Willow Creek Railroad - Operations: Concorde Branch (Part 2)

[@paulpotter7188]

It’s very soothing to watch the switchers moving back and forth as they accomplish their work. Real life should be like this. 🥰🚂

[@Vigment13]

Yes, if only real life were so smooth! Glad you're enjoying the videos. Again, thanks for your questions and feedback!

[@Model-Railroad-Operations]

Hello Rod, thank you sharing the two operations videos about Concorde Branch: I like this kind of operation. And the way you explained and made the video. I am in a group of N scale module operations modellers, "FREMO americaN", and we are operating very similar to you, with car cards and waybills, Track Warrant Control, dispatcher. Greetings from Germany, Michael

[@Vigment13]

Greetings again! Glad you enjoyed the Concorde Branch ops videos. The branch is definitely a lot of fun to operate. Sounds like your FREMO group has a great operating scheme as well. Thanks for your feedback from Germany! Much appreciated.

[@EndlessFilmLimited]

Anything Willow Creek is all I need. One of the best layouts ever made in my humble opinion. I think the entire Willow Creek series has influenced my opinion on model railroading and I am always infatuated with the operational ingenuity displayed in the layout design. This unique expansion definitely opened me up to a world of expansion opportunities in my own. Thank you for sharing and am always ready to have more Willow Creek content!

[@Vigment13]

Glad you enjoyed the Willow Creek, and especially the new Concorde Branch. Definitely fun stuff! Thanks for your kind feedback and best wishes in your model railroading endeavors. High greens!

[@TheSwitchList]

Just as excellent as part 1! Really enjoyed them both. Thanks -Rick

[@Vigment13]

Thanks! Really appreciate the feedback. High greens!

[@krazytrainguy]

Lots of great switching puzzles on this layout. Switching is personally one of my favourite parts of operations. Also I couldn't help but notice the Michigan Central boxcar. Historically they were well known here in Southern Ontario with a line running from Niagara Falls to Windsor and a branch to Niagara-On-The Lake.

[@Vigment13]

Greetings to Southern Ontario! Switching on the Concorde Branch is indeed a lot of fun. I think it's a nice balance: lots of fun switching but not one of those really frustrating switching puzzles. Glad you noticed the Michigan Central car, and thanks for providing "local color" to this railroad; always nice to hear people's recollections of local railroads. Glad you enjoyed the Concorde Branch, and thank you for your feedback. Much appreciated!

[@Mercatoyd]

Just finished both parts and really enjoyed the series. Your channel was offered to me this morning. I've subbed and clicked the bell. I especially like the narration explaining the moves. Looking forward to future updates and also checking what other videos you have already posted in the past.

[@Vigment13]

Glad you enjoyed the Concorde Branch of the Willow Creek Sub. It's amazing to me how much fun you can pack into a relatively small space. Hooray for model railroad operations! Thanks for your kind feedback! Hope you enjoy the rest of what the Willow Creek has to offer.

[@jeffmorgan1229]

I just watched parts 1 & 2. Great videos to watch. Keep up the great work. I really enjoy these switching operations. 👍

[@Vigment13]

Glad you enjoyed the videos. Indeed, the industrial switching layout has been a whole lot of fun to operate. Thanks for your feedback!

[@JoeyBPhotography]

Glad to see more action from your layout! These videos were great, thanks for sharing! I love the idea of how the car floats connect the areas together, such a great idea

[@Vigment13]

The connecting car floats was an idea that a friend of mine came up with, and it works great. Glad you're enjoying the videos, and thanks for the feedback.

[@davestrains6816]

Enjoyed this operational series very much. Are the builds on this layout scratch built? You have a lot of nice details on this layout. I really like the yard office and the small pump house at the small pond are my favorite. Thanks for sharing and I hope to see more industrial switching soon. Dave

[@Vigment13]

Glad you enjoyed the videos. Except for the 2 large industries, all of the buildings are either kits or "built-ups" (i.e., Woodland Scenics, including the small pump house). The 2 large industries are custom built using DPM's modular building system. Thanks for your question and your feedback. Much appreciated!

