Expansion / Staging project has not broken ground yet, but the next open weekend I get where I can dedicate a block of time to it and blow through uninterrupted, it will commence. We have a plan to where construction can progress and each phase will get cut in at the end of completion, thereby allowing the railroad to still stay in operation as I move forward.
The Switchlocks are in at Oakridge, Oakridge Yd, and Summit (one last install and all will be completed on the upper level). This upgrade pulls us a bit closer to prototype operations, but won't change anything for our operators that handle the thru freights. The only crews that will typically interface with them are the helper crews and switch crews. We have already been calling the dispatcher to make special movements in CTC (so only minor changes there), but now we actually have locks that control the power to the turnouts in CTC sections. I will edit existing procedures in the General Rules and on related Train Orders to reflect the upgrades regarding the handling of turnouts for our next ops.
...and a pic of one of the completed OS sections with key in lock:
Typically a dual controlled switch as above is only controlled by the DS as has always been. Crews will not need to interface with these out on the road. It will only be the switch crews using spurs and industrial track leads (that are connected to the main) where any changes are noticed.
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