Easy Pipe Loads

 Greetings All,

Looking to make easy inexpensive pipe loads?  

A large box of paper straws and a large package of paper cocktail straws came my way from 1:1 Sir Neal of the Atlantic Pacific RR after we agreed you can never have enough pipe loads. 

Sir Neal requested pipes for some of his new 66' long Exact Rail Thrall gondolas and provided dimensions.

The project is underway. Here are the 8" long straws glued five across and three high making up twelve loads within the dimensions supplied by 1:1 Sir Neal.

Here are the cocktail straws also glued five across and three high. I used some card stock as a base for both sets of loads.

After a visit to the Patti-O Paint Shop the pipe loads are ready for shipping from Gervais Pipe and Fitting in Empire City. The Empire Belt RR trainmen realize the large pipe load dimensions are beyond any of the gondolas available to them.

The new Gervais crane will get a workout today if the E.B.R.R. can deliver freight cars to handle these long pipe loads.

The Penn Central comes thru and has delivered a large number of flatcars to be used for the long pipe loads. A Bachmann 50' PC flatcar is used as a spacer between Athearn 50' flatcars with their overhanging loads.

The last of the long pipe loads are loaded onto the 50' flatcars.

The cocktail straws fit nicely on either 40' or 50' Athearn BB flatcars.

The Empire Belt RR hauls a long pipe train consisting of commercially made metal pipe loads, coffee stirrer pipe loads and the new paper straw pipe loads towards Terminal Yard.

The Empire Belt brings the train past Bedford Station.

Penn Central C628 #6303 with four additional C628s will bring the pipe train to Selkirk. This is one of my favorite lash ups. 

The Penn Central brings the pipe train back thru Bedford 

and heads for Selkirk.

This was a pretty easy project using the paper straws, Elmer's Glue, card stock and rattle can black spray paint. The pipe loads can be further enhanced with strip wood, banding and weathering should the modeler desire.

If making these loads for Athearn BB gondolas glue the pipes four across instead of the five used for the flat cars. 

Thanks for reading!!!! 

See ya soon!!!

Boxcar Rescue

 Greetings All,

Another 40' boxcar has been given a second lease on life. I recently took on a boxcar rescue of an old HO scale 40' boxcar that had been  sitting in my purgatory box. 

The car has been stripped of its scratched up paint and the broken roof walk holes have been plugged. Tichy Train Group stirrup steps will be installed to replace the missing stirrups. I used truck bolster pins from some Atlas models to plug the holes in the roof.

A steel two piece weight is not something I recall seeing. These will be wire brushed and the entire under frame painted rattle can flat black.

An old style horn hook coupler and spring.

New stirrups and new paint.

I used some decals I found in my decal stash to letter TCC 248 as seen at Terminal Yard. The TCC reporting marks and number are from a Microscale Turtle Creek Central set that was included in an old Model Railroader. The Georgia Road decal is from Highball Graphics. Testors Dullcote used to seal the decals get rid of the glossy shine. 

A new brake wheel, Proto 2000 metal wheels and Kadee #5s were added and this car is now ready for revenue service.

 All in all I'm happy this car has a second lease on life.

Thanks for reading!!! 

See ya soon!!!

Penn Central Car Movements #75/ N.Y.C.T.L. Part 6 / The Inbound Cycle Concludes

 Greetings All,

Welcome back to the Penn Central Car Movements #75

The inbound portion of this three layout virtual op featuring PC Ralph's Kings Port Division and Sir Neal's Atlantic Pacific RR interchanging freight cars with my New York Central Train Layout concludes today.

Penn Central Train TY-4 (Selkirk to Terminal Yard) rattles the windows of Empire City with an SD35-SD9 lash up.

TY-4 passing Bedford Station

TY-4 arriving at Terminal Yard. PC fans might recognize a similar lash up from the opening of Green Frog Videos Penn Central Vol. 2.

The SD35 - SD9 power combo have cut from the TY-4 and are rolling thru the engine terminal.

And easing down the fuel rack.

1/87th scale Kar Knocker is out to inspect the train as the yard job pulls off the caboose.

A couple of hours later the TY-4 freight cars are blocked for their local destinations.

Once again 1/87th scale Alco Joe gets his favorite power lash up. Today he is called for PC Extra 1049 which will be a combined Bedford Turn (BT-27) and Empire City transfer(EC-1).

First Stop for Extra 1049 is T&R Gravel to pull out a pair of loaded PS2 hoppers.

Four empty Penn Central PS-2 hoppers sent from the A.P.R.R. Engine Terminal get shoved into T&R for loads of locomotive sand.

Extra 1049 is back together on the Bedford Secondary passing Berk Enterprises where they'll pullout the two RF&P boxcars and spot an LV 50' boxcar. 

The LV boxcar with reporting marks NIRX 41000 is spotted at Berk Enterprises with rolls of adhesive backed paper from International Paper in Binghamton NY. The Lehigh Valley leased four of these boxcars from General Electric Rail Services numbered NIRX 41000-41003. They would later be renumber LV 7050-7053. 

