2006-03 Train Game From Donboy March just two more months and the little guy will be a year old!  You can tell it has been a warm winter because the wood pile did not go down that much. After a month of mulling over how I want operations to be on my layout I have come to some conclusions about my priorities. “Formal” operations might not be the solution I am looking for. I have been reading about Bruce Chubb's new Sunset Valley Oregon System. The Sunset Valley is an amazing privately hosted club! Bruce talks about having help and sawing plywood for weeks to build the bench work. He has 1140 feet of track if you count all routes. The number of operators his layout will entertain is 38. There is nothing like someone going farther then you are willing to go it can help define what it is that you really want. The size and complexity of the Sunset Valley is beyond what I could enjoy even with unlimited time and money (sadly my time and money is limited (send money – just kidding)). When does Bruce get to play with his trains? With the size of the layout it would seem that it would take many hours just to keep it running right let alone build it. I can only guess that Bruce enjoys being the host and has made that his priority. For me his layout would be several hundred feet of track to far. I don't want that much layout to maintain and I don't want to spend all my railroad time as the maintenance man and the host. If I had 38 people in the house once or twice a month my better half would be upset with me. I would tend to agree that would be to much for our house and us to handle. Looking at what Bruce is doing has helped a lot in defining what I want. It seems he has more resources then I do however I can look at what he is doing and decide if it would work for me if I had the same resources. It did not take me much time to notice that the size and complexity of the Sunset Valley is beyond what I would be comfortable with even if I did not have young children, a growing business and other family concerns. When I visualized operations on my layout I found that over time I have become uncomfortable with what I now call “formal” operations. I do not want the activity that takes place on my layout to be a form of trivia contest that is only interesting to those that are interested in the trivial details of prototype railroading.  I want the operations on my layout to be a thinking game with rules that are clear and easy to understand for any person who can drive a car and balance a check book.  It just seems wrong to create an operating plan for the layout that would require guests to do things like read union rule books for the period my layout is set in before they would know how to run a train.  Playing with toy trains should not be that complicated! So like my move from a prototype layout to a fantasy layout I find myself moving from “Formal” operations based on the prototype to fantasy operations based on board games and perhaps war gaming (for scaling large things down like government). Through the years I have always studied history of railroads for enjoyment and will continue to do so. In the past six months I have made a sizable break from the past and today my interest in prototype railroading has been separated from my model railroading to a larger extent then I ever expected. I think I am on the right path because because I expect to get more enjoyment out of my model railroad hobby this way. It also means I can continue to learn about the prototype but it will now be hobby A and my model layout will be hobby B and I will not have to compromise one for the other. I have come up with several of my top priority items for running the layout. First: I want to run trains with a purpose. So trains will be run to set out and pickup cars and/or passengers. When I am running for fun it will always be point to point and for a reason because that is what is fun for me. This also means I will be running trains and will not be a full time host so the number of visiting operators needs to be kept to a reasonable number. Second: I want to run the layout with a purpose when ever I need a break form the stress of life. This means my system needs to allow me to run with a purpose by myself any time I want to. If I have time and money in a layout why not run on it several times a week or even every night? Third: I want to keep score. By keeping score I mean running the layout as a railroad game. The top board games and some computer games on railroading keep score by accumulating money so that is how I will keep score on my layout. Forth: My layout game will allow different strategies for victory so the game will never get old and the game can be replayed with new results each time. Fifth: I will not use a fast clock on my layout so things will happen in sequence. This will allow me to run by myself or with others when ever and for any amount of time. This also means the “game” will continue over time until the game has “winner” and a new game can be started. Without a fast clock visiting operators can focus on having a good time getting the job done and not dealing with time stress. Sixth: Traffic on the layout will be handled without a dispatcher and traffic controls will be done in a way that is easy for non-railroaders to understand. I want to be able to entertain non-railroaders with my layout. I still have a lot of planing to do but I am feeling very good about my change of direction