It's all about transporting goods

People who chose model railroading may of course be craftsmen first. They may build what is essentially a diorama, with the showcased objects being trains rather than automobiles, ships, airplanes, or tanks (which of course can all make an appearance on a railroad layout). The works of the most talented of these model artists are heavily featured in magazines and videos.

However quite a large segment of the model railroading community are not model builders, either due to a genuine lack of talent, or most likely because model construction holds hardly any interest for them (ergo why they chose 3rail R-T-R trains in the first place). They are problem solvers, who enjoy puzzles and keeping things flowing smoothly. To them dispatching trains on a layout is a dream assignment; and designing timetables, planning car forwarding movements, and studying track layouts offers a relaxing way to spend an armchair railroading evening. For this group Operation (as opposed to just building) is the whole point of having a layout, and so running 3rail semi-toy trains past crude mockup buildings is just as pleasant an experience as were they running museum quality trains past photo-realistic buildings (and certainly more affordable).

All functional layouts (as opposed to animated dioramas for railfanning) will necessitate Operations. For operations to be effective (avoiding accidents, delivering simulated goods efficiently, making moving model trains fun rather than frustrating), everyone must know where the trains are, where they came from, and where they are going to. A helpful planning tool is to create a Service Schematic [EXAMPLE] for the area modeled on your layout.

Real railroads are a serious transportation business (even weekend tourist railroads need revenue), and they have evolved [EXPLANATION] their operating methods over two centuries to increase safety, efficiency, and profits. As such, their methodology (originating from naval vessel operating methods) is very specialized and often seems perplexing to the casual 3rail modeler. However, although it is indeed true that the Operations procedures of mega-railroads like the Union Pacific or CSX are quite comprehensive, Traction lines, and even modern Short lines, have little need for the majority of those mega-railroads Operating procedures, and your model 3rail railway doesn't either!. Layout owners wanting to simulate real railroad Operations should Keeping It Somewhat Simple [EXPLANATION] through judicious selective compression (so as to prevent becoming overwhelmed by a prototypes operations minutia [ESSAY]).

Examples:
Location Strips (*.pdf) - {Where am I?}
Progressive System Map (*.pdf) - {Where are They?}
Establishing Traffic Patterns (*.pdf) - {Where are We going?}

"Operations" is actually an inclusive term covering two distinct but related requirements:   1-Profitably forwarding lading without damage, while   2-Preventing traffic accidents and reducing snarls.

1= Assigning and Routing cars (i.e., Forwarding [EXPLANATION]) will always require some planning to accomplish, as the lading needs both an appropriate car, and a strategy to get the lading from the shipper to the receiver in a timely and cost effective manner. On a model railroad the simplest (but most unrealistic) way to Forward is by employing the Random Car Forwarding method, whereby you scan the layout for empty cars of a suitable vehicle Type to send to Shippers, and for suitable Receivers to accept loaded cars. More technically savvy modelers can program a computer to print a SwitchList, which states the exact cars to be taken and left by the train. The beauty of O-scale is that the identifying markings on individual cars are easy to read (and the cars are large enough to mount passive RFID if desired).

2= The three major traffic accident dangers a railroad must mitigate are: trains following each other, trains approaching each other, and trains blocking (crossing over, merging with, stopping on) the paths of each other. The ongoing snarl problem [ESSAY] is caused by having to work around cars that are not a part of your train. This occurs mostly in in Yards, where the needed cars for your train are unsorted or jumbled together with other cars, and at Spurs, where a car being loaded/unloaded may have to be moved out of the way and then respotted.

An easy way to eliminate traffic accident issues is to only run one locomotive at a time on a closed section of track, as only with multiple locomotives does communication and rule making become crucial. Prototype railroads communicate by sending messages both statically (such as through Waybills, Rulebooks, Timetables, and Warrants), and in real time (such as through hand signals, trackside mechanical signals, and phone/radio). Sometimes they may also have to obey signals and regulations imposed by non-railroad entities (such as following vehicular traffic signals [EXAMPLE] and roadway signage when running on public streets).


Better Fidelity

If you are a prototype modeler, you should slowly incorporate your prototypes era appropriate Operating methods in a phased manner, as just one more modeling layer of prototype fidelity. For the most part on your model (unless it will add a desirable quirk), you should ignore your prototype railroads governmental and union compliance burdens.

If you are a freelance modeler, you should consider selectively incorporating some prototypical Operating methods (or more probably, your own interpretation of these methods imposed by your layouts plant) intended for high-density traffic management (almost all layouts have too much traffic for their size), in order to ease the burden on your layout users. These enhancements do not have to be exclusively drawn from mainstream prototype Operating solutions.

New Layouts
Introduction to Model Railroad Operations (*.pdf)
The Art of Model Railroading (*.pdf)
How to Operate Your Model Railroad (*.pdf book) = the Definitive Guide for operating your model railroad just like the real railroads operate
The Complete Handbook of Model Railroad Operations (*.pdf book)
Operating your model railroad (*.pdf)
How to Run a Model Railroad (*.pdf book)

Existing Layouts
Adding Operations to Your Layout (*.pdf)
Setting up operations (*.pdf)
Adding operations to a model railroad (*.pdf)


Increasing Fun

Operations on your layout should not always occur on a Summer Tuesday Afternoon. For variety intentionally shake things up by operating into the night, or pretending the day is a weekend or holiday. To inject a bit of additional play, the scenery can also be altered slightly to emphasize that something is different. For example: Dim the room lighting and illuminate structure interiors during operational evening hours. Add some flags or decorations to your streetlight posts to suggest a holiday. Place extra parked vehicles at a business whenever extra train cars are called for. Run a Maintenance-of-Way train, or use your "five-finger-crane" for that sense of accomplishment [EXAMPLE] you get from transferring piggyback trailers and other swappable loads from rollingstock to trucks.

Run a detour train (*.pdf)
Modeling railroad maintenance operations (*.pdf)
Freelancing Fun in Operating Sessions (*.pdf)
Lighthearted Seniority Contest (*.pdf)