General Operations

Card-Order Operations

The railroad operates bi-directional with engineer controlled signals and switch motors. To operate on the EPRR alone, insurance policies require engineers must complete a short orentation which includes reviewing the operating guidelines and completing a brief operators guidelines quiz.

Safety chains, safety wires or drawbars are require.

There are three types of operations on the Eagle Point Railroad; formal card-order operating sessions, open run only days and most importantly work day operations.

Work day operations, which may be three or more times a week, mean work trains have priority over pleasure trains that may also want to operate and that sections of track may be closed to through traffic while crews make improvements or repairs. Often crews have to coordinate movements past each other's area of work.

Run day operations occur once a month and are simply joy riding over the completed portions of the railroad with friends. Several members enjoy just riding around through the woods enjoying the outdoors and great view. On these days, usually once a month or more if visiting groups are scheduled, all mainline tracks are kept open for everyone to enjoy. If some people want to work on projects, they need to work without interfering with other running trains.

Card-order operations began on the EPRR in 2006 and is the favorite of many, which explains so many extra sidings not found on most railroads in this scale.

Under card-order operations, local freight assignments to service the many industries on sidings all over the railroad are dispatched from the Eagle Point yard, usually while with timetable passenger running on a schedule that local freights have to keep tracks open to allow to pass areas they are working without delay.

A typical local freight with a two or three person crew leaves with four cars to be delivered to industries located in close proximity to each other and not spread out over the railroad. This eliminates most congestion and delays. Some industries are interesting to work as they may have receiving and shipping tracks or multiple locations to spot cars on a single track.

Photos from Operating Sessions

April 12, 2008