New York Central Bee Liner

New York Central Bee Liner
RDC-3 #497 calls at Bedford Station

Saturday, January 28, 2017

Fresh From The Paint Shop



Greetings All,

After a short break from the A.P.R.R. boxcar project the N.Y.C.T.L. Paint Shop got back to work on some home road projects. Let's take a look at what's newly released from the Paint Shop;

With winter here the first release from the paint shop is this Walthers Russell Snow Plow. This was a gift from my in laws and sharp eyes can see my 1/87th scale in laws are sitting in the plow.
 It was an undecorated kit
That I painted to look like a New York Central plow
The newly numbered plow sits next to the shop.
The second paint project is this EMD calf unit in fresh paint also awaiting lettering. This unit was stripped of it's former paint in 91% alcohol.
The calf unit is this former Conrail unit. I procrastinated for many years on repainting this unit. The CR did not actually have this type of unit and neither did the NYC. But recent upgrades to this dummy unit made it a unit that I wanted to utilize more than once every year or so.  
The third paint project was this New York Central F7A fresh from the paint shop and awaiting lettering. The unit had been stripped of it's former paint scheme in 91% alcohol. 
Prior to lettering the F7A and the EMD calf I placed these two units on my work bench for easy reference.
The EMD calf is now NYC #8842. I lettered and numbered it in the NYC SW7 range. Note the masonite track cleaning pad installed under the frame. My Obsessive Track Cleaning Disorder continues. The N.Y.C.T.L. crew have come over to Terminal Yard to check out all the hub bub from the paint shop.
The lash up I was looking for! Two powered P-2000 SW8s with the calf in the middle. Plenty of power and cleaning the track at the same time. 
The three switcher lash up cleaning the tracks at it goes! This lash up made it's debut on January 20th in an ops session with my good buddy Engineer Ed. It performed flawlessly and looked good as well.
The Calf project was inspired by this lash up of three NYC S12s. The two end units are powered and the middle one is not. The middle unit has been upgraded into a track cleaning car and works great. The P-2000 SW8s have more pulling / pushing power and are much quieter than the Athearn BB S12s. The S12s do run very well though and can easily handle any yard duties or short freight trains.  
Next out of the paint Shop is NYC F7A #1645 in the Cigar band paint scheme. This is an older Bachmann Plus unit that I purchased used via ebay.
The 1645 is coupled up to it's brother engine, #1644 also an older used Bachmann Plus unit which I painted about a year ago.
The 1645 looking very fresh next to the older 1644. A little subtle weathering will be added down the road to the 1645 to better blend the two. 
The units are coupled together via draw bar to eliminate the large space between the units. I've used the Kadee Close Coupling kits in the past but the space still looked way too big. 
The F7As roll into Empire City Station with a train of bulk Mail and Express cars. By the way the first car behind engines is a C&O boxcar with REA lettering and a track cleaning car. Obsessive Track Cleaning Disorder continues.

Thanks for reading!!!

4 comments:

  1. They all look very good! Track cleaning is a tough thing.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks John. As you know from reading my blog I've been using the masonite slider method with great success. The tedious chore of track cleaning has largely been removed from my layout. I do clean the pads regularly.

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  2. Firstly: in-laws that understand your model railroad interest is a priceless thing! Secondly: I admire your work on the plow and patience painting and installing the grab irons! It looks fantastic! Bring on the snows! Thirdly, the Calf project created a very sharp looking three unit consist! Obsessive Track Cleaning Disorder is one of those syndromes that actually has functional benefits so I say embrace it! Fourthly, NYC cigar bands are a classic look for your layout's transitional time period and are always appealing! Nice work on all counts!

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