OPSIG session at St. Lous NMRA Convention
My first OPSIG session started on Monday August 8th. This was my first running trains at the NMRA convention. Enjoyment for the hobby was an understatement. The people I ran trains with were all very nice and from all over the country.
The session started with a brief introduction to Brian Post’s Sierra Nevada and Indian River Railway and how operations are run using JMRI. The opsig is a group of people that are in charge of operating the trains on the layout during the NMRA convention (National Model Railroad Association).
The group tonight consisted of seven operators that are working two yards, small industries and more. Two members were in charge of working the Sarah and other yards. There were a lot of trains running through the night, many loads were being delivered, and tons and tons of switching was done. I started out in the staging area on Brain’s layout working on gathering my cars.
This was my very first switching and op session, so it took me almost all night to gather my train, and then deliver it to the main yard on the other side of the layout. Once I had done so, the yard master there Gary was working the yard, moving cards getting them ready for my local to come into the yard. Once I was in the yard I dropped my train so he could work on it and get my new train ready to go.
OPSIG Pictures
I was able to move my train out of the way on a nearby siding and watch a seasoned pro do his quick work on my train. Once he finished with the new consist, I was able to move into the Rockhill Furnace yard area and drop my train for the final stop of the night. Overall this was an amazing little trip around Brian’s amazing layout.
Thank you so much Brian for being so kind and welcoming to your home. The snacks and drinks were great, and a lot of fun was has. I would like to personally thank Brian Post for letting us in to run operations on his beautiful Sierra Nevada and Indian River Railway. I hope to make it back to his layout one day for an open house!
All in all it was a great night running trains with a great group of people. For my first NMRA convention and OPSIG session, I enjoyed it so much and learned a ton of things! I’m so happy that I joined a great group of folks and really look forward to doing more opsig sessions, and hope to find more folks near me to possibly run trains with, learn from and more!
Be sure to to see what rolling stock we are running and our locomotive power we have on the M&P Railroad.
Do you want to see our locomotive fleet? Or maybe check out the rolling stock we have operating on the layout. Hope you are enjoy the M&P Railroad Blog, let us know if you have any questions.
