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From:  Verryl Fosnight, April 16, 2015 I wrote an article for the January, 2015 “Spurline,” the newsletter of the Arizona Division of the NMRA about Kids and Ladies in Model railroading.  My point was they can be included—we just do not encourage them with the right incentives.  On the Wyoming Division we make every effort to let kid run trains with a radio control DCC throttle.  Of course we walk along with them and throw turnouts ahead of them.  This can be done in any home or club layout with just a minimum of effort and supervision. The same can be said of ladies.  We have two who operate on the layout in our op sessions regularly, and one of them embroideries our shirts.  They both come to the BBQ’s and visit with the guys.  As an update, know that two of the high school boys still have not missed an operating session, and on Easter Vacation they came to the layout and worked 3 days of the week off from school.  They also come after school one day a week and stay till about 7 working on the layout and training to be better operators.  They are a great help to Allen Montgomery who stays late and works with them. The third boy has had to get a job due to a family situation, but still wishes he could continue to come. These photos were taken at our regular monthly session Saturday, April 11, 2015, Danny, age 12, now is always the full time hostler in one of the very busy 3 man yards (YM, Classification  Foreman, and Hostler) Laramie.  The photo to the left shows him standing on his kitchen ladder at Laramie.  Above he is looking for a laminated locomotive card to assign an engine to a train.  We change power at Laramie on most trains, changing the heavy power Big Boys for lighter power locos just like UP does. Last Saturday, his brother, 10 year old Steven, was the YM for a minor yard.  I helped and advised him about 1/3 of the time while I worked as Call Boy managing the session and making sure trains got out per dispatcher orders.  When I left I made sure he knew what to do, and when I returned, the yard was always in good shape.  For 5 hours the yard never got overcrowded or mixed up.  He even worked as Tower Operator and reported to the Dispatcher on the phone (“OS’ed”—short for reporting to the dispatcher so he can enter the train “on sheet”).  He took on this OS’ing job on his own, probably because he knew it had to be done, and the adults acting as road crews through his yard often forget to OS on their own.   OR, he may have listened to my instructions at the start of the session describing this new procedure—always before we have had road crews OS, and not YM’s.  If you are waiting on Steven, you’re wasting time. Alex, shown below, now has his own Wyoming Division shirt and is shown with his clipboard talking to Bob Ellis, one of our regulars (Passenger Train Superintendent).  Alex is holding a clipboard with a Train Order (full white sheet) and freight Car Cards and at least one block card (larger yellow card) on it.  Since Bob always supervises passenger trains, and never lowers himself to run freight trains, he is probably advising Alex to pull his train onto the center siding on the bench behind him  (in front of Alex), so his passenger train can pass. Alex is a sophomore in a different high school, but enjoys hanging with the older boys who seem to accept him.  Spencer is seen behind Alex working the Cheyenne Classification Yard. We had a new kid, Jarrett about 14, whose mother brought him to the layout to see the operating session.  After watching for a while, we put him to work helping an adult as the junior member of a two   man road crew of Engineer and Conductor.   The engineer runs the train with the throttle and the Conductor handles the clipboard and makes sure the turnouts are thrown correctly in front of the train to set the route and to prevent derailments.  The throttle is the easier job, and nearly all adults start operating with us there, unless they are experienced operators.  Jarrett worked till the end of the session, all of the men helped and encouraged him.  At his mother’s request I sent her an invitation to join my Yahoo Operations Group so he would get invitations and news about future operating sessions.  He is very excited about operating next month.  So far, none of the kids have broken anything. From:  Verryl Fosnight, April 16, 2015 Bob Kocher, owner of An Affair With Trains local hobby store in Phoenix (He also has a Web Store) is going to start carrying my excess bus bars I imported from China.  They really are a help wiring for DCC and better than conventional terminal strips.  Using them in pairs, they make nifty terminal strips, and are cheaper than terminal strips and can carry a lot more current.  They are made for #10 AWG wire!  The photo shows a pair over Echo (under Sherman Hill).  Also shown are the steel 24” T8 fluorescent fixtures.  I imported both items from China.  Bob has them for sale at approximately one half retail prices.    See https://www.aawtrains.com/ Fall Invitational Meet in November, 2016 We have now had our second Invitation Meet, and it was a resounding success. The Fall Invitational was held November 12, 13, and 14, 2015. For February’s Winter Invitational we concentrated our invitations to California, but some found their way as far north as Portland, and east to Texas. For the Fall Invitational we concentrated on the Denver area, and we had about 15 operators from Colorado. We filled out our operating roster to 36 with California operators, and added a few experienced Arizonians who normally operate with us. They acted as mentors. Many of the current Californians were new to the Wyoming Division. Like the Winter group nearly all from Colorado and California were very proficient operators, and within the first half hour things were running smoothly. The photo is the group picture of the Fall Invitational Meet.   We ran about 120 trains on the 2 days of about 7 hours each. This was the count on the Dispatcher’s Train Sheets, so counting the Downtown Ogden job, two Cheyenne locals that serve only the Cheyenne area within yard limits, and the Ogden local also within that yard limit, we ran nearly 130 trains in the 13 to 14 hours of actual operating time. The Fall Invitational schedule was identical to last Winter’s. We met at the layout Thursday afternoon to tour and study the layout, and in our new Crew Lounge we had a one hour PowerPoint clinic about the design and building of the Wyoming Division and its operation system. We naturally concentrated on my unique 4 Card Operating system in this presentation. That system, that mimics the 1957 Union Pacific operations, is described on the “Articles” tab of this website. We had lunch the first day of operations in the crew lounge. Sharon and our son, David, did all the planning, preparation, and delivery work for that. We also got good use out of the crew lounge both operating mornings with coffee as we planned and drew cards for jobs. We wound up the meet with a prime rib banquet in the Lawsen Room of Relics. About 10 or 12 wives and girlfriends were at the banquet, and they had participated in activities hosted by Sharon for the three days. These included the BBQ in our home Thursday evening prepared by Chefs Michael and Jonathon, free chair massages by Sharon’s masseuse Friday and Saturday at the house, and lunch at Judy’s, a local favorite restaurant. Sharon also led them up to the Sedona home of a good friend, Terrie Frankel, one of the TV Doublement Twins. Terrie is a player in Hollywood, and is on the Academy Awards committee. Her house is known as the “Lucy House,” having been in the Lucille Ball family. Terrie has it stuffed with show business memorabilia, old signed Hollywood photos, Gold Records, and tons of interesting items. But none of those items are more interesting than Terrie—she is a genuine interesting and charismatic character. I have had many messages enquiring about this year’s February Invitational, but I will not be able to have time for one until late spring, if then. Sometimes I have to tend to business, and that is the case until at least through April, 2016.