P.C.C.M. 51A

Greetings All,

At the end of P.C.C.M. 50 Terminal Yard ended up with a dozen cars that had cycled thru their N.Y.C.T.L. routes and were ready for dispatch back to some of the participating virtual ops layouts. So instead of putting them into my virtual ops box the guys agreed to this quick virtual op that should help us in setting up P.C.C.M. 52. 

To:        West Mill / Rock Ridge / Elkhart / Zenith Yards
From:    Terminal Yard
Subject: Dispatch of Train SLX-1

Engines: 1049, 116, 1012, 1020
Total Cars: 12
Blocks: 5
Loads / Empties 1 / 11
Caboose: 21505

The yard job is blocking train SLX-1 that will leave the yard for Selkirk, Detroit and Avon Yards at 8:00 PM. Block 1 consists of empty 86' NYC auto parts boxcar #67086 heading to IDEAL Auto Parts in Rock Ridge NJ.

Block 2 consists of two T.O.F.C. cars for Williams Yard. Block 3 has B&M RBLs 109 & 110 loaded with cases of beer for Reynolds Beverage in Kings Port NY. 

Block 4 has these three empty 60' auto parts boxcars heading back to ACME Auto Parts in Mayfield NY and the old NYC Pacemaker car loaded with muffler mesh from Walsh Steel Wool also going to ACME . Blocks 2, 3 and 4 will all go to West Mill on the K.P.D.

Block 5 has these three empty 40' reefers heading back west for reloading possibly on the L.F.&N.W. or R.C.R. layouts.

Uh oh, a recurring draft gear problem that has plagued these prototype oversized boxcars has been noted by the 1/87th scale car knocker. The cars have become notorious for not mating and damaged draft gear caused by the couplers riding over one another. 1/87th scale AT Joe has changed the coupler while the car knocker straightens out the draft gear. 

Meanwhile over at the engine terminal the 1/87th scale road foreman and Big Mike break the news to Alco Joe that the FAs and CB&Q F3 have got to go back into the power pool.

CB&Q F3A #116  has drawn the attention of employees and rail fans alike. 1/87th scale Alco Joe did his best to hide the unit in the engine terminal to use it on a few more local runs but as you can see it kind of stands out from the rest of the fleet.

CB&Q #116 with it's NYC Alco FAs is definitely something you could only have seen during the NYC era. The 116 had been traded in to GE for a U28B in December 1966 thirteen months before the merger. Don't tell anyone!

NYC 1049, an Alco FA-2, leads the consist toward Terminal Yard. The 1049 was one of eighty such units on the NYC roster. The 1:1 1049 made it to the Penn Central was renumbered to 1349 and received a PC paint job according to the Penn Central Bi-Annual.

With the coupler and draft gear issue fixed the power for SLX-1 couples on under the supervision of various Terminal Yard employees who want to catch this lash up one last time as it heads out of town. 

SLX-1 has left Terminal Yard and is running thru Bedford NY where it meets Empire Belt train EB-2 headed for Terminal Yard.

The conductors give each other a thumbs up during the rolling meet

Bedford Tower operator 1/87th scale John B, barely recovered from P.C.C.M. 50, gives a half hearted wave from his chaise lounge.

SLX-1 is now on the High Line. The FA2-F3A-FA1-FA1 consist will hopefully return to the N.Y.C.T.L. in future P.C.C.M.s. A shout to Brian (1:1 ATJOE) for his suggestion on using this lash up.

SLX-1 heading thru Empire City. Next stop Selkirk!

Be sure to follow the action as it continues on Ralph's Kings Port Division layout, 1:1 Sir Neal's Atlantic Pacific RR layout, Brian's Ralston Creek RR and John B's L.F. &N.W. RR layout. 

Thanks for reading!!!