This year I will be hosting three scheduled sessions and two extra sessions. The first extra session was set up exclusively because I had more folks select the SP Exeter Branch as their first choice than I'm able to accommodate with the three regular Desert Ops sessions. The other extra session is set up at the request of layout owners who have hosted me many times on their great railroads: Steve Hayes and John Zach.
During the last few regular operating sessions on the Exeter Branch, I have been busy cleaning wheels on the rolling stock. My method is a bit archaic, but it seems to work well. I use a Q-tip dipped in isopropyl alcohol to remove that dark gray crud that builds up on the wheels. Each wheel is cleaned with the wet Q-tip and then wiped with the dry end. It takes one Q-tip per car if the wheels are really bad. I then put a mark on the back of the car card indicating that the wheels have been cleaned. With over 300 cars on the railroad, it takes a while to get this done. Now the push is on to complete this week prior to Desert Ops.
A couple of points to note here. First, I'm running the railroad nearly twice a month for 7 years (153 sessions so far), I have yet to clean the track. The track is nearly 100% Atlas code 83, with six Walthers code 83 curved turnouts mixed in. I'm on my fifth round of cleaning wheels which is roughly once a year with new cars added to the railroad on occasion. The loco wheels have only been cleaned once. I'm not sure what the working combination is here, but I'm not complaining. The railroad is in a finished basement. However, I live in Arizona and it's dusty.
Once I wrap up the wheel cleaning, I'll move on to dusting the railroad. Most folks think dust is okay for weathering, but I don't think it scales well. Also, the spots from finger tips on the top of black tank cars and gray or brown decks of flat cars is annoying to me. I'll dust. I use a Swiffer duster which works pretty well. I've been very happy with the results from the two other times I've dusted. The final step will be to vacuum the railroad. I haven't done this since I started operating the railroad. I'm sure it will make a positive difference. I'll be hitting up my wife for a nylon stocking to use over the vacuum nozzle as a filter to keep any small parts from going into the vacuum. The small parts I'm expecting to find are stirrups, Kadee coupler springs, and other miscellaneous items. An obscure treasure hunt if you will.
Staging for the first session will occur Thursday afternoon with the first session starting at 6pm. I'll be changing the jobs slightly for the guest operators. My goal is for everyone to have fun running my railroad and hopefully finish their jobs. After the session, I'll be staging for the Friday morning session and so on.
Finally, I know that once the last session on Saturday night is complete, Sunday will be a 'day of rest' for me. I'll be worn out and will relax the day away with NFL regular season football and MLB playoff baseball. Oh...and a beer or two.
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