10-02-2014, 01:00 PM
I HAVE THE COOLEST THING EVER OF ALL TIME!!!!!!!!
If Rivet counting just isn't enough, just find a Train Dispatcher Sheet! Its the closest thing to being there in person, or time traveling! Now I can model a "prototype day".
I picked up an Amtrak New York Division Train Dispatcher sheet for Monday, June 4, 1979. This is pretty much a perfect fit for what I wanted to model! Though I had originally decided on July, June 4 is still on the same Timetable and General order as all my other data and research i've been developing, so it works!
It reccords every train that travelled between Shell Interlocking (New Rochelle, New York), and Union Interlocking (Rahway, New Jersey), and what track it was on. It gives the train number, and the lead locomotive/car. On the freight consists, it gives the whole locomotive consist, and how many cars were in that train. It also lists the weather that day (Rainy, in the upper 60s!)
I haven't gone through the whole thing, but some of the highlights were that #4935, the PRR painted GG1, was on the eastbound Broadway Limited that morning, and the Circus train was traveling westward behind a pair of Conrail GG1s that day.
The sheet lists lots of "Extras" and things that wouldn't normally show up in a Timetable and would have been difficult to research or learn about otherwise, such as light engine moves and other unusual occurrences.
Another thing useful to me was that it listed several Amtrak trains operating with Jersey Arrow II equipment. I went out of my way to get some Arrow II cars in HO specially made for me, but then I realize that after 1978, Amtrak more or less leased the whole fleet of those cars (NJ DOT filled the holes with additional Arrow III, brand new at that time). Amtrak tended to assign these to trains in Maryland and between Philadelphia and Harrisburg, and I was concerned that these cars were no longer making appearances in the Garden State. To this day, I have not found any photos of Arrow IIs in New Jersey after 1978 but before October 1979.
However, this sheet alleviated that fear. As it turns out, there were SEVERAL trains equipped with Arrow IIs, including some off-peak Clockers, as well as the former train #42, the "Valley Forge", which appears to be a New York-Harrisburg run similar to today's Keystone service.
What I will do, is add these locomotives and road numbers to my master "schedule spreadsheet" in Excel, so I can see what specific equipment was where, and make it that much more detailed!
If Rivet counting just isn't enough, just find a Train Dispatcher Sheet! Its the closest thing to being there in person, or time traveling! Now I can model a "prototype day".
I picked up an Amtrak New York Division Train Dispatcher sheet for Monday, June 4, 1979. This is pretty much a perfect fit for what I wanted to model! Though I had originally decided on July, June 4 is still on the same Timetable and General order as all my other data and research i've been developing, so it works!
It reccords every train that travelled between Shell Interlocking (New Rochelle, New York), and Union Interlocking (Rahway, New Jersey), and what track it was on. It gives the train number, and the lead locomotive/car. On the freight consists, it gives the whole locomotive consist, and how many cars were in that train. It also lists the weather that day (Rainy, in the upper 60s!)
I haven't gone through the whole thing, but some of the highlights were that #4935, the PRR painted GG1, was on the eastbound Broadway Limited that morning, and the Circus train was traveling westward behind a pair of Conrail GG1s that day.
The sheet lists lots of "Extras" and things that wouldn't normally show up in a Timetable and would have been difficult to research or learn about otherwise, such as light engine moves and other unusual occurrences.
Another thing useful to me was that it listed several Amtrak trains operating with Jersey Arrow II equipment. I went out of my way to get some Arrow II cars in HO specially made for me, but then I realize that after 1978, Amtrak more or less leased the whole fleet of those cars (NJ DOT filled the holes with additional Arrow III, brand new at that time). Amtrak tended to assign these to trains in Maryland and between Philadelphia and Harrisburg, and I was concerned that these cars were no longer making appearances in the Garden State. To this day, I have not found any photos of Arrow IIs in New Jersey after 1978 but before October 1979.
However, this sheet alleviated that fear. As it turns out, there were SEVERAL trains equipped with Arrow IIs, including some off-peak Clockers, as well as the former train #42, the "Valley Forge", which appears to be a New York-Harrisburg run similar to today's Keystone service.
What I will do, is add these locomotives and road numbers to my master "schedule spreadsheet" in Excel, so I can see what specific equipment was where, and make it that much more detailed!
Modeling New Jersey Under the Wire 1978-1979.
![[Image: logosmall.png]](http://i543.photobucket.com/albums/gg445/CAB_IV/Model%20Trains%202013/logosmall.png)