Prince William County Model Railroad Crew

Back in 1997, the PWMRC built a set of Time Saver modules to challenge the Scouts at the Boy Scout National Jamboree. This information was lost to history until a member recently located it in the Wayback Machine. Many thanks to them for archiving the net. The below is the "unarchived" page. Or view the archived page.

Time Saver Modules

The Prince William County Model Railroad Club has always worked hard to provide service to the community and promote model railroading. This year, one of the members of PWMRC took community service to a much higher level. John H. combined his model railroading with his lifelong involvement in Boy Scouts for a huge project. The Boy Scout International Jamboree is held every four years and includes work on the model railroading merit badge. Four years ago, there were various workshops, including sessions involving the TimeSavers as first developed by legendary model railroader John Allen. This year, our own John H. committed himself to building 25 TimeSavers for use at the Jamboree. Using his considerable skills, John involved many of the members of PWMRC in the project. With multiple work sessions, all 25 TimeSavers were built. John himself spent the entire week at the Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia. During the week, more than 1000 Scouts tried their hand at the TimeSavers.

Follow along as we see the progress of the TimeSavers and learn how a local club was part of a much larger event. Since the Jamboree, we've brought a TimeSaver to various train shows and it's proved to be a big hit. If you're in the Washington, D.C. metro area, see our list of events to learn when you can see a TimeSaver and try it yourself. You can build your own...all the info is here, including a materials list. For more information send us an email. info@pwmrc.org

Click on the images for a larger picture.

The first stage was assembling the raw materials and building the frames for 25 TimeSavers.  
Here John H. and Robin prepare to install cross braces on the underside of a module.

Typical of a PWMRC project, almost everyone gets involved,
even our Junior members.  
Here, John D., Jr. installs switches for the turnouts.

This is a view of the underside of a finished module showing the wiring, the control mounting and the small blocks that were added so the modules could be stacked for transport.  If you're building your own, you can leave off the small blocks.

Here's our Project Leader, John H.  Most successful projects have a spirited leader who knows what to do and how to get everyone together to get the job done.  John used his powers of persuasion as he organized several work days and then spent the entire week of the Jamboree assisting the Scouts with the TimeSavers.  During the week, several key things were learned that make the TimeSavers even better.  Find out more below.

The next several photos show the movement of cars on the TimeSavers, beginning with the empty module that shows the layout of track, controls and switches.

Click Here For a Flash preview of the moves.

At the Jamboree in 1997, a big problem was all the broken couplers caused by hitting the bumpers too hard.  This problem was solved by the addition of two small nails just before the bumpers.  Placed exactly two and a half ties from the bumper, the nails were inserted so they caught the axel of the car and kept the coupler from hitting the bumper.  This not only saved many couplers, but lowered the frustration level also.  In the left photo, the nails are about to stop the boxcar from hitting the bumper.  In the photo on the left, the nails have been painted yellow to make them easier to see.

Another critical area is the uncoupling magnet on the siding for the grain boxcar.  The operator learns here that the combination of the grain boxcar and the larger boxcar will not allow the loco to couple...good planning is essential to finish with a good time.  On the left the loco cannot couple up with the large boxcar.  On the right there's plenty of room to couple with the tank car.

If you're thinking of building your own TimeSaver, below are a list of the rolling stock and a materials list..  We encourage you to try this project...there's many hours of fun for you and your train club and friends if you do build a TimeSaver.

The Prince William County Model Railroad Club was happy to be a part of this project.

Cars used (all Athearn)

Materials List

Track Positions