Operating Scheme on the NEB&W

In this video, Allen Keller talks with Lee Rosenberg, a club member of the Rensselaer Model Railroad Society about operating schemes. The waybills and car cards tell the operators what the car is shipping, the kind of car they are using and where it is headed to and from. Previously, the club had to match them to specific cars. Now they look for a boxcar of a certain type as opposed to a specific car. Then they match the two together and it tells the operator where to send the car.

When setting up for an operating session, they use the Tibs Code, which they discovered from another club. The code tells the operator exactly where to lay out the cars on the layout according to the numbers. They used to match the waybills to the cars, but they found it was hard to keep track of. Now they attach the way bills to the nearest car that matches the car classification.

There is a sheet called Blocking Chart for freights that tells the operator which train they are operating and that train’s actions. Lee goes on to demonstrate examples of train information on the sheet. Looking on the layout, there is a waybill sitting on the tracks by one of the boxcars. Since the Tibs Code is New York Central and the example is an AB-12, an operator would know according to the blocking chart that they need to pick that train up and bring it along. For more on model layout operations, visit the Model Railroad Academy website.