a master plan for holding virtual op sessions

How do you hold a virtual op session? Where people stay home and enjoy operating on your layout by running trains or dispatching from their home computers and/or cellphones? I've found the question complicated and confusing, and have watched a number of OPSIG layout tours that gave examples of people doing it. So I put together the above "mind map" to try to wrap my hands around the whole thing.

Like many things, it's good to take it in baby steps, so I now see that step one would be to simply provide some cameras for live coverage of the layout in action, and IP addresses to operators so they can log in to a WiThrottle and run a train, when and where instructed by me. The second step would be to provide a remote dispatcher with access to my JMRI computer and have the dispatcher issue the movement instructions and have control over key turnouts. Beyond that, we get into challenging areas like how to provide Zoom access to cameras riding on moving trains, etc.

Here's the complicated diagram with only the first level items shown. The green boxes are already in place. As of this writing I have set up 4 old cellphone cameras as Zoom attendees, and a fifth for broadcasting the camera train. Also, I learned how to help people use my IP address for getting into JMRI with their cellphone throttle apps, by doing "port forwarding" on my home router. All that's left now is to write up some instructions and a new schedule of trains that we might try to run in such a session. Clearly they would mostly be through freights and passenger trains, since I would be the only switchman in the room helping with pickups and setouts. 

Stay tuned! It doesn't look impossible...