New York Central Train Layout

Friday, July 17, 2026

New York - New Jersey Ops #3 Part 1 / Outbound Operations Begin

Greetings All,

Welcome to New York-New Jersey Ops #3!!!

NY-NJ Ops #3 will once again feature my NYCTL interchanging freight traffic with Sir Neal's Atlantic Pacific Railroad. Both railroads will be dealing with a big surge in NY-NJ freight traffic that will test the ability of dispatchers, crews and the rest of the 1:87 scale personnel to keep the trains moving, satisfy both shippers and consignees and earn revenue. Let's get started!!!

NY-NJ Ops #3 opens up at the Empire Belt RRs North Side Yard with 1:87 scale Sir Neal and conductor John checking out the construction work to improve drainage in their parking area.

Time to get to work!!

The first NY-NJ freight cars to get pulled are four APRR gondolas loaded with pipe at Gervais Pipe & Fitting. The gondolas will be moving to Shapeless Steel in Rock Ridge, NJ.

The next move is to lift EBRR boxcars #416035 and #416079 from the Quaker Oats Plant loaded with cereal products from ShopRite in Rock Ridge, NJ.

After dealing with some non NY-NJ traffic the EBRR crew pulls NYC covered hopper #892010 from Red Wing Milling loaded with flour for Freihofer's Bakery also in Rock Ridge, NJ.

The EBRR Belt Job heads to the Hohman Ave Industrial Park with NY-NJ and non NY-NJ freight cars.

The EBRR crew switches non NY-NJ freight cars in the Hohman Ave Industrial Park including Reliable Machine Company and Superior Furniture.

The Belt Job is ready to head back to North Side Yard.

The Belt Job is on the move.

The crew ties the train down on the Belt Line. Conductor John heads to the office to hand in the waybills and check on an errant covered hopper sitting in the yard with no waybill.

After checking in at the EBRR office conductor John checks the ACFX car numbers to verify this car is traveling from Ronzoni in Long Island City via the LIRR back to Morton Salt in Rock Ridge, NJ on an empty car waybill.

Meanwhile Sir Neal checks in with the construction foreman as the Belt Job idles on the Belt Line.

Over in Bedford, Long Island RR Train MA-3 from Fresh Pond Junction is heading to North Side Yard with NY-NJ freight traffic to be interchanged with the Empire Belt RR.

LIRR Train MA-3 rolls thru Bedford towards North Side Yard.

LIRR Engineer Michael checks in with the EBRR guys before departing with Train MA-4 going back to Fresh Pond Junction with non NY-NJ freight traffic.

Train MA-4 heads back to Fresh Pond Junction.

With the LIRR MA-4 now departed the Empire Belt guys prepare to put their transfer run to Terminal Yard together.

Sir Neal couples up to the NY-NJ freight cars brought in by the LIRR. They will be coupled onto the headend of the freight train waiting on the Belt Line.

Empire Belt Train EB-2 is put together and heads to Terminal Yard.

The EB-2 arrives in Terminal Yard.

The EB-2 engines have been brought to the engine terminal where the EBRR guys find engine hostler Wet Willie with new EBRR GP18 #7282 waiting on the ready track.

The 7282 is added to the EBRR consist. The EBRR now has four GP18s with two in the "Road To The Future" scheme.

Train EB-3 heads back to North Side Yard.

We'll cut it here for today with Train EB-3 back in North Side Yard and the railfans having already gathered to see the 7282 making its virtual ops debut.

We'll pick it up tomorrow at Terminal Yard with the dispatch of the Bedford Turn, Trains BT-27 / BT-28.

This concludes part one on the NYCTL. Be sure to catch all the action on Sir Neal's Atlantic Pacific Railroad.

Thanks for reading and watching!!!

See you tomorrow!!!

Saturday, July 11, 2026

Layout Odds & Ends / New HO Scale Bulkhead Flatcars / Pole Loads

Greetings All,

HO Layout Odds & Ends

New HO Scale Bulkhead Flatcars

Pole Loads and Current Projects

Four new Walthers 53' GSC bulkhead flatcars recently joined the fleet after getting tipped off by none other than 1:1 Scale Sir Neal that these freight cars were on sale at Walthers.

While I had been abstaining from model train purchases an email with the phrase "in case you don't have enough bulkhead flatcars" with the link to the Walthers website piqued my interest. So off to the website I went and here are the results.

Two of the four bulkheads pose for photos. Wood stakes have been added to the PC 750110 for pending loads.

ICG 920212 and the third PC bulkhead flat pose for the official NYCTL photographer.

The bulkhead flatcars come with their Proto Max version of the Kadee knuckle couplers and metal wheelsets. A pleasant surprise was that the couplers on all four cars perfectly matched the Kadee Coupler Height Gauge.

A look at the underside of the ICG bulkhead. Another nice feature is that the center sill is diecast metal giving the cars a good amount of weight when traveling empty.

