Fine Tuning Operations

My operating session is centered around the locally assigned switch crews. But the more I look at it, I think it should be focused on the Agent's shift. There's a good chance the switch crews were on duty for most, if not all, of that anyway.

That being the case, there are several questions I still need to find answers for.

I know the Station Agent is on duty from 6:15 am until 10:00 pm (10:15 pm after 1949).

The Freight House closes at 5:45 pm.

What I don't know:

1. What time do the two switching crews start?
2. Do they start at the same time, or are their start times staggered?
3. What time does the Freight House open?
4. Do the crews spot empties at the Freight house in the morning, or the evening before?
5. Does at least one of the switch crews stay on duty to add cars to the through freights that come through in the evening? I think they might, since all freights picking up cars come through town before the Station Agent goes off duty.

I'm also not sure how long the Stanley Works crew would be on duty, so that's a whole different question. I know that at least into the '60s the NH switched out Stanley Works twice a day. For the most part, I will model the traffic to Stanley Works along the lines of the Freight House and the second interchange will be around 6:00 pm. The Stanley crew may have a little more work to do, and in theory there's an hour left in the session.

Through Freight Schedules

In most years, there are two cuts of cars left overnight, but this varies from 1-4. 

NY-4 comes through at 8:30 and drops off additional cars.

YN-3 at around 2:00-3:00 pm picks up cars.

YN-1 and AO-5 pick up cars between 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm.

From 1951 to early 1953 (during the Korean War) there's a pair of Maybrook freights (AO-3 around noon to 1:00 pm and OA-2 just before 6:00 pm) that may drop off and pick up cars respectively. 

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I do think that at least one of the freight crews is still on duty when trains come through in the evening. The first clue is ANE-1. This was the Hartford to Bridgeport section of the Speed Witch. It protects the Freight House closing at 5:45ish and comes through town at about 8:00 pm. The Freight House is at Whiting Street, so the crew would need to pull the cars, then bring them to New Britain Yard. The cars are split into several blocks, which will need to be worked into the train, and I suspect that was enough work that the road freight crew probably didn't do it on their own. AO-5 would follow about 40 minutes later, and YN-1 would be stopping at Whiting Street about the same time as ANE-1. So it would seem to me that both crews would be needed at this time, unless the road freight crews did the work themselves.

Since the Whiting Street/Berlin branch hasn't been used in a session yet, I don't really know how long a "complete" session will take. But I'm not sure any session has completed where the NH switchers finished all of their work. The Stanley crew usually does. The sessions themselves have been about 3-4 hours, and a maximum 16-hour day with a 4:1 fast clock works out to a 4-hour session. So that's probably what I should shoot for. 

Through Freight Motive Power

NY-4, YN-3, YN-1

• S-2s 1946-1949 
• RS-2s 1949-1952
• RS-3s 1952+

AO-5

• FA-1/FB-1/FA-1

All of these in the delivery schemes, except the FA/B/A sets which switch to a second scheme c1949. Dale and Bill are helping with the delivery scheme, and the P2k models were produced in the second scheme.

For simpler operating schemes, there are no cars dropped after the start of the session from through freights  in late '52, late '53, or late '54. There may be cars dropped by the local freight. 

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One problem...at the time, the maximum work day for a railroad crew was 16 hours, with a mandatory 10 hours off after working 16 consecutive hours. Working 16 or more total hours over a 24 hour period required 8 hours off. So the problem isn't so much that the crew outlaws, but that they can't start the next day until two hours later than the first day. So their work day must be less than 16 hours. Based on what I've heard, and seen for other paperwork, the first trick typically starts at 7:00 am. So if the crew worked from 7:00 am until just after 9:00 and placing cars on AO-5, they'll avoid the issue with outlawing.

But if the crew starts at 7:00, and one of their first jobs is to spot empties at the Freight House, what time does it open? They don't necessarily need to start loading the cars the moment customers start dropping off freight, so it might open as early as when the Agent comes on duty, or maybe as late as 9:00 am after cars are spotted. 

The Agreement Governing Hours of Service, etc. ... for Clerks, Freight Handlers, and Station Employes of 1947 set their work hours at 8 hours, exclusive of the 30 minute meal period. So those positions are two shifts during the day. 

Research continues...