Welcome to OperatingSessions.com!

OperatingSessions.com is a new free service that is purpose-built to help support model railroaders hosting operating sessions. These sessions can be individual sessions on a single layout, or you can set up multi-day events with dozens of sessions. Operating on model railroads is one of the most enjoyable parts of the hobby, but there's a lot of manual effort required to schedule complex events. See how OperatingSessions.com can help you get operators signed up more efficiently for your events!
OperatingSessions.com is an independent site that is not affiliated with or sponsored by the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA), the Operations Special Interest Group (OpSIG), or any other organization.

Operators

Individual operators can register for events and get notified when operating events are available. An operator's profile, once created, does not have to be re-entered for every event. Layout owners and event organizers can only see the information if the operator signs up for their event. Operators can also sign up as a group to make carpooling simpler.

To get started, create your user profile today!

Register as New User

Layout Owners

Layout owners can update their layout information in the directory, adding pictures and related documents whenever they wish. They can also create an operating session that is either open to the public or only sent to an invitee list. No more keeping track of everyone's email addresses and phones... each operator can update their own profile.

Note: Club-owned layouts should register here. During the registration process, you can mark that your railroad is club-owned and fill in the address/contact information.

To get started, create your user profile and then go to the Railroad Manager to enter your layout details.

Register as New User Create/Manage My Railroad

Organizations

An organization can be as simple as a round-robin group in your city, a regional operating group, or a temporary group associated with a convention. You can add railroads who are participating in your organization and then set up events for those railroads as a group. Quick and easy URLs are provided to link your organization's landing page on OperatingSessions.com to your event or organization web site.

Note: Club-owned layouts are not considered organizations in the system. Organizations are groups of layouts in the terminology used here.

Register My Organization

Site Announcements

Registrant Notes

I've also added a way for people registering for single sessions to notify the railroad owner of special requests/notes/etc. This should NOT be used to add people to the event registration - each person should register on their own. However, if you know you're going to be running late, this is an easy way to communicate this to the event organizer. This feature probably does not make sense for standard events where there are multiple sessions involved at different railroads. 

Released on 5/4/2026

Single Session Cancellation Feature

I've rolled out the first part of a long-missing feature: self cancellation. This is currently available for single session events. Standard events are more complicated, since you have cases such as having to reassign the group leader, allowing the group leader to cancel just his/her registration or the entire group, etc. Cancelling a single session is simpler because there's no group option. When this is done, you'll get an email with a confirmation, and the railroad owner will also be notified by email. 

Released on 4/30/2026

Copy Event Feature

For single-session events, you can now choose a current or past single session event and copy it to create a new event. The system will copy everything except for the unique event tag (the six characters like airline reservations have) and the date of the event. 

Released on 12/8/2025

September 2025 Updates

Railroad/Layout Directory changes

  • If the railroad has scheduled any updates, those will appear just below the description box. 
  • I've added on the display of the layout location (such as basement, outside building, etc.) 
  • I've also added on whether the location is ADA accessible - really only applies to clubs.
  • COVID-related fields (vaccine/mask policy) have been removed. If it were to ever happen again, the rules can be added to your railroad descriptions. 
  • You can now mark that your railroad welcomes new/beginner operators. One of the goals of the site was to make operating sessions more accessible and I'm not sure why I didn't add this before. If your railroad welcomes new operators, you can mark the box in the editor and it will show on the layout directory like this. It also displays on the railroad detail page.

In the operations section, I've added in three new attributes and made a minor change to one:

  • Prototype and theming - lets you describe how closely the railroad matches a prototype
  • Rigor - helps describe how the various operations rules are followed on the railroad
  • Tone and atmosphere - lets potential visitors know if you operate casually, somewhat disciplined, or highly disciplined. 
  • In the Car Forwarding method list, I've added "markers on cars" as an option for those of you who use that. 
    These fields are optional but the more details you provide about a layout, the better you describe your layout to potential visitors.

In the weekly dispatch email, organization events will only be shown here if the start date is less than 6 months away. These events are always listed on the website though.

 

Released on 9/5/2025