D&S Operational Report                                 Wednesday the 19^th July 2023

 

Crew and Locations:

 

· Owner / Dispatcher / Train Control = Ron

· Tawnton West = Geoff D.

· Tawnton East = Geoff D (no, this is not a typo.)

· Watchit = David

· Laid back Charde = Craig

· Marabost = Ray

Overview.

The media manager presumes the evening started with the usual routine of coffee, tea, Aldi Biscuits and general chit chat. At 7.32pm Craig arrived and the crew entered the railway domain at 7.35pm.

 

As per usual the entry procedure was followed like a shepherd leading his / her sheep, with knowledge of the routine and each person knows who enters before and after who.

 

Laid Back Charde.

 

Yes, Charde lived up to it’s reputation as the ‘laid-back’ operation. I believe the term ‘laid-back’ can have negative connotations, so for future reference maybe Charde can be referred to as an ‘idyllic’ English Branch Station. We don’t want operators getting an inferior complex, with the notion that they are ‘laid-back’, or worse still, ‘Slackers’ or ‘Lazy Bums’.

 

Anyhow, Charde was typical with a number of DMU timetables and a couple of goods operations. The DMU ran faultlessly and lived up to it’s real life prototype with the Flying Banana’s portrayed as reliable and speedy beasts. The model form proved no different. Passengers at Charde were also appreciative of the timely services.

 Tawnton 

 

Unbeknown to many, Tawnton now has a new King and his name is Geoff Denton. If you haven’t met him, hopefully one day you will and you may be lucky enough to witness why he has been inducted as the Tawnton King. Fellow legend, ‘King Arthur, (of which a Class of Southern Engines were named after) would have been proud of the absolute effectiveness and efficiency the Tawnton railway was managed.

 

The key point here is that King Denton did it all by himself. It was done with a typical Geoff calmness and professionalism. Yes, there have been cases before whereby individuals have singularly managed Tawnton but certainly not with the calm and efficient manner that Geoff did, and certainly, unlike previous individuals who operated Tawnton alone, the level of proverbial language was not existent, however in the past, you would have heard the %$*!& on a regular basis.  

Tawnton errors were minimal, if any. Shunting was done and trains were made up efficiently. There weren't any major derailments or head-ons. Even though Tawnton got busier toward the end of the operating session most or possibly all wagons and locos were still shunted away into their correct sidings. 

 

In reality a very good job was done by the newly crowned King of Tawnton.

Marabost

 

The Marabost operator performed like most others on the night – with efficiency and very little fuss. For the Marabost operator there is still some confusion about what country the layout rolling stock is based on. The English don’t have ‘boxcars’ or ‘Cabooses’. This is just such a minor cliché in the big scheme of things but hopefully the correct terms will be used one day. Most probably no-one cares but the British purist in the room does  – Guess who?

 

Over the past months Ray has made some very worthwhile suggestions to the owner of the D&S and some of these suggestions are coming to fruition and as they are implemented it is making a positive difference to the operational capabilities and outcomes of the D&S. These additions include:

 

·       The Watchit additional track

·       The Marabost additional track

·       The Newton Abbot Wall Panel.

 

Just on this last recent addition, what a positive move it was, particularly for the Marabost operator. The non-flashing Blue LEDs on a white background work a treat. It is very visible and is a clear indicator of when a track is set. Well done to the installer of the wall panel – good job.

 

I think the operators were pleased.

Unfortunately there is still one suggestion that is not getting enacted on but hopefully soon. It starts with a 'H' and ends with an 'X' and has 5 letters. 

 

The Marabost operator had some revelations during the evening. He finally admitted to all in the room that the term ‘instructions’ are something foreign to him (well, the reading of) and indicated to all present that he doesn’t read instructions. There was some back and forth conversation between the Marabost operator and the D&S owner about something to do with ‘10 years’ and ‘that’s the rule’. It may have been in a context of ‘how something occurs’ and / or ‘re

Watchit 

 

The Watchit operator was quite efficient for most of the evening, although he does take the prize for the amount of the of ‘Fornication Under Consent of the King’ comments that were heard during the session. He very effectively ensured the Platform and other tracks were available when other trains were coming into the station region. Shunting was done effectively and the operator appeared quite focused on the tasks at hand. There were no major incidents at Watchit and like most other stations during the operational period things were done with efficiency and in a timely manner. There were a couple of yawns from the Watchit operator during the session but be reassured, it wasn’t because of boredom. It was due to a big railway related day.

Notice the 'Hand'

Train Control / Dispatch

 

Train Control had quite a smooth running operational session. There were some wagons that were derailing near the ‘Lift Up’ due to a slight rise in either the trackwork or baseboard or wood between the rails and or ballast. Only a couple of wagons derailed there twice but the Marabost operator was also ‘Mr Fixit’ for the session and he did ongoing repairs that seemed to fix the problem. Train Control did what he does best, changed the signals and track when required and confirmed with operators the departure times and arrivals. Overall, he would have most likely classed it as one of his most ‘error-free’ sessions he has been involved with. Nothing really went wrong and at one stage he was even seen with a controller in his hand. Was he operating a train? It appears so……..’a mainline passenger’ because there was no second operator at Tawnton to do it. Good on him for chipping in to help the railway break even and to assist with passenger traffic.

 

Overall, the operating session was very well managed and all operators were quite effective and efficient at their respective stations. All up, it was a very good evening and finally ‘Ode to the King’. Well done Geoff for managing Tawnton as a one man operation.

Hand in Controller. That's new for the D&S Dispatcher. 

That's all folks

D&S Media Manager.