in the cab, the tractor had wand turn signals and the tank trailer had a ground chain, I believe the oil pier still maybe across the in Salmon Bay. The Interbay cut was a Hobo jungle during the depression.

[@muchfunwithtrains]

Thanks for all this information! I think I remember seeing all those wooden bridges when I started railfanning in that area in 1979, and I'll go look and see if I have any pictures of it then. I guess they were taken down right after that, and I never really paid attention.

[@TrainmasterSP-qk2lo]

Great ops video, as well as the narrative! I just subscribed to your account, so I can follow along, but until the next video, I’ll just binge watch your previous videos! Thank you for sharing!

[@muchfunwithtrains]

Thanks. Welcome aboard!

[@shawnleih2916]

Thank you so much very good 👍 video

[@muchfunwithtrains]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@randyoehling303]

Hi Burr, I love the layout, from the first time I saw it depicted in MRC.

[@muchfunwithtrains]

Thank you very much!

[@MikeG42]

2:18 yes that happens when I drink and get too drunk while operating trains on my layout

[@muchfunwithtrains]

LOL. At least no one was injured in the incident.

[@25mfd]

nice vid... @ 12:19 concerning the ringing of the bell, GCOR states, "ring the bell before moving... except when making momentary stop and start switching movements"... so it was common practice for guys to ring the bell at the initial start of going on duty, but after that it was rung "as a warning signal anytime it was necessary"... besides, in real life everyone working on the engine will become annoyed with the constant ringing, plus the crew as a whole will have difficulty communicating with the radio while the bell is ringing as the foremans radio will pick up the noise of the bell depending on how close he is to the engine, which prevents the engr from hearing correctly because he is now hearing the bell right under him on the engine AND hearing the bell echo in the radio when the foreman keys his mic... those issues don't translate to modeling so it's hard to see it

[@muchfunwithtrains]

Thanks so much for your comment. I was hoping to be enlightened about this, and you've done it!

[@gregalanharper]

Question: what would be the railroad’s rule on running without a caboose? This train pushed for quite a distance including occupying the main line. There must be some rule about it. As part of that, how would the RR provide crossing protection without a caboose or shoving platform? Back in ‘73 could a switchman ride the end freight car all that way? Otherwise they’d be in the cab and switching would take a lot longer.

[@muchfunwithtrains]

I don't really know the answers to any of your good questions, but maybe someone who does will comment. It's a local industrial switch job based in the same yard, so I don't think they needed a caboose, and a brakeman could have ridden the first car over the grade crossings with a flag, I'm assuming. I wish I had used a model brakeman for the video, I just didn't think of it. Thanks for your questions.

[@25mfd]

i was a switchman for the chicago and northwestern from 1993 to 2004 and worked a job just like the one in the vid, a yard job that switched all the industries in our area inside yard limits... as far as a caboose rule goes there was none... no one was forced to take a caboose in any situation... as a matter of fact the railroads have done all they could to get rid of the cabooses... the ONLY reason there are any even now is because the unions protested to keep them for long shoving moves... and even then the companies welded the doors shut and plated the windows over... they didn't want you inside because they claimed it was a safety issue... i used our caboose when it was necessary but there were some other guys who didn't... we had a customer called milwaukee solvents, they got tank cars of methanol... that shove was about 2 miles... pretty rough in bad weather without it... but even in good weather it's just safer to be on a caboose... as far as crossing protection goes it's the same as if the engine was in the lead, bells gates and lights are activated per as usual... but for crossings with just a crossbuck you had to stop and flag those... and those are the WORST ones to cross... everyone just whizzing by then all of a sudden a caboose appears from behind the trees and overgrown bushes right next to the crossing, scares the sh** outta the drivers... i always approached with caution and used fusees even during the day light hours... also, riding the side of a railcar through a crossing is scary because what if someone smashes into the side of you, you're crushed between the dopey driver and the rail car... if that happens you're pretty much dead, so yea being on a caboose for reverse moves especially through crossings is definitely safer than doing the move without one

[@gregalanharper]

@@25mfd Thanks for your considered answer. Very interesting. Isn’t there some kind of rule that the definition of a “train” includes markers on the rear? They can be lights or flags. How is a switch job defined as opposed to a normal ‘train’? In other words, when DOESN’T the flags, lights or other markers need to be displayed?

