Last weekend I hosted a pair of operating sessions on my layout, which happened to be sessions no. 109 and 110 on the present layout. It was an entirely ordinary session, with things generally working well. Regular readers of this blog will know my series of posts, entitled “Trackwork wars,” most recently concentrating on the trackage between Ballard and Santa Rosalia (see it at: https://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2025/12/trackwork-wars-part-17.html ).
Since that previous post on trackwork issues, Jim Providenza has been here again to work on the track, and the results are gratifying; crews had almost no derailments in that area of work.
On Saturday the 28th, the crew was Jim Radkey, Jon Schmidt, Mike Stewart, and Lisa Gorrell. All had operated here multiple times before, so for them it was a session in which they could follow familiar procedures. At the beginning of the session, Mike and Lisa worked at Shumala, and Jon and Jim began work with the Santa Rosalia Local. They are shown below at Ballard, with Jim (right) conducting.
Mike and Lisa started at Shumala, then in the second leg took the local to Ballard and Santa Rosalia. In this photo, Lisa (right) isn't really that tall; she’s on a stool to reach into the layout.
The next day, Sunday, the crew was Seth Neumann, Tom Comyns, Richard Brennan and Steve van Meter. Steve also brought along his grandson, Jackson, as an observer. Most of them are shown below at Shumala; from left, they are Tom, Jackson, Steve and Richard.
Seth and Tom began work with the Santa Rosalia Local. They are shown below with Seth (at left) conducting. As usual, Seth took the time to prepare a detailed switch list, and was then able to work quickly and accurately.
Richard and Steve worked the first shift at Shumala, aided by Jackson, and after the break, took their turn with the second Santa Rosalia Local of the day. Below you see Steve (at left) conducting, and Richard as the engineer at Ballard.
We had a good session all around, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, and I was gratified that some of the previously ongoing track gremlins stayed in their burrow this time.
Tony Thompson
