Theory of Operation

The Great Southern is a point to point operation with the north end being the passenger yard at Ensley or the freight yard at Helluva Yard (normally referred to as HY) and the southern end being Danville.  There is also a division point, Piedmont Junction (normally referred to as PJ).  The railroad is double tracked from HY and Ensley to PJ and employs right hand running.  A typical train will leave Ensley/HY and pass through Wallace en route to PJ.  Local freight trains may stop in Wallace to service several industries including the stockyard.

Once a train reaches PJ, it will either diverge to the right and run over the Tyler division through Tyler and then to Danville.  The Tyler turn is a daily freight from PJ to Tyler and back which serves the many industries in Tyler including a very large building supply company.  Except for the town of Tyler, most of the Tyler division is not visible to the viewing public.  Trains not running over the Tyler division will proceed straight through PJ and continue over the Clayton division through Clayton, Lakeland, and Black Gap on their way to Danville.  The opposite applies to northbound trains from Danville to HY/Ensley.  Clayton generates natural gas traffic for the railroad, Lakeland is primarily a mining town, and Black Gap is primarily a lumber town. 

The railroad operates according to a timetable and switch lists for car routing and spotting.  The railroad is straight DC with numerous power blocks.  A typical operating session will have yard operators at Danville, Lakeland, PJ (who doubles as the brakeman at Tyler), HY (who doubles as the brakeman at Clayton), and Ensley (who doubles as brakeman at Black Gap).  There is also a hostler who serves both HY and Ensley (who also doubles as the brakeman at Wallace).  In addition to the six on the floor, there are also 3 mainline cab operators located on a mezzanine level located about where the legend is with and there are cabs for 2 more operators.