Switching in Emsingen

As substitute for a canceled operations session today, Franziska and I spent some time running a partial ops session. She was working the switcher in Emsingen.

After a while, Franziska suggested that the session has been going on a really long time, it's evening, and hence it needs to get dark. I'm always game to turn off the room lights, and let the layout lights take over.

However, at night it's quite a bit harder to uncouple cars or read the paperwork.

Silicon Valley Lines: February Ops

Franziska joined me again for Ops at Silicon Valley Lines today. Here she is running train 99b, a passenger run from Bayshore to Tracy. We got a glimpse of the exclusive membership at Vampire's Rest.

Happy Halloween

Designed and carved by Franziska

with some help from me

Silicon Valley Lines November Ops

Franziska pulls the cars for train 216 from Marshall Yard. 

Franziska and I were running Nowheres Yard at SVL today. After a somewhat slow start, where I had time to at least take a photo, the operations session gained speed and trains started to converge on Nowheres Yard.
We had our hands full for the rest of the day, but kept traffic flowing through the yard without clogging up the railroad.

Weekend at YMCA Camp Campbell

Franziska and I headed to YMCA Camp Campbell this weekend for some father-daughter time. Our family has been coming here for years, so we know our way around the grounds. There was a wide variety of scheduled activities, and lots of opportunities to hang out, be creative, active, or lazy, as you wish. We had a great time.

Climbing Wall 

Pita Pizza

The High Ropes course was certainly a highlight

Climbing 30 feet up in the trees

Sunday morning in the forest

August Ops Session at Silicon Valley Lines

For this month's ops session at Silicon Valley Lines Franziska joined me in running Bayshore Yard. She's been to SVL a couple times since that first session 2 years ago and it shows. She ran the yard switcher, moved engines in and out of the engine facility, and even classified an incoming train with some guidance.
This allowed me to chat with several visitors we had at the session tonight, and we still finished all the work at Bayshore Yard. I could not have done that without her.

Unfortunately I left my current smartphone at home, so the camera in the old phone I use as throttle had to do.

Silicon Valley Lines: April Ops Session

Train 801 in Cavenaugh, a layout section that is currently being remodeled

Franziska joined me for today's Saturday Ops session at Silicon Valley Lines. Our first assignment was train 801 from Bayshore to Nowheres, one of the first trains out on the layout. It was a smooth ride until Jacksonville, where we had to wait for an opposing train, and helper service to get our 28-car train up the loop to Nowheres.

We've arrived in Jacksonville. Now we get to wait for train 802 and the helper.

It took train 802 some time to get out of the yard, the helper cut in, and come down the loop. Franziska used the time to inspect the Jacksonville modules.

Eventually, we had our meet with 802, cut in the helper, and continued our journey to Nowheres.

Train 802 rounds the bend in Jericho

We ran the Ashgrove Quarry Switcher, helped organize Bayshore Yard, and settled down for lunch. After lunch we ran train 320 from Nowheres to Silicon, which kept us busy with a bunch of switching work in Silicon and Paso.

Train 320 coming through Paso at track speed

Arrival in Silicon, passing the new entertainment district at Vampire's Rest.

Yardmaster Wayne and engineer BobS work in Nowheres

Once again an enjoyable and laid back ops session in friendly company.

Skiing at Heavenly

Skiing in Heavenly can be highly variable. Saturday we had sunshine, warm temperatures, and slushy snow.

At the top of Gunbarrel Express chair lift. Franziska is doing great.

On Sunday, strong winds closed half of the mountain, and made -- in combination with falling temperatures -- taking a break uncomfortable. Ominous clouds were with us all day long.

Snowfall finally started in the late afternoon.
Monday morning we had a couple inches fresh snow.

On the mountain, temperatures were in the single digits Fahrenheit. It was cold. The snow was nice, but compacted pretty quickly on the trails.

Did I mention it was cold? I'm not equipped for skiing in that kind of weather, since California skiing is usually much more like on Saturday.

