The Empire Belt has taken possession of former Mopac B23-7s 4632 and 4637. For my purposes I've designated them U33Bs . These shells were purchased from Bachmann after the original shell were stripped of paint and glue turning them basically into junk. I plan to put a simple patch out of the MOPAC on the cab and add some Empire Belt lettering down the road.
Over at Ralph's Warehouse a truck load of fencing from Neal's Hardware and Lumber has arrived. This spot has been approved by the Empire City Zoning Commission for an employee parking lot
Meanwhile over at Neal's Lumber and Hardware things are buzzing along at the fast clip as both rail and truck freight is being moved in and out.
A recent dumpster dive gave me some nice pieces of strip wood that I turned into steel loads.
Here they are on some bulkhead hoppers. Chartpak tape and weathering powders
were used to highlight the loads
A shelf over the former controller shelf has been added to better finish off this side of the layout.
The lower shelf is still useful as storage for things that need to be handy
I think adding a few buildings enhances the skyline and overall look of the layout.
The buildings were taken from Mid Town area of Empire City
By re-configuring the street in the vacated area I can use this location for a rail served industry.
The area measures about 20" x 4". Enough room for a low rise industry that can accommodate 2 50' cars
A drone view of mid town Empire City. Neal's Lumber is to the left and Caterpillar to the right.
The re-configured street scene has opened up some nice scenic and detail possibilities so I want
to keep any new structure to about 3" in height.
Empire City Caterpillar has received a new Rix Products modular loading dock and ramps.
The siding here is double ended so any industry to the left is easily accessible.
Team Track? Nah...
Three 40' boxcars fit perfectly with plenty of room for Caterpillar to the right and the switch to the left.
This Wabash trailer was recently acquired during a used merchandise sale at my LHS. A thorough cleaning, some blue paint on the rims, replacing a crooked landing gear with some 3/4" brads and
some weathering have this trailer in T.O.F.C. revenue service.
Two used Accuready NYC Pacemaker Service cars were also acquired. The cars were lightly weathered with weathering powder and put into revenue service.
Speaking of revenue service Penn Central Car Movement 11 series is under way
Here's a short video from the N.Y.C.T.L.'s portion of the virtual ops
Thanks for reading and watching!
Some great progress going on in Empire City! Business seems to be booming, real estate is becoming available, and it sounds like new tenants are on the horizon! Up here at the A.P.R.R., we're ready to send down steel from Shapeless Steel Works, or lumber from Mike's Lumber Yard (a wholly owned subsidiary of Neal's Lumber and Hardware) to help with any expansion needs.
ReplyDeleteThank you 1:1 Sir Neal! It's always good to know that A.P.R.R. is a true partner of the N.Y.C.T.L.!
DeleteWhy not simply leave those B23-7s as MP? MP and PC/CR units mixed pretty freely as run-through power or paying back horsepower hours. I believe MP was the 12th largest railroad but has been ignored to some extent among modelers.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the suggestion John! This idea never occurred to me. A stay of patching out has been granted pending further study. Thanks again.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSo many excellent projects going on! Nice work John! The MOPAC shells look great. Whether you patch them or not, my eye is drawn to the placement of the numbers on the upper part of the loco body. I think those are worth keeping. I can attest to how nicely the steel plate loads turned out, having received a set. Very realistic and nice use of readily available materials. I think you'd be spending several dollars for similar commercially made loads! Great stuff all around. Any more updates on what the new industry might be?
ReplyDeleteThank you Ralph! I really like the number placement as well on the MOPAC units. For Empire Belt power I would only patch out the screaming eagle and small mopac on the cab sides. John B's suggestion to leave them as is and have them as run through power or pay back power is a good idea and the units may stay as is, at least for the foreseeable future.
ReplyDeleteThe new industry being considered is a low rise Empire City Terminal Market. Still in the study phase though.