The main lines were humming yesterday as two priority Penn Central trains rumbled through Empire City. First out was NY-2, The PC (and formerly NYC) meat products train running from Chicago to Selkirk. Powered by four GP30s in three liveries the train left Chicago at 1100 hours Central Time and is due in to Selkirk at 1230 hours Eastern Time.
The GP30 fleet has the NY-2 right on schedule thru Empire City
The newly painted 2232 in the middle of the action.
NY-2 rumbles through with a long string of reefers, insulated boxcars and some TOFC cars
Right on the heels going in the other direction a Penn Central mail train occupies the outer main. Powered by two E units the train features the NYC Flexivans later called Super Vans by the PC, several baggage cars for bulk mail, a working NYC RPO car and a combine car on the rear.
The string of GP30s sure looks good! If MB Klein ever has a nice deal like the one I got on my GP30 I'll buy another and link them up. My Bachmann GP30 runs very smoothly and quietly. Oddly, I purchased the GP40 (#3007) at the same time and it growls. I haven't done much dissecting of Bachmann locos (I feel confident with BB Athearns) but sometime I'd like to make it quieter if possible.
ReplyDeleteThe E8s were a great surprise!! Nice bright headlight on the lead unit. Who makes them those locos?
Hi Ralph, Sorry for the delay was away on vacation. Thanks for the GP30 comments. These are all Bachmann and they all run extremely well. I was able to score the NYC PC units for cheap as two were in Reading paint with peeling paint. My 3007 is a growler as well. So is my Bachmann PRR GP35. It has been demotored and sees a lot of layout time now.
DeleteThe E8 and E7 are both from pre Walther's P-2000 units. Straight DC. They are great locomotives that I bought used. They can usually be found reasonably priced. They are custom painted.
John.
Hi John! Vacation is a good thing! Glad you were away doing something fun. I had a Bachmann Spectrum GP35 too that ran well for a few years and then became awfully noisy and eventually stopped. I haven't done anything with it. I should use it as my laboratory for how to work on Bachmanns. The loco is pretty heavy so I don't plan to use it as a dummy.
ReplyDeleteI have a dummy E8...I think it was originally a Rivorossi unit painted for another road. I painted and lettered it as a PC unit. Perhaps I'll find a P2K unit some where and paint that as well so I can have a set. I sometimes run a passenger train by removing the body from my RDC and placing a Penn Central passenger car body on top of the chassis as power. I couple that behind the dummy E8 and add two more cars to create a short PC train. Not ideal but a good approximation in the meantime. You may have seen a brief clip of it in my last Youtube video about operations and local train KM-3.
Welcome back, by the way!
Ralph
Hi Ralph, The week at the beach on St Simons Island GA and with NO rain was excellent! However no train activity. Is the RDC a KP&W unit? I noted train 42 and see it works well. Looking forward to the next KP&W video.
DeleteHoping to get my clam shell fleet rolling soon. Bought some lettering to use for re stenciling the reporting marks and numbers. Would like to have one lettered for the KP&W if you do not mind. For the other B&LE cars I am undecided whether to use PC / NYC or a fictitious leasing company.
Take Care
John
Good morning John,
ReplyDeleteThe RDC is a KP&W unit..the road's only passenger service. It makes a brief appearance at the beginning of that KM-3 operations video before the PC local freight train leaves Kings Port. I bought the undecorated Proto 1000 RDC at a flea market several years ago and it still runs nicely after all these years. The original plan was to letter it for Penn Central but I couldn't find decals for the complicated NYC-styled safety stripes at the ends...and my attempts to try to replicate them with paint did not turn out well. So, I devised a simpler orange and white stripe scheme and lettered it of the Kings Port & Western. I'm pleased with the way it turned out.
It would be great to see a KP&W coil car on your layout blog! While I think the P&LE and B&LE tended to use them for relatively close runs between steel facilities, the KP&W sends them out on the open road to various business customers!
Hi Ralph,
ReplyDeleteThe RDC does look good. If P-1000 ever does a NYC with the front safety stripes I would definitely be interested. My P-1000 NYC RDC is just a bland silver with black lettering. Not much to look at. It does run good though. I give you credit for attempting to add the stripes.
My fictitious Empire City is located somewhere in NY. Don't ask where it keeps moving! Would several coil coaches originating at Kings Port Steel traveling over the KP&W to the Mayfield interchange and then onto Empire City be plausible. I do not have a steel mill but am planning to add a FORD stamping plant that would receive the steel coils. The empties would return to Kings Port & Western via Mayfield. Or we can avoid Mayfield something like the NE 97 & 74 and travel direct. I can then use my auto parts boxcars to then pick up the finished auto parts for transport to the various assembly plants.
Hi John,
ReplyDeleteI can easily imagine a number of covered coil cars gong to a FORD plant via the KP&W and Mayfield!
Good!!!! The coil cars will originate at Kings Port Steel!!!
ReplyDeleteThis is a big contract! KP Steel is gonna have to hire a third shift!
ReplyDelete