Penn Central RS2s

Greetings Blog Followers;

 I have just completed the second PC RS2, # 8369, for my fleet.

PC 9942 and 8369 on point of a short local freight

PC RS2s on the local track

Close up of 8369, the newest engine on the roster

Close up of 9942. The 9900 numbers were actually assigned toRS1s on the PC.

A short video of the units in action

Locomotives in Action

Greetings Blog Followers;

Please take a few minutes to enjoy this short film featuring my D.I.Y. painted locomotives in action.

D.I.Y. Painted Locomotives

Greetings Blog Followers,
As you can see by the name of this blog I model the late great New York Central System. The NYC as it was also known was a class 1 railroad that served the most populous and industrial areas of the United States. The NYC lasted until February 1, 1968 when the mighty NYC combined forces with another decaying Northeastern railroad and it's primary rival the Pennsylvania Railroad, formerly billed as the Standard Railroad of the world to become the Penn Central Transportation Company, or the PC. This is the period that I enjoy modeling. Finding diesel locomotives painted for this time period is not an impossible task and can be quite easy if one is willing to spend the money. Being frugal I began painting my own locomotives about two years ago. As of this writing I have now painted a total of 18 locomotives, 12 for the New York Central and six for the Penn Central. This does not include re-numberings or adding a decal or two to a factory paint scheme. Here is a sample of the do it yourself painted fleet...

 A Penn Central EMD lash up consisting of an SD40, A GP40 and two GP35s. All four are Athearn Blue Box models. Each unit was an actual locomotive owned by the Penn Central.

 Penn Central SD40 #6282

 Penn Central GP40 # 3175. PC GP40s 3170-3186 received this special paint scheme with the orange "C"

Penn Central GP35 #2252 received the red "P" that was also a special paint scheme and much more widely used than the orange "C". The red "P" was on many different types of units.

 Penn Central GP35 #2327 in the standard large white PC scheme which was also known as the "mating worms logo"

 New York Central GE B23-7 #3893 coupled to sister locomotive #3683. Both locomotives are Bachmann Plus models

 New York Central B23-7 #3683. The NYC did not have any B23-7s on their roster

 NYC EMD GP35 # 2937 coupled to NYC EMD GP40 2933. Both locomotives are Athearn Blue Box models

 NYC GP40 # 2933

NYC EMD GP9s #505 coupled to sister GP9 #412 and SD24 #9844. The GP9s are Athearn Blue Box models and the SD24 is an older Atlas model 

 NYC GP9 #412 and #505 sport the short lived scripted herald logo. 

 NYC SD24 # 9844 has the scripted heralds on the cab sides and the traditional nose logos on the front and rear.

  NYC Fairbanks-Morse H-16-44 #7698 is a Spectrum model 

 NYC Fairbanks-Morse #7340 is also a Spectrum model

 NYC EMD GP30 # 2728 is a Spectrum model

  NYC EMD GP30 # 2526 is a Spectrum model

  NYC EMD GP30 # 2324 is a Spectrum model

  

Can You Say...R.E.A. ?

Greetings Blog Followers,
The newest addition to the layout is a Railway Express Agency Building. The Railway Express Agency, also known as the R.E.A., was a monopoly set up by the the United States government in 1917. Concerned about the safe rapid transportation of parcels, currency and goods during World War I, the Railway Express Agency provided a solution to those problems. After tough times and dwindling freight in the 1960s the Railway Express Agency was sold off in 1969 to five of it's corporate officers who formed the REA Express. The R.E.A. ceased business operations in 1975 after the building of the Interstate Highway System allowed United Parcel Service trucks to offer a better rate to the shipping customers.

The R.E.A. concentrated on express refrigerator shipments from the 1940s on. Freight traffic continued to be profitable into the late 1950s but refrigerator traffic started to diminish rapidly as refrigerated motor trucks became more prevalent. Much of the R.E.A. refrigerator fleet was stripped of it's refrigerator equipment and were in lease service as bulk mail carriers. Many ended their lives in work train service.

Interestingly the R.E.A. formed the Air Express Division in 1927. This lasted until 1959 when the Civil Aeronautics Board terminated the R.E.A.s exclusive shipping agreement for air express shipments. Another interesting tidbit is that the R.E.A.also tried to enter piggyback and container operations without success. Today R.E.A. predecessor U.P.S. ships many of it's long distance shipments as T.O.F.C. (Trailer on Flatcar).    

The R.E.A. building started out as some D.P.M. modular brick wall pieces.

 The building after it's second painting with decals and windows added

 The building has been given train and truck loading docks and some details

 A side shot of employee vehicles, trucks and the shipping foreman on the dock

A late running R.E.A. employee being questioned by the police

 A view of the truck loading docks

 An Aerial View

 Looking towards the passenger station

 Showing both the train and truck loading docks

 The layout corned is now occupied

 The R.E.A. Building is now in service.

  

Empire City Beautification Part II

Greeting s Blog Followers... Back on May 09, 2012 I posted Empire City Beautification part 1. I am now pleased to report that the beautification project for the station parking lot is just about complete. Check out the before and after photos;

  Before and After

 Before and After

 

 Before and After

 

 Before and After

 

 

 Before and After

 

 

Before and After

 

 Before and After

 Before and After