[@25mfd]

@@gregalanharper yes you are correct about the definition of what a "train" is.. the railroad definition states that a train is an engine or engines, with or without cars, with a marker and permission to occupy the mainline... as far as the difference between a switch job and other trains goes, honestly the true definition of what a train IS, is very fluid believe it or not, like the movement in the vid, i wouldn't call that move a "train" in the true sense of the word... i would call that a switching move... but really it is the class of service that can be used to determine if what you're seeing is a true "train" or not... rail service is divided into to TWO classes, ROAD and YARD... so anything "road" is FOR SURE a "train" (road switchers, way freights, through freights), no doubt about it... but anything "yard" (ie: flat switching engines, yard transfer jobs, hump engines, trimmer engines and yard engines that perform industry switching INSIDE yard limits), those are classed as "switching moves"... and as far as displaying a marker goes, any movement on the mainline be it true train or switching movement must display a proper marker... and you are correct in that the marker can be a flag, it can also be a reflector or a light fixture... also, rulebook says to use a highly visible marker as follows... from 1 hour before sunset and 1 hour after sunrise and when weather conditions restrict visibility to less than 1/2 mile

[@htesnewobhobbies]

What do you think of Rapido’s locomotives, Burr? I’ve heard mainly negative reviews. From what I’ve heard and seen they run great and look good, but the sound is very quiet even when turned all the way up.

[@muchfunwithtrains]

I haven't noticed the sound being quiet, unless you turn down the "master volume" CV (which is CV63 on Rapido's ESU locomotives.). I'll keep an eye (ear?) out for this. Thanks for the question.

[@lucgagnon5241]

The two last cars I bought from them arrived broken in multiple pieces in their box. Last one is the Marine Industries bulkhead flat car. All the modelers I know had issues with this model. Neither the seller or Rapido gave an answer to my requests. I added pictures to prove my point. I also had issues with last engine I bought (RS18). Programming issues. Those were all like this. Rapido's stuff is pretty expensive. It should at least get in witout those issues. Regards Luc

[@muchfunwithtrains]

Interesting. So far, I haven't had any problems with Rapido quality control, that I know of. Other than how difficult ESU decoders are to work with.

[@lucgagnon5241]

Tip of the hat sir. Nice yard but mostly by using a Rapido engine !!! I'm from Quebec - Canada. Even if it's a Canadian manufacturer, I really don't trust their stuff. Every time I bought models from them there is or I should say there are issues. Pretty desapointing. It's been a long since I bought an engine from them. Too much trouble. Keep on your good work !

[@muchfunwithtrains]

What kind of issues? The only trouble I've had so far is dealing with their factory-installed ESU decoders, which is always difficult and frustrating compared with the SoundTraxx Tsunami's. Well, and come to think of it, some of the switchers didn't run too smoothly out of the box, although in some cases I was able to improve it with reprogramming the ESU decoders.

[@ronaldrondeau7870]

Hi Burr first visit . Where did you get the pins on your grown trows

[@muchfunwithtrains]

Great to have you! The round head pins are usually carried in arts supply stores, they're called "map pins". I originally bought them somewhere in NYC, but I see them sometimes in Seattle in Blick Art supply stores. You may find them online too. They come in packages of individual colors, so I got green, red and yellow packages. I use the green and red for switches on the mainlines, and yellow and red for switches not on the mainlines. It helps the crews to know if they need to get permission to occupy the main at a given location...

[@ronaldrondeau7870]

@@muchfunwithtrains Thank you, ill try to fin them here im from Quebec Canada. Get your name from another fan from California

[@MikeG42]

@Ronald Rondeau Ah yes Quebec The land of CP Alco's.

[@chicagodenvernorthern999]

How many years has thiis layout been under construction?

[@muchfunwithtrains]

38 years.