Roleplaying my railroad

So now that I'm firming up my track plan I'm thinking more and more about the operation and "history" of my railroad. I read a piece on the web about a larger model railroad (Kansas City Terminal if I'm not mistaken) that as part of their operating sessions handed out sheets that described how different crews from different railroads behaved. Such as "not in a hurry to finish the job" or "gurmpy" that kind of thing. I'm paraphrasing. The crews that got assigned those units to run had to try to behave like their prototype crew's reputation.

I really dig that idea. Adding in a human element to running the railroad. It is my intent to operate prototypically. That is to say that the locomotive will stop before a switch point before it's thrown as if the switchman was climbing down off and throwing it. It will also stop at crossing that need to be flagged to let the flagman off. That kind of thing. No lining all the switches all the way down the line then running straight through. They're all going to be ground throws, so of course the switchman has to walk from turnout to turnout.  I don't know that I'll go so far as to develop personalities for the crews (though it's a fun idea) but I will certainly have a "cast of characters' that work the railroad, at least in the abstract and may effect how operating sessions go.

So to that end I'm going to post a little about operations, then maybe a little about history.

So the PHI probably has 3 crews running at any given time. There's an interchange yard crew (off camera) which will switch the mainland carfloat yard, and handle interchange with the railroad that funnels them cars (since it's the "east coast" it might be CSX or an unnamed shortline) That crew won't be portrayed during operating sessions (assuming I ever get that formal about operating). There will be a receiving car float switch crew, which will work the car floats as they come in, sorting cars and arranging short trains to be taken out and switched to the industries. There will also then be an industry switch crew that takes the trains the carfloat yard crew makes up and switches them to the proper industries. Those two crews could be working simultaniously during an operating session.

Now really... in the real world would a railroad of this size have need for 3 crews like this? Probably not. The carfloat switching and industry switching would probably be handled by a single crew. But this will be one of many little nudges I give "reality" on this railroad. I'm assuming perfect circumstances. Plenty of money, plenty of traffic for the railroad and so on. So sure, two crews working the "in camera" end of the railroad is a stretch, but it's my railroad and I'll stretch reality where ever I please.

I'm pretty sure my operations will be based on switch lists. I'm certainly not going to do any car tagging system, and I'm not a big fan of the car card / waybill systems that are out there, though I do see the appeal of how they generate traffic.  I may experiment with that, but really I think for me a database generated switch list will be the best choice. It means more work for me, but it also gives me more control.  A list will be generated for incoming carfloats and where their cars are destined, it will then be up to the yard crew and the industry crew to get them in the right order and get them out to the customers.

Part of roleplaying the railroad will also be roleplaying the industries. What do they want? How often do they get cars, and what special demands do they make. Since the PHI is a small railroad, they must be customer focused, working to satisfy the whims of their clientele.

All of the above appeals to me for a verity of reasons, the top one being that it makes it possible for me to operate with 4 people. Even for a relatively small railroad I like the idea of having other operators. If it's just me, I can do all the jobs, if there's 2 or 3 or 4, there's still something to do. We'll see practically how that works out, but in theory I really like it.