Most of us aren't the head of a tourist railway, but what would you do if in fact you were the head of a tourist railway? Pick a tourist railway of your choice. Heck, it could be on the other side of the planet!
Anyway, if I was head of the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, I would . . .
1. Add a second platform at Grand Junction specifically for excursion trains, such as those heading into Georgia. This platform would be next to the one at Grand Junction, but the ends of this track would extend beyond the switches that lead into the yard and beyond the switch at the other end of Grand Junction. The reason for the second platform is that the longer trains tend to 'block' both the switches that make up the tracks in the yard and the switch that makes up one of three switches that make up the wye at Grand Junction. By having this track be that long allows trains such as the Missionary Ridge Local to turn around on the wye at Grand Junction and not have to wait at East Chattanooga for the train to not only leave Grand Junction, but also not have to wait for it to traverse the entire distance between Grand Junction and East Chattanooga.
2. Place a passing siding long enough for their longest train, the Summerville Steam Special, to fit in, halfway between the two stations, Grand Junction, where all their trains depart from, and East Chattanooga. This means that any train can pass any train. This also means that two trains can be run between Grand Junction and East Chattanooga at the same time instead of one train.
3. Purchase several of the privately-owned passenger cars on Tennessee Valley Railroad Museums-owned property and have them restored to reduce the number of passenger cars being leased.
4. Work with the City of Chickamauga to build a turntable so that steam locomotives could be used on the Chickamauga Turn along with the diesels they currently use.
5. Repair the ALCO diesel locomotives to increase the amount of locomotives available for use, incase one of the Geeps currently used suddenly has to be taken out of service due to some problem.
What about YOU?
Anyway, if I was head of the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, I would . . .
1. Add a second platform at Grand Junction specifically for excursion trains, such as those heading into Georgia. This platform would be next to the one at Grand Junction, but the ends of this track would extend beyond the switches that lead into the yard and beyond the switch at the other end of Grand Junction. The reason for the second platform is that the longer trains tend to 'block' both the switches that make up the tracks in the yard and the switch that makes up one of three switches that make up the wye at Grand Junction. By having this track be that long allows trains such as the Missionary Ridge Local to turn around on the wye at Grand Junction and not have to wait at East Chattanooga for the train to not only leave Grand Junction, but also not have to wait for it to traverse the entire distance between Grand Junction and East Chattanooga.
2. Place a passing siding long enough for their longest train, the Summerville Steam Special, to fit in, halfway between the two stations, Grand Junction, where all their trains depart from, and East Chattanooga. This means that any train can pass any train. This also means that two trains can be run between Grand Junction and East Chattanooga at the same time instead of one train.
3. Purchase several of the privately-owned passenger cars on Tennessee Valley Railroad Museums-owned property and have them restored to reduce the number of passenger cars being leased.
4. Work with the City of Chickamauga to build a turntable so that steam locomotives could be used on the Chickamauga Turn along with the diesels they currently use.
5. Repair the ALCO diesel locomotives to increase the amount of locomotives available for use, incase one of the Geeps currently used suddenly has to be taken out of service due to some problem.
What about YOU?