This week at Terminal Yard

Greetings All,

Hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving. With the holiday over the gang on the N.Y.C.T.L. is back to work and not a moment too soon. Let's take a look at whats happening at Terminal Yard.

Coal is king right now as no fewer than four tracks are filled with cars loaded with the black diamonds. Hudson Coal has really ramped up production to meet the demands of their customers.

The TY Yardmaster could not resist lining up the hoppers for this publicity photo. Pennsylvania, Empire Belt, Kings Port & Western,  Atlantic Pacific, Penn Central and New York Central Railroads all showing off their paint jobs and being in revenue service. 

The Coal Job is pulling a train of empty hoppers from the depths of Terminal Yard on track 8. 

The Coal Job is heading for Hudson Coal to swap out the empties for another train of loaded coal hoppers.

The next train out is this reefer train headed for Empire City's North Side Yard with blocks of cars for Ralph's Grocery Warehouse and the Empire City terminal market. NYMX 1000 is my latest addition, a used Athearn RTR model purchased at my LHS.  

Five NYMX (NYC) Mechanical Refrigerators from at least three manufacturers and no two look the same! Pacific Car & Foundry built 100 of these cars for the New York Central in 1956. 

Aha! We've found why the 1/87th guys have hung around after their shifts ended. They wanted to see the two newly lettered Long Island Railroad cabooses. 1:1 Engineer Ed provided the decals and the art work. Thanks Double E! The yard switcher is tacking the cabooses to the rear of the reefer train headed for North Side Yard

L.I.R.R. C-91 has come a long way from it's train set roots!

The L.I.R.R. cabooses head towards North Side Yard for later pick up by the L.I.R.R.

With E.E. the man of the hour the guys head over to Dino's Pizza Parlor to enjoy a couple of Frank Nitti pizzas and maybe a Jerry Vale as well. 

Double E accepts his accolades and is ready to chow down as 1/87th scale Conductor John assures him the pizza and beer are on the N.Y.C.T.L. today. 

For pictures of L.I.R.R. Caboose #12 and C-91 click the link. 

Special thanks to 1:1 scale Engineer Ed for making the Long Island and some other decals for me. More on those projects in 2018. 

Thanks Ed!

Thanks for reading!!!!

E.B.R.R. / A.P.R.R. Paint Project Conclusion / Dispatch of Train AP-1

Greetings All,

The joint E.B.R.R. / A.P.R.R. project concluded it's second phase with the completion of eight Atlas 50' double door boxcars. Six cars are painted in A.P.R.R. colors and two are in E.B.R.R. colors. Two E.B.R.R. cars are numbered the same and two A.P.R.R. cars have the same numbers. These will be divided between 1:1 Sir Neal and myself for use in the virtual ops.

This string of five Atlas Evans 50' double door boxcars newly painted and lettered for the A.P.R.R sit in Terminal Yard drying in the florescent sun.

A pair of Empire Belt Atlas 50' Evans double door boxcars sandwich a similar AP.R.R. car and round out the eight car paint project 

A close up of AP 58279. One 58279 will head to the A.P..R.R. and a second 58279 will stay with the N.Y.C.T.L. for future virtual ops use. 

A close up of E.B.R.R. 358160. One car will go to the A.P.R.R. and the other will remain with the N.Y.C.T.L. for virtual ops use. 

These five A.P.R.R. cars are individually numbered and will be incorporated into the A.P.R.R. fleet upon their arrival at Rock Ridge Yard. They still have that new train car smell!

Last but not least were these two 86' Auto Parts boxcars that were phase 3 of the joint project. They've been stripped of their factory paint and repainted in A.P.R.R. orange. They are awaiting further painting and lettering. 

Fresh from the Paint Shop AP 86' Auto parts boxcar #86035 is boxed up and ready for delivery to the A.P.R.R. NJ Division.

A little better view with the camera flash turned on. Note the 86000 series being used to easily identify this extra large car.

But wait there are two 86' AP cars in this project! I did build one that will remain with the N.Y.C.T.L. so let's see how it looks on the rails with the rest of the cars from the paint project.