[@mysticrailroad]

Excellent. Love the ops!

[@Vigment13]

Thanks! Appreciate the feedback.

[@andrewtesta5944]

Hi I love this layout. This has given me ideas. Its a shame you had to retire the layout. I do have one question. The box car that was delivered to Valley oil was that supplies? Great branch layout, which has inspired me to do something similar in the 50's with the PRR

[@Vigment13]

Glad you enjoyed the Concorde Branch. As for Valley Oil -- yes, the boxcar was delivering supplies to the oil company. As for retirement, I'm happy to report that the Concorde Branch lives on. One of my model railroading friends took the branch and it is alive and well. Thank you for your question and your interest in the Willow Creek. High greens!

[@andrewtesta5944]

Thanks for your response. Glad all is going well for you and the concord branch.

[@bumpingpost]

great videos, thank you! well-done layout. what brand is the michigan central boxcar?

[@Vigment13]

Glad you're enjoying the videos. And thanks for your feedback. I've had that boxcar for a while and, unfortunately, don't recall whose brand it is. Sorry about that. High Greens!

[@paulpotter7188]

How is the uncoupling being done. I assume under the track magnetic uncoupling pads.

[@Vigment13]

Uncoupling is handled 2 ways. If a switcher is pushing a freight car into a spot, stopping briefly, and then reversing direction, I've set the Kadee couplers to "delayed" mode before starting that video segment. So the couplers are not tightly coupled; simply being pushed until the loco stops and reverses and then they are freed. If a loco is pulling a string of cars, stops briefly, and then starts moving again with the cars now uncoupled, that's video editing magic. I use an uncoupling stick, such as a bamboo skewer, to uncouple the cars, and then I edit that uncoupling move out of the video. So, you see things nice and smooth in the video. You never see my hand and the uncoupling stick enter the video. When I do the uncoupling, I'm very careful to have the cars move only a slight bit so that when I edit out the actual uncoupling actions, you typically won't notice anything abnormal in the end video about the placement of the uncoupled cars. No magnetic uncoupling pads have been used anywhere on the layout.

[@bigcharliesmodelgarage296]

Cool

[@Vigment13]

Thanks!

[@jdmills4370]

What exactly is the vinyl strip? Looks like repurposed building material of sorts. Whatever it is it works perfect. Like the way it gently holds card so doesn’t go airborne

[@Vigment13]

Good eye! It's a vinyl finish trim, used when installing vinyl siding. It snuggly (if that's a word) holds 1 car card and holds 2 cards tightly. Mine came with about a 2" border/tail on it for nailing to a house; I cut off most of that tail using a table saw, leaving just enough to put a small screw in place to hold it to the fascia. Makes a really great work space for car cards and isn't expensive. Thanks for the question.

[@richardwelch7758]

How do the uncouples work? Are there magnets buried all over?

[@Vigment13]

Sorry I didn't respond sooner... No, it's simply the magic of video editing, or in many cases setting the couplers to delayed uncoupling. I figure you don't want to see my 1:1 scale hands invade the scene to uncouple cars. Thanks for the question.

[@ECWnWWF]

why can't the switcher go onto the floating bridge?

[@Vigment13]

On my layout, the switcher is allowed on the float bridge but not the car float itself. On prototype railroads, this all depended on the construction of the bridge and the stability of the car float. On some railroads, the switcher could actually go onto the car float. For my layout, not allowing the switcher onto the car float increases the operational challenges for operators. They have to use a "reacher car" (aka, idler car) to reach onto the car float to load and unload cars. From a model railroad perspective, the reasoning is that the weight of the switcher is liable to off-balance the car float, causing it to capsize. Great question; thanks for asking!