Penn Central U23C #6710

 Greetings All,

By 1970 the Penn Central realized it did no good to run the wheels off a train out on the road and then have it wait outside of town for yard space. Penn Central's yards at this time and throughout their existence were places for derailments and delays. The two 1970 orders for 19 2300 HP GE U23Cs recognized this and they were intended for use as hump engines however both the U23Cs and SD38s did see infrequent work as road power to clean the accumulated carbon deposits out of their engines.

I added PC U23C #6718 to my fleet back in January 2020 and although pleased with it's performance I always felt Terminal Yard would be better served with a pair of such units. 

Penn Central U23C #6710 has arrived in Terminal Yard. Like the 6718 it is an Athearn BB U28C product. The donor shell from my purgatory box received a change of numbers and some yellow paint. 

The 6718 and 6710 coupled together provide a lot of power to handle the long pulls and shoves at Terminal Yard.

Of course there are always detractors! The 6710 and 6718 look good and work well coupled together. Like the 6718, the 6710 is maintenance based at Selkirk. 

The 6710 and 6718 pull a cut of cars out of a yard track and down the grade behind Hudson Coal. 

Pulling and shoving freight cars up and down this grade to switch the yard is where the six axle U23Cs will earn their keep. Hump engines indeed!

 In other yard assignments the U23Cs easily handle this seven car cut coming out of Terminal Warehouse and Cold Storage

The combined 4,600 HP provide enough muscle for pulling a sixteen car cut from the Pier 16 Grain Silos.

These Athearn U Boats with their large flywheel equipped motors provide good power and nice slow running capabilities. Changing their numbers to the U23C 6700 series and adding some painted details gives them a proper look for yard service. 

A couple of looks at the prototype. 6710 in action at Selkirk and a close up of the 6710 coupled up to the 6714.

Thanks for reading and watching!!!

See ya soon!!!

Penn Central Car Movements #77 / N.Y.C.T.L. Part 8 / Conclusion of Virtual Op

Greetings All,

Welcome back to Penn Central Car Movements #77!!

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

We open up early in the morning with Robert R pulling empty EBRR and APRR 86' boxcars from the Bedford Park Ford Plant.

Robert R gets clearance from the Bedford Towerman to proceed to Terminal Yard as Train BP-12.

Train BP-12 heads for Terminal Yard

BP-12 rolls into Terminal Yard. The empty EBRR and APRR 86'ers will head back to IDEAL Auto Parts in Rock Ridge NJ for reloading in a future P.C.C.M.

Robert R has coupled up his Alco S4 to this six car freight train for Bedford Park Yard and will depart as Train BP-41.

Train BP-41 heads to Bedford Park Yard.

Train BP-41 breezes past Bedford Station.

Robert R brings BP-41 into the tight confines of Bedford Park Yard.

After runaround move #1 three cars are placed in the yard.

After runaround move #2 the auto parts cars get shoved into the Ford Plant

AP 86027, EBRR 508327 and AP 615827 loaded with auto parts from IDEAL are spotted at the Ford Plant.

After picking up the three cars placed earlier in the yard AP 40' boxcars 4182 and 4035 loaded with a replenishment supply of bulk hardware from American Hardware Supply in Rock Ridge NJ are spotted at the Bedford Park American Hardware Supply.

Robert R spots the loaded Cancer Awareness Car at All City Storage which concludes the action at Bedford Park but not our support for Cancer Awareness.

Next we catch engineer Sir Neal bringing today's Morning Industrial Job out of North Side Yard and onto the industrial running track.

Now working the G&R siding a pair of empty coil coaches get pulled from Gervais Pipe & Fitting for return to Kings Port Steel.

Empty HRC, AP and EL freight cars get pulled out of the Ralph's Grocery Warehouse siding for their next P.C.C.M. loads.

Now spotted at Ralph's Grocery Warehouse are three PC RBLs loaded with juice products from Tropicana in Rock Ridge NJ.

APRR and EBRR 52' gondolas are spotted at Gervais Pipe & Fitting for their next P.C.C.M. loads.