1/87th scale Sir Neal has gathered a bunch of the guys at Terminal Yard to see the latest release from the N.Y.C.T.L.'s Patti-O Paint Shop

The guys admire the AP orange and white 50' boxcar and the E.B.R.R. 50' boxcar. Here comes the yard switcher with the new 86' boxcar in tow.

An excited 1/87th scale Sir Neal tells the guys here it comes!

Upon seeing the car the guys all faint they are so overwhelmed by how good the N.Y.C.T.L. Paint Shop painted and lettered this car.

The guys are back on their feet as the switcher couples the 86035 to the E.B.R.R. boxcar. 

1/87th scale PC Ralph has brought the power over from the engine facility. A.P.R.R. GP38-2 #358, Penn Central U28C #6533 and Empire Belt #6574 will be pulling this train from  Terminal Yard to Selkirk. From there the 6533 will take over and A.P.R.R 358 will head back towards the N.Y.C.T.L.  

It's time to dispatch these cars from Terminal Yard thru Ralph's Kings Port Division to Neal's Rock Ridge Yard so 1:1 Sir Neal can take possession 1/87th scale style.

To: Rock Ridge / West Mill
From: Terminal Yard 

Subject: Dispatch of  train AP-1 from Terminal Yard to Rock Ridge Yard.

1/87th scale Senior Engineer Sir Neal prepares to climb up and take the throttle of lead unit AP 358 while the rest of the guys argue over who gets to go on the trip. I think the whole crew will be aboard either an engine or riding the caboose for this special.

Leaving Terminal Yard and passing Hudson Coal

Coming thru Bedford

Next stop Selkirk then onward thru the Kings Port Division to Weehawken where the Atlantic Pacific Railroad will take possession and then take the new cars to the A.P.R.R.'s Rock Ridge Yard for further inspection. 

Check Ralph's K.P.D. Blog to see if the rail fans along the River Line got any good photos. 

Be sure to check 1:1 Sir Neal's A.P.R.R. Blog for the arrival of this Special. 

Thanks for reading!

Happy Thanksgiving from the N.Y.C.T.L.!

Greetings All,

Happy Thanksgiving from the N.Y.C.T.L.!!!

The 1/87th scale crew gathers at the Empire Belt RR office located at North Side Yard for their annual photo, luncheon and some rail fanning on Wednesday the day before Thanksgiving.

Being mostly freight men the guys decide to head over to Empire City Station to catch some Holiday passenger train action. It's the day before Thanksgiving and the passenger traffic is heavy. 

It's still early in the NYC-PRR-NH merger and this passenger train  led by E8A 5713 in PRR paint and an E7A in PC paint could have been called the N.Y.C.T.L. colorful years.

Green REA Express boxcar, PC stainless steel baggage car, a B60B baggage car now in PC colors and a PC stainless steel baggage dormitory car are on the head end.

PRR, NH and NYC coaches follow the baggage dormitory car.

A stainless steel NYC diner car separates the coaches from a PC 10-6 sleeper.

 An ex PRR 10-6 sleeper is followed by a PC 10-6 sleeper

 A PRR Sleeper Coach, NYC 4-4-2 and the observation car Nassau County bring up the rear of the train.

A couple of short videos showcasing my version of an early PC passenger train

From my layout to yours Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks for reading!

P.C.C.M. 41F

Greetings All,

Welcome back to P.C.C.M. 41, the Tom Seaver series!

Tom Seaver fun fact #6. On September 28, 2008 Tom Seaver returned to Shea Stadium and threw out the final first pitch to Mike Piazza in a Saying Goodbye to Shea Stadium ceremony. On April 13, 2009 Tom threw the 1st pitch to Mike Piazza to open Citi Field. As of this writing Tom and Mike are the only two players in the Baseball Hall of Fame enshrined with Mets caps.

It's time to wrap this up and get these trains out of Terminal Yard and on their way to their respective destinations.

To:        West Mill / Rock Ridge / Zenith Yard
From:    Terminal Yard
Subject: Dispatch of Trains LS-1, NV-3 and LI-2 from Terminal                    Yard

The TY switcher is working on the freight cars from the previous Bedford Local and getting them sorted into the Kings Port Division block. In the distance sits the Atlantic Pacific RR or A.P.R.R. block

HRC 521, BM 109 & BM 110 are cut into the K.P.D.'s West Mill block for interchange with the Kings Port & Western RR

The empty Hostess hopper is placed in the A.P.R.R. block for transfer to the large NJ Cargill plant served by the A.P.R.R.

