Bob Willer starts his trick by getting the paperwork in order. Here he’s looking at the car cards to see what work has to be done. He will then write up his switchlist. The studio’s library table doubles as the work desk for the crew.
Once the switchlist is ready, the crew goes to work. John Breau, at right, is shoving a cut of cars to the inbound track at the First Street Yard freight house.
Seventh Patch Session 12/22/09
Just one week after the sixth session on December 15th, yet another operating session was held. This one had John Breau and Bob Willer as guests. Both are long-time Kansas City area modelers and operators with layouts of their own.
John models the Great Northern in Montana circa 1953. His layout is quite large and features timetable and train order operations, utilizing about anywhere from 14-20 operators! Quite a difference from the two man Patch.
Bob’s layout is based on another of the Hill lines: the rarely modeled Spokane, Portland and Seattle. It too, has timetable and train order operations, circa 1967. Bob cut his operating teeth in the 1970s and 1980s in Chicago, one of the early operating Meccas.
The crew’s attention is diverted to a screensaver showing an unusual freight car. Having too many items of interest can easily catch the attention of an otherwise alert crew!