The Bedford switching completed Extra 1049 crosses over to the mainline and heads for Empire City.

Extra 1049 arrives at North Side Yard tall and proud.

Extra 1049 rolls down yard track #2 where they'll drop the train, cut off the engines and perform a runaround move to pick up their outbound cars and caboose.

The 1049 couples up to the RF&P 50'er and prepares for departure.

With the 1049 in the trailing position the train now identified as Extra 2103 leaves North Side Yard.

Next we turn our attention to the Empire Belt RR. 1/87th scale PC Ralph is assigned today's Morning Industrial Job (the MIJ) to deliver the newly arrived freight cars from Extra 1049.

The MIJ is shoving into the east side industrial complex.

Pulled from Empire City Cargill is this Cargill hopper loaded with Barley for Cavendish Foods & Spirits in Mayfield NY.

Empty coil coaches get pulled from Gervais Pipe for return to Kings Port Steel. That new crane has made loading and unloading much faster and safer.

Three PC covered hoppers loaded with wheat flour from the large Rock Ridge NJ Cargill plant are spotted at Empire City Cargill.

A pair of empty EBRR gondolas are spotted at Gervais Pipe for their next P.C.C.M. loads.

1/87th scale PC Ralph holds the MIJ west of the switch to the mainline as Sir Neal finishes up organizing the yard.

The MIJ is back in the yard and adds the coil coaches and covered hopper to the P.C.C.M. cars waiting to depart for Terminal Yard.

We'll cut it here for this P.C.C.M. with the guys waiting for the L.I.R.R. Transfer Run before departing for Terminal Yard with train EB-2. We'll pick that up starting in P.C.C.M. #76.

Be sure to catch the rest of the inbound action on

PC Ralph's Kings Port Division and

Sir Neal's Atlantic Pacific RR.

Thanks for reading and watching!!!

See ya soon.

Penn Central Car Movements #75 / N.Y.C.T.L. Part 5/ The Inbound Cycle Continues

 Greetings All,

Welcome back to Penn Central Car Movements #75

The inbound portion of this three layout virtual op featuring PC Ralph's Kings Port Division and Sir Neal's Atlantic Pacific RR interchanging freight cars with my New York Central Train Layout continues today.

We open up at Terminal Yard with 1/87th scale Alco Joe called for Train EC-1, a daily transfer run to the Empire Belt RRs North Side Yard in Empire City NY.

Train EC-1 with an FA2-GP20 power lash up rolls thru Bedford on the Bedford Secondary towards Empire City.

EC-1 heads onto the mainline at Bedford Tower.

EC-1 passes Hohman Ave tower and enters North Side Yard. 

The EC-1 crew have cut their engines from the train and meet up with the Empire Belt RR trainmen to exchange waybills and the latest 1/87th scale N.Y.C.T.L. gossip.

1/87th scale conductor Murray and Alco Joe reclaim their caboose.

EC-1 heads back to Terminal Yard caboose light.

Now we turn our attention to the Empire Belt RRs North Side Yard with 1/87th scale senior engineer Sir Neal and conductor John getting ready to run the Morning Industrial Job, aka the MIJ.

Two E.B.R.R. U23Cs shove the MIJ east out of the yard. 

The MIJ crosses over onto the Industrial Running Track.

Work starts on the east side where loads and empties need to be swapped.

A pair of empty breadbox trough coil coaches going back to Kings Port Steel get pulled from Gervais Pipe. 

Three empty 50' boxcars get pulled from Ralph's Grocery Warehouse for their next P.C.C.M. loads.

Soups On!!! Three B&M RBLs loaded with canned soup from Habitant Soup in Manchester NH get spotted at Ralph's Grocery Warehouse after being delivered to the EBRR in P.C.C.M. 74.

Two breadbox trough coil coaches loaded with steel coils from Kings Port Steel get spotted at Gervais Pipe.

The MIJ is now pulling a pair of boxcars Neal's Lumber & Hardware. 

Being spotted at Neal's is PC 77047 loaded with bagged landscape rock from Hedberg Aggregates in Marion NY.

The MIJ heads west.

The MIJ comes over the Empire City viaduct to work the west side industries in the background.

AP 60327 and 60358 get pulled from City Pallet loaded with pallets for Rip Van Winkle Canning in Bloomberg NY.

PC 104478 gets pulled from Drywell Inks loaded with 55 gallon drums of ink for the Catskill Mountain Press also in Bloomberg NY

Being spotted at City Pallet are two bulkhead flats of lumber from Half Moon Wholesale Lumber in South West Mill NY.

The MIJ is back together and heading for home.

We'll cut it here today with the MIJ entering North Side Yard and getting a visual inspection from 1/87th scale PC Ralph. 

We'll pick it up tomorrow with Train TY-4 from Selkirk delivering freight cars from the A.P.R.R. to Terminal Yard.

Be sure to catch the rest of the inbound action on

PC Ralph's Kings Port Division and

Sir Neal's Atlantic Pacific RR.

Thanks for reading and watching!!!

See ya tomorrow.