The drive home turned into a 7-hour exercise in patience. It started snowing again, the roads were slick, and many cars got stuck on minor inclines. It took 2 hours alone to get out of South Lake Tahoe. Chain control was in effect over Echo Pass to Twin Bridges.

Nevertheless, the whole family had fun and enjoyed themselves.

Cousins

Together for the first time.

"Do you want to build a snow man ... ?"

Franziska decided to take a break from homework and build a snow man with a distinct spring flavor.

First Sunday of Advent

It's that time of year. During Advent, family tradition is to sit down on Sunday afternoon with Christmas goodies, Tea (or Gluehwein), and Christmas-themed stories with a good shot of humor.

Lunch

Fried Rice for lunch today was a father-daughter team production. We used what the kitchen had to offer, and Franziska followed the recipe she had learned in Nutrition at school as couple weeks ago.

Coyote Peak

With the rest of the family out of town, Franziska and I walked up to Coyote Peak.

It was still foggy down in the valley when I got bagels, but by midmorning the sky was blue and the sun shining.

All this will be dry and yellow in a couple months.

The poppies are popping up everywhere now ...

On the patio

Eating warm apple cake with vanilla ice cream on the patio in good company.

KL606

KL 606 is getting ready for boarding

 Franziska is going to Germany for the next few weeks. This year it's her turn to fly unaccompanied.

Guten Flug!

Silicon Valley Lines Operations session

Franziska and Sofia at Nowheres Yard with train #420 ready to go on AD4, and #370 ready next to the caboose track

Today was Ops Session #89 at Silicon Valley Lines. Franziska brought along her friend Sofia, and the two girls helped me run Nowheres Yard. The morning part of the session was quite intense with lots of live switching, and the girls were very happy when it was announced that the lunch sandwiches had arrived.

A part of the lunch crowd

Sofia ran the switcher engines most of the day, while Franziska manned the turnouts and uncoupled cars. Nowheres was a very busy place today, so I didn't have a chance to take a nice picture of the two girls.

Due to many willing operators today, we had a couple situations when Nowheres Yard was completely full. In the picture below the two reefer express trains #101 and #102 arrive at the yard simultaneously on AD2 and AD3, while AD1 is occupied by partially built train #376, and AD4 also has a train ready to leave. The stub-ended classification tracks in the lower half of the picture were either overflowing or had still pre-staged trains in them.

#101 and #102 are the highest priority trains on the railroad so they get express service in the yard to swap cars with the yard and each other, while everybody else needs to wait.
#420 got caught in this mayhem on its return trip from Ashgrove, and had to wait in the snow sheds at the top of The Loop for a while until we had space for them in the yard.

Yard full.

A couple engines in Nowheres were bad-ordered today and the yard was short on engines. Engine #251 of the set below was bad-ordered en route in Tracy, and only its sister engine #225 came back into Nowheres towards the end of the session.

Assistant Yardmaster

As I was getting ready to leave for tonight's operating session at Silicon Valley Lines, I asked Franziska whether she wants to come along and run trains. "Uhm, ... sure". Surprise! Are you sure? It's likely going to get late? "Yes, I'm OK with that." I'm Nowheres Yardmaster, contrary to last time we're going to work in the yard, and get trains ready for the other operators. "Yes, that sounds good".

Franziska gets train 373 ready for northbound departure

Alrighty then, she came along and we had a great time. She got to see the ebb and flow of trains in the yard. The times when nothing is happening, and the times when multiple trains are meeting and it's mayhem for a little while with cars being switched between trains. She picked up the phone when trains or dispatch called in to the yard. She ran the yard switcher, and over the course of the evening became more and more confident and independent. When I initially showed her every move and which button to press on the yard panel, by the end of the evening I could assign her tasks and train movements, and she completed them by herself.

Tired, but proud of her work and accomplishments

Maybe there is another model railroader growing in the family?