Blog Roll

Sunday, April 2, 2017

Unit Coal Train URN-3 / P.C.C.M. #31

Greetings All,

Hudson Coal on my N.Y.C.T.L. was recently prompted to ramp up production due to a coal shortage in Canada. The prompting came from upper management of the Kings Port &Western RR which has access to the Rochester /Genesee Coal Docks via it's connections with the B&O. The KP&W, a joint owner of the West Mill Rail Hub with the Penn Central on the PC Kings Port Division http://kingsportdivision.blogspot.com/ has negotiated rates very favorable for itself and the PC to ship this much needed coal. 

In order to get these black diamonds north the Penn Central Railroad and the N.Y.C.T.L.'s Metro Division agreed to ship unit trains from Hudson Coal on an expedited schedule. The first train known as URN-3 will be routed thru Selkirk to West Mill to the Rochester Coal Dock via the Kings Port & Western.

With the back story in place we'll use this train movement as P.C.C.M. #31 of the virtual ops. Let's take a look as the N.Y.C.T.L. gets busy switching out Hudson Coal and building Train URN-3

To:        West Mill 
              Rock Ridge Yard (Informational)
From:    Terminal Yard
Subject: Dispatch of Unit Coal Train URN-3
Engines: GP30, GP40, GP38-2
Caboose: 21698
Total Cars: 18

The Coal Job is heading to Hudson Coal with empties from Terminal Yard and a clean recently serviced bay window caboose for Train URN-3 which will be built at Bedford NY on the passing siding.
 The caboose is set out of the way on track 3
The Coal Job starts pulling the loaded coal cars for URN-3 from Track#1 
With tracks 1 and 2 clear it's time to get the cars on track 3. The caboose is pulled away to allow access and will be spotted on track 1.
With the loads pulled the caboose is coupled on and the train pulls out of Hudson Coal
 The Coal Job on the Bedford passing siding
The train will be spotted here and the Coal Job will now spot the empties at Hudson Coal.
The Coal Job power units have crossed over to the mainline at Bedford Station and are backing up towards Hudson Coal 
 The Coal Job power heads back to Hudson Coal
The Coal Job is busy spotting the empties with their caboose on the main line.
The Coal Job ties up at Hudson Coal as their window on the mainline has ended.
Meanwhile at Terminal Yard the 1/87th scale trainmen of the N.Y.C.T.L. wish the engineer of the inaugural URN-3 well. 
URN-3 power, a GP30, GP40 and a GP38-2 consist heads down the mainline to get to the front of the coal hoppers
At Bedford Tower the URN-3 crew gets their orders from 1/87th scale tower operator John B
URN-3 power has cleared the mainline,coupled on to the coal hoppers and is pumping up the air 
Train SV-2 from Chicago has the mainline to Terminal Yard. This is one of the hottest trains on the N.Y.C.T.L. 
SV-2 with Flexi Vans, Auto Racks, and Auto Parts rolls thru Bedford Station
SV-2 with high horsepower GE power will clear the mainline momentarily.
With the mainline clear the Coal Job power has left Hudson Coal and couples up to URN-3s caboose to give a shove to help get the train started up and over the Cornelius Vanderbilt Memorial Bridge. How's that for teamwork! 
The Coal Job power has uncoupled on the fly and URN-3 is picking up speed in the distance. 
 URN-3 rounds the Bedford Curve
URN-3 crosses the C.V. Bridge onto the High Line. 
Next Stop West Mill NY!
  Thanks for Reading!
Follow URN-3's journey on Ralph V's Kings Port Division

6 comments:

  1. To: Terminal Yard
    Rock Ridge Yard (Informational)
    From: West Mill
    Subject: Dispatch of Unit Coal Train URN-3

    Acknowledge the dispatch of URN-3. Expecting arrival at West Mill tomorrow. The train will be turned over to the KP&W at West Mill and continue to Salamanca, NY where it will head north to Rochester. The KP&W and B&O are pooling power for this train so it is likely B&O consist will take it from West Mill.

    West Mill out.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nice way to introduce this new op John! Long coal trains epitomize railroading! I enjoyed the work at Hudson Coal and seeing the meet with SV-2 Wow! Helper ops too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank Ralph! This was a fun P.C.C.M. to put together. Like you said long coal trains epitomize railroading.

      Delete
  3. To: Terminal Yard
    West Mill
    From: Rock Ridge Yard
    Acknowledgement - Dispatch of Unit Coal Train URN-3

    You have to love long trains, especially coal trains! That's a great train movement to have. This train can be moved quite often, both with and without loads. KUDOS!

    ReplyDelete
  4. 10-4...
    The long coal trains used do remind one of the 1:1 scale trains!

    ReplyDelete