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A major milestone has been passed with
the 100th operating session on this fine layout, on April 24th, 2010.
Below is a recap of the session with pictures to follow.
Enjoy, but complain to Dr. Smith if you don't like your picture or the
results.
The official results of the 100th
Operating Session of the Sierra Lines (an amalgamation of the SP, LS&I,
V&T, WP, & SC Railroads) are as follows:
No loss of life (2 attempts at suicide foiled - see news below)
No equipment damaged beyond repair
No corn field meets
27 trains were run
458 cars were switched
22,904 tons were moved
10 (or maybe 8) defects, yielding a DPO of 0.021834, or a DPT of
0.0004366 (or maybe 0.0174672 & 0.0003492, respectively)
Southern Pacific
Doug Krahn & Loy Spurlock - Industrial Park & Sacramento - 43
cars switched, 0 defects. Doug gets 1 1/2 Attaboys! for zero
defects on his first attempt. Loy gets 1 1/2 Attaboys! for zero
defects and for doing a fine job of training.
Lodestone, Sierra, & Incline
Lou Adler - Blackwater Junction, Kirksville, Truckee, and
Lodestone - 45 cars switched, 0 defects. Lou is awarded a Triple
Attaboy! - one for zero defects, one half for completing work in 3
out of 4 towns, on time, one half for keeping the LS&I at the forefront
of Superiority, and one for alertly thwarting two attempted suicides
(see news below).
Virginia & Truckee
John & Maida Bennett - DelMonte Complex & Incline Village - 50
cars switched, 4 defects (Hopper at team track s/b at DelMonte Hopper
track, and 3 cars at SP yard s/b in Lodi, SC track 9 - or maybe this is
2 defects - see debate below).
Western Pacific
John McBee - The Docks, Marysville, and Train 188 (Lodi to
Lodestone turn, steam) - 56 cars switched, 0 defects. John gets a
Double Attaboy! one for zero defects, one half for extra train, and
one half for correcting mistakes in Lodestone that Lou Adler might have
made, before the inspector got there. For John's extra efforts,
management has decreed that his resume shall be considered, and he may
be the first WP employee to make the jump to the big time (the LS&I).
Sierra Central
John Wizard Farrell - Chico - 30 cars switched, 6 defects.
John loses an Attaboy! #!@!##
Mixed Freight and Passenger Trains
Roger White - 4 trains, 124 cars switched, 0 defects. Roger
gets a Double Attaboy! - one for 0 defects, and one for returning
after a long absence.
Dick Hovey - 3 trains, 90 cars switched, 0 defects. Dick
gets an Attaboy!
Dr. Arthur Smith - 1 train + finished several jobs - 42 cars
switched, 0 defects (as usual) - not eligible for Attaboys! (only
bonuses)
Official Photos
Bob Moore - Bob gets an Attaboy!, to be delivered when the
photos show up on the web site.
Breaking News
Two Suicide Attempts Foiled - An
alert Dr. Lou Adler foiled 2 suicide attempts (see full details, page
8).
Suggestion Box Eliminated to Increase Productivity - Over the
first 100 operating session, scores of written suggestions to increase
productivity had been made and considered by management, one by one.
Dr. Smith recently reviewed the results of this process and discovered
that not one had yet been implemented, upon which he immediately wrote
one of his own, and then implemented it, and increased productivity
immediately. His suggestion: eliminate the suggestion box. This would
result in the same number of suggestions being implemented, without the
added effort of writing them up, reading them, and considering them.
Good going, Dr. Smith!
Defect Rate Methodology Debated - It was observed by an
anonymous source that the 3 cars left in the SP yard (that should have
been delivered to the SC track 9 in Lodi) could be considered as a
kernel, and therefore only one error, instead of 3 (see V&T above).
Those interested in reducing the published defect rate were unanimous in
affirmation of this idea. However, others believed that the 3 cars were
not draw barred together, and therefore could be destined to 3 separate
customers, each of which would be unhappy to not receive the desired
car. After much debate, it was determined that two sets of books should
be kept - one which was published and made public would show a steadily
reducing defect rate, while the other would reflect actual individual
screwups. Eventually, one of these two would be phased out, and
everyone would be happy.
Management Bonuses Announced - Another triple bonus has been
awarded for three jobs well done:
1. increasing productivity by eliminating the suggestion box
2. staying in business long enough to have 100 sessions
3. awarding bonuses in such a timely manner.
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