Some intra-layout traffic including B&M 105 and GM&O 21129 get shoved into track 7 for the local trains to work. These cars came in on yesterday's Empire Belt transfer run 

EL 5024, AP 60382 and AP 60394 are added to the cars for the A.P.R.R.'s Rock Ridge Yard.

 Work continues on the K.P.D. bound freight cars. 

Off the E.B.R.R. transfer from yesterday NYC 80775 is cut into the block of cars for Kings Port proper.

The depressed center flat with refurbished excavator is coupled up to a gondola of scrap wheels. Both are consigned to Sal's Salvage in West Mill NY. The two gondolas with pipe loads for the Hudson Valley Ag Coop are being shoved back for the Williams Yard block.  

Train length and tonnage will have the K.P.D. freight cars traveling in two trains tonight. One will be train NV-3 and the second will be a combined A.P.R.R. / K.P.D. LI-1 leaving two hours later. 

While work around the yard continues the late Bedford Local departs Terminal Yard with the newest PRR cabin car in the fleet, N6B 980796. The car was custom built and painted by 1:1 scale John Bruce. It's a very nice addition to the fleet as you'll see!

 BM 105 is spotted at Berk Enterprises. That N6B sure looks good. Thanks John! Your generosity is much appreciated. 

The Local is now working Heileman Brewery picking up boxcars loaded with beer including L.F.& N.W. 160 consigned to Ace Wholesale Distributors in Zenith on John Bruce's Los Feliz & Northwestern RR layout

The Bedford Local passes Bedford Tower under the watchful eyes of tower operator 1/87th scale John B who admires his LF&NW boxcar. The local will drop off some cars at North Side Yard and then head back this way.  

The local heads back to Terminal Yard past Bedford Tower with 1/87th sale John B checking out his old caboose. He'll have a good story for 1/87th scale Mrs Bruce at dinner tonight.

The short local easily makes it's way thru Bedford NY as the afternoon rush hour has come to a close. 

The Bedford Local arrives at Terminal Yard and we can see two sets of commuter trains tied up for the night in the distance.

It's time to get these trains out of Terminal Yard! The TY switcher places LF&NW 160 and a Rock Island boxcar into train LS-1 (Empire City to Chicago) as it readies the train for it's 12:50 AM departure.

Penn Central GP35's 2327 and 2352 are the power for LS-1 and the train is ready to depart. Rock Island #57028 and L.F.&N.W. #160 will be going all the way to Chicago. The R.I. car will be handed off back to the Rock at Chicago while L.F.&N.W. 160 will be transferred to the A.T.S.F via the Belt Railway of Chicago's Clearing Yard to continue it's trip to Bay City, California on John B's layout. Look for the arrival on John's blog

Chicago or Bust! Next stop Selkirk!

It's 2:00 AM and the next train heading out is Train NV-3 (Empire City to Selkirk) solid with cars for the Kings Port Division and the Kings Port & Western Railroad. U33C 6554 and U30C 6538 are in charge.

The big U Boats rattle the windows of the Bedford industries as they race for Selkirk.

The Williams Yard block brings up the rear as a PC N5C caboose brings up the markers.

It's 4:00 AM and last call for alcohol as Train LI-1 (Empire City to Selkirk) leaves Terminal Yard behind another set of GE U Boats with U28C 6533 in the lead. Three cars for West Mill make up block#1 behind the engines. 

Block #2 are these boxcars and covered hoppers for Rock Ridge yard on the AP.R.R.

Block #3 is a half dozen coal hoppers for R.M.O. Electric via the A.P.R.R.'s Rock Ridge Yard and PC caboose 5023 brings up the markers.

Another set of U Boats shakes things up as LI-1 roars thru Bedford NY on it's way to Selkirk. 

Talk about some serious 6000 series power!!! 

That wraps up the action on the N.Y.C.T.L. be sure to follow the moves on the K.P.D., A.P.R.R. and L.F.&.N.W.!!!!

Thanks for reading!!!