Engineer Sir Neal ties down the Morning Industrial Job on the industrial running track to await the arrival of the LIRR Transfer.

Two Alco RS units bring the LIRR Transfer thru Bedford.

The LIRR comes around the west side curve as they roll towards North Side Yard.

Engineer Jimmy Alco has cut the engines from the train and checks in with the EBRR trainmen where paperwork, RR gossip like the recent "incident at West Mill" and lunch recommendations will be exchanged.

Moriarty's famous fish & chips gets the nod for today's lunch fare.

Jimmy Alco is back in the cab and couples up to the outbound freight cars for Long Island industries; PC Hi Cube 272742 loaded with appliances for Gimbels, LV 7120 loaded with fresh produce for Jamaica Foods, Corning hopper empty for W Hills Silica Sand and Cargill / TDLX hopper loaded with flour for Ronzoni. 

The LIRR heads out of town via the west side curve.

The LIRR heads for home

Put it in the books!!!

That wraps up the N.Y.C.T.L.'s portion of P.C.C.M #77. Don't despair though there is plenty of action still continuing on Ralph's  Kings Port Division and Sir Neal's Atlantic Pacific Railroad has finished it's moves in style.

Thanks for reading and watching!!!

 See ya soon!!! 

Penn Central Car Movements #77 / N.Y.C.T.L. Part 7 /The Empire Belt Delivers

 Greetings All,

Welcome back to Penn Central Car Movements #77!!

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

We open up at Terminal Yard with a Penn Central F7 A-B-A pulling out block one of Train EC-1, a daily transfer run to Empire City.

Block two of EC-1 gets coupled on.

The F7 A-B-A consist brings the EC-1 onto the Bedford Secondary. 

Train EC-1 heads for North Side Yard

The EC-1 arrives at the Empire Belt RR's North Side Yard in Empire City. Engineer ATJOE checks in with the EBRR trainmen. 

ATJOE collects his caboose and conductor and heads back to Terminal Yard caboose lite.

It's all hands on for the EBRR to get this large inbound train sorted and blocked for local deliveries and interchange with the LIRR.

Engineer Sir Neal couples up and the Morning Industrial Job's work begins.

The inbound freight cars have been sorted for local deliveries as engineer Sir Neal brings the remainder of the cars back into the yard.

The Morning Industrial Job is working the G&R siding spotting steel coil coaches from Kings Port Steel at Gervais Pipe & Fitting.

Being spotted at Ralph's Grocery Warehouse are two cars loaded with baked goods from Freihofer's Bakery, HRC 50 RBL and EL reefer #5034. AP #58279 loaded with restaurant supplies from C&P Rest Supply is the center car spotted for unloading. 

The MIJ is now at Neal's Hardware & Lumber pulling out EBRR #358160 loaded with plywood veneers for Mike's Lumber in Rock Ridge NJ.

P&E boxcar #3638 loaded with bricks from Port Owen Brick is now spotted at Neal's Lumber & Hardware.

Engineer Sir Neal brings the Morning Industrial Job west.

The MIJ comes over the Empire City Viaduct to access the west side industries.

After a couple of moves the freight cars are in position for delivery.

Empty EBRR boxcar #360279 is spotted at Reliable Machine Co for it's next P.C.C.M. load.

PC boxcar #142770 is spotted back Superior Furniture for continued P.C.C.M. loading. 

Empty NH boxcar #36116 is spotted at City Pallet for it's next P.C.C.M. load.

The west side work is done and the MIJ is back together.

Sir Neal brings the MIJ thru midtown and heads back to the yard.

The MIJ is back in North Side Yard on track #1.

Some car switching gets the yard ready for tomorrow's installment.

We'll cut it here for today with the engines coupled up to the P.C.C.M. cars still awaiting local delivery and tied down for the day.

We'll conclude the op tomorrow starting at Bedford Park Yard. Then we'll check back with the EBRR at North Side Yard as they deal with local deliveries and a pending freight car interchange with the LIRR.

Be sure to follow the action on PC Ralph's Kings Port Division and Sir Neal's Atlantic Pacific Railroad.

Thanks for reading and watching!!!