Have you ever felt like you had more to do than time available? Well, railroad modellers have solved that problem with what they call a fast clock. Say for fun the modellers want to run an eight-hour schedule of trains but can only spare about an hour or two out of their busy day – what do they do? They speed up time, of course!
So, you have a great layout; a schedule when the trains will run; and you make sure to include maintenance breaks. But if you are like most model railroaders, your schedule is at least a day long and maybe even a week. So, what do you do? Most of us cannot run trains all day long, and certainly not all week long!
The solution is something called a fast clock. Yes, you can go online and find a fast clock. I like the clock at www.wesleysteiner.com/mr/mrfc/mrfc.html – it is a big digital clock and is displayed on your computer screen. But look around: There are several clocks available. Some even allow you to pause them in case of an emergency, like a derailment. But, of course, you can pause anytime, like for a bathroom break, or to get a snack when you’re hungry.
How does it work? Just tell the program that you want to condense a full eight-hour schedule into one hour of actual operating time. You can pick the time of day you want to start. Mornings 6:45, no problem. Evening rush hour? Fine. Just set the clock and start the trains rolling. The clock resets and starts ticking. Your railroad is live. If the action is too fast, you can either cut back on the schedule or slow the clock down – it’s very cool.
Things are rolling smoothly until they are not. You find yourself behind schedule. You speed up the locomotive to make up time – and bam! – you rounded the curve a little too fast and had a derailment. Now what? You can stop the clock, pick up all the cars. Re-rail them and restart. Or, you can run your railroad like it is real: Quick!
Call out the first aid! Stop all traffic in the area. Get a crane to the scene. Slowly pick up each car. Inspect it for damage and re-rail it. Limp the damaged train into the nearest yard for full inspection. As a car is cleared safe, it can be added to the next consist. Resume normal operations. How?
You are behind schedule. If you increase train speeds, you run the risk of more accidents. Wow. Welcome to the world of railroading. You have to be creative and combine trains. The late 3:30 can be combined with the 4:00pm. Skip freight deliveries. Just get the railroad back on schedule as fast as possible.
And then what? Operations are done for the day. Clean up. Turn the power off. Turn the lights out and go about your regular business. Anyway, add a little more excitement and realism to your operating session with a fast clock.
Until next time, I hope to see you around the tracks.
