Last Saturday, 6 months & 2 days since construction began, Marcus, Mike, Steven and I ran an informal operations test session. We started about 10 & with a break for lunch I think we ran until about 3. Things went very well, with only a few minor issues identified. Mike & Steven ran road freights & locals, Marcus ran a couple of road freights & worked Maybrook, and I worked Warwick. I should have taken better (any) notes, but I think we ran 2 L&NE road freights, 3 L&HR road freights, 1 PRR road freight, 1 RDG unit coal train & 3 L&HR locals, plus 2 or 3 NH trains & 1 Erie in and out of Maybrook. I handled dispatching verbally & very informally. I put in place a last minute, like Saturday morning, waybill on car system, which left a lot to be desired & won't be repeated. But, it served its purpose & provided some entertainment. I'm sure I've not heard the last of it! Anyway, I can't thank Marcus, Mike & Steven enough for their participation--it was most excellent to see the RR really start to come to life in the way I envisioned it.
I asked for problem areas to be indentified with post it notes & the RR had a liberal coating of purple notes by the end of the test session. But, the problems were all minor & all have been corrected. I also wired the frogs on the NH Cedar Hill staging yard ladder, which seems to have helped with stuttering across the turnouts. We had no isses with the the Phillipsburg/Allentown staging yard ladder, but I used all new turnouts there. I used Peconic relay turnouts at Cedar Hill & I think I should have used new. But, if wiring the frogs works, the used turnouts will probably stay in place.