I made a pair of lumber loads to fit the bulkhead between the wood stakes.

Four bulkhead flatcars of lumber get delivered to University Millwork in Bedford, NY. The bulkheads on the right contain a pair of existing lumber loads.

The PC and ICG bulkhead flatcars contain the newly built lumber loads. All four were weathered with rattle can sprays of flat gray primer and red primer.

The Bulkheads arrive in Terminal Yard

Easy Pole Loads for my 65' Mill Gondolas

I have two 65' mill gondolas in my fleet that usually carry steel products since they are "mill gondolas". Several years ago I purchased a package of wooden skewers with the intention of turning them into pole loads.

Recently I got tired of looking at them in the package hanging from a hook with my other train supplies so on a hot humid day I settled into the work bench to start the project. The "poles" are cut and glued to a scrap wood strip that has been cut to fit into the gondolas. Three removable stakes were placed into drilled holes on the base on each side of the car.

With the removable stakes removed I rattle can sprayed the poles with red primer allowing that to dry and then taped over the red primer to rattle can the bottom of the poles to represent creosote commonly seen on wooden poles in the Northeast.

The EJ&E gondola has arrived in Terminal Yard with a load of treated poles most likely heading to the Long Island Lighting Company.

Southern gondola 52357 is part of the two car block for LILCO.

Recent Videos

In late June my nephew's DJS Railway ran some freight transfers from their Sterling Yard to Terminal Yard.

See the video of the DJS in action.

A B&O Special was run in early July when my son Robert and his family visited.

B&O E8A #28 was one of a number of B&O and Chessie power featured.

Catch the B&O Special below.

A Happy Birthday America Special was run on July 4th to celebrate America's 250th birthday.

See the USA 250th birthday below.

Currently on the workbench

A Walthers Mi-Jack Translift Intermodal Crane kit that is currently being assembled slowly but surely.

A Walthers Kalmar Crane kit awaits its turn on the workbench.

A surge of high priority COFC / TOFC traffic is expected on the layout in the near future and the efficient loading and unloading of said equipment is paramount to the success of this highly profitable traffic led to the purchase of the above kits. More on this in future posts.
Final Thoughts and Comments
The answer to the comment "in case you don't have enough bulkhead flatcars" should have been "I do"!! A check of the freight car roster showed nineteen such cars on the roster that includes some rarely used pulpwood bulkheads. The bulkhead roster is now at twenty three and that should be more than enough for my needs. Hint, hint Sir Neal!!!
A big positive for this purchase is that the four bulkhead flats came with metal wheelsets and the Walthers Proto couplers that met the Kadee height gauge right out of the box.

Additional Links and Information

Penn Central GSC Bulkhead Flatcar #750105 in 1988

Penn Central GSC Bulkhead Flatcar #750105

Illinios Central Gulf Bulkhead Flatcar #920284

Freight Car Spotlight #3-2023 / Bulkhead Flatcars

Thanks for reading and watching!!!

See you soon!!!

Sunday, June 21, 2026

NY-NJ Ops #2 / Part 6 / Conclusion of Virtual Operations

Greetings All,

Welcome Back To NY-NJ Ops #2!!

Our second virtual op with my layout interchanging freight traffic with Sir Neal's Atlantic Pacific Railroad concludes today with the final deliveries of NY-NJ traffic from the APRR Rock Ridge Yard to local consignees and interchanges.

We open up at Terminal Yard with Empire Belt RR Tarin EB-3 preparing to depart for their North Side Yard in Empire City.

Train EB-3 departs from Terminal Yard.

Now in North Side Yard Sir Neal and conductor John prepare to block the freight traffic in Train EB-3 with the NY-NJ freight cars held in the yard a the end of the inbound portion of this op.

NY-NJ freight cars are blocked into the EBRR Belt Job for movement to their respective consignees. Getting their next NY-NJ loads will be the empty EBRR boxcars going to Quaker, the four APRR gondolas heading to Gervais Pipe & Fitting and the NYC covered hopper going to Red Wing Milling at the right.

The Belt Job is almost ready to go.

Conductor John stands ready at the switch.

The Belt Job shoves out of North Side Yard and onto the Belt Line.

Empty EBRR boxcars #416035 and #416079 are spotted at the Quaker Plant for their next NY-NJ loads.

Four empty APRR gondolas are placed at Gervais Pipe & Fitting for their next NY-NJ loads.

Empty NYC covered hopper #892010 is shoved to the Red Wing Milling siding for its next NY-NJ load.

The Belt Job heads to the Hohman Ave Industrial Park with non NY-NJ freight traffic and returns to North Side Yard.

The EBRR trainmen head to the office to get their paperwork in order and prepare for the pending arrival of LIRR Train MA-3 as Sir Neal eyes the lounge chairs.