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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; You probably think it&#8217;s easy. Turn a knob one way, that little HO-scale train rolls forward. Turn it another way, it goes back.</p><p>Well, sure, if you want to be lazy about it. The hard way? Buy microcomputer cards programmed to work with optic sensors on the tracks via circuits plugged into a bunch of electronic &#8220;breadboards.&#8221;</p><p>Thus you have the annual &#8220;Running of the Trains&#8221; at Wilkes University, held Friday in the large rectangular flex lab of the new Mark Engineering Center. HO-scale track stretched the length of one long side and up the two short sides.</p><p>Eight students in John Gilmer&#8217;s Microcomputer Operation and Design class manned eight computers controlling eight track sections, some with switches. The goal: Run two trains in each direction, passing control from your section of the track to the next without incident.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m Ryan Marshall, the guy who was late,&#8221; one student quipped when they took turns introducing themselves. The Dallas resident had, indeed, arrived late.</p><p>&#8220;Our little section is kind of seasonal with LEDs and an Christmas tree,&#8221; Matthew Helwig beamed proudly when it was time to introduce himself. Well, it was more like an abstract tree: a piece of white-coated wire coiled like a widening spiral and stapled to the table. &#8220;When you&#8217;re doing this sort of thing, your mind wanders,&#8221; he admitted.</p><p>While it sounds like fun and games, the demonstration was part of their final exam, and results counted. Fortunately, they did successfully run two trains in opposite directions through the gauntlet without a collision, but the journey proved less than smooth.</p><p>Senior Noah Troxell, at one end of the track, kept letting the engines crash full-bore into the bumper stop. &#8220;I should have put a sensor (to detect the train and cut power) nearer the end,&#8221; he conceded. It might also have helped if the computer didn&#8217;t block his view of that last bit of track.</p><p>And Taylor Zawierucha had hoped to program the micro-controller card to automatically stop a train on one of two tracks in her section while a switch steered an oncoming train to the other track, but she ended up doing it manually. Still, she happily admitted, &#8220;I really enjoyed this.&#8221;</p><p>Crashes did come, after the initial test was done, the first being a Chattanooga 638 engine (0-8-0 for you wheel configuration geeks) backing into a Southern Pacific electric diesel. It got more exciting as they added more trains, with three nearly hitting each other while running in the same direction.</p><p>Professor Gilmer, who wore a necktie adorned with drawings of steam locomotives, conceded the layout was crude and the trains mechanically unreliable (usually bought well-used to keep the budget down). But it&#8217;s about coding &#8212; and maybe a little bit about nostalgia.</p><p>&#8220;This engine was in the first Running of the Trains,&#8221; he said proudly, holding out a vintage Union Pacific 4117 electric diesel, its iconic yellow faded, its front wheel truck unmoored from the inner chassis. &#8220;I think it earned an honorable retirement.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Wilkes University electrical and computer engineering professor John Gilmer explains the annual &#8216;Running of the Trains&#8217; challenge Friday at the university&#8217;s Mark Engineering Center. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_TTL120718Trains2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Wilkes University electrical and computer engineering professor John Gilmer explains the annual &#8216;Running of the Trains&#8217; challenge Friday at the university&#8217;s Mark Engineering Center. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_TTL120718Trains3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Jonathan Smith explains something about his portion of track during the annual &#8216;Running of the Trains&#8217; challenge Friday at Wilkes University. The event is part of the final exam for Professor John Gilmer&#8217;s engineering students. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_TTL120718Trains3.jpg</photo1><caption1>Jonathan Smith explains something about his portion of track during the annual &#8216;Running of the Trains&#8217; challenge Friday at Wilkes University. The event is part of the final exam for Professor John Gilmer&#8217;s engineering students. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_TTL120718Trains1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Jakob Plank resets a train on a track during Wilkes University&#8217;s annual &#8216;Running of the Trains&#8217; on Friday at the Mark Engineering Center. Eight students in John Gilmer&#8217;s Microcomputer Operation and Design class manned eight computers controlling eight track sections. The challenge was part of their final exam. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_TTL120718Trains1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Jakob Plank resets a train on a track during Wilkes University&#8217;s annual &#8216;Running of the Trains&#8217; on Friday at the Mark Engineering Center. Eight students in John Gilmer&#8217;s Microcomputer Operation and Design class manned eight computers controlling eight track sections. The challenge was part of their final exam. </caption2><photoCredit2>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mark Guydish</p><p>mguydish@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Stop! Look! Listen! Wilkes students run model trains the hard way as part of final exam