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The GDRP proudly presents… |
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The photos are presented in
counter-clockwise order, starting at Port and ending at Andrews
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Introduction: “John met me
at the door, kitchen door as I recall.
I had phoned him a few days before, and he gave me directions and the
time. Everyone, (5 people maybe?),
were sitting around the kitchen table.
I introduced myself and my model train history while John and another
set up the switching puzzle. John
explained the puzzle. I don't remember
the mechanism for placing cars, initial and final; if there were cards drawn,
slips in a hat, or whims of the attendees, but there was a switch list at
startup, what was where, where they were going, and my train order at the
end. “My
locomotive was a little 0-4-0, and because it was short I was able to get it
and 2 short cars on the center left siding and pull both back onto the run
around track at once, saving 2 moves.
You should have heard the roar when I cleared the switch points! John decided we needed to use an 0-6-0 from then on, or eliminate the short ore and tank
cars. “I think he
was secretly pleased that I had out-witted the puzzle’s limits. We all knew it was luck of the draw. “I was there every Tuesday evening (I think it was Tuesday) for
3 months. The initiation was a test on
the switching puzzle, which I completed in under 4
minutes, to everyone's surprise and my financial gain of $5, one from every
attendee, and one more from John for being under 5 minutes. It was pure luck, as I proved many times
after. “I operated the Andrews Peddler, and I was always behind
schedule. John ran a busy op session,
and rarely was anyone without cars to move.
It was my favorite military service experience, both the language
school, and the weekly op sessions. On the Timesaver: “Ahh... The timesaver! I remember that name. Yes, that's my note Randy was quoting. And yes, the kibitzing was always heavy,
and yes, John was vocal in his opinions, which is probably one of the reasons
he wrote so many articles. On Operations: “My
switching experience was limited by my age and exposure to switching, but I'd
rather switch a peddler than watch trains run around the room, so the GandD was perfect fit for me. It was a great learning experience in many
ways. “I operated
on the GandD March-May 1969. Over speed would immediately incur wrath
and derision when that booby-trapped boxcar lit up! “John worked hard at getting smooth slow moving locos. He didn't appreciate them being over
speed. He would most assuredly been
enamored to see a dockside switcher and a 4-10-0 walking together at 1 smph. On John: “I seem to
recall John was sure to stay out of any pics
taken. I don't remember if he wanted
to show the layout or avoid the camera... |
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