Greetings All,
New Interchange Partner
The DJS Railway
In December, 2025 the New York Central Train Layout (NYCTL) added the DJS Railway, a subsidiary of the Southern Railway, as an interchange partner to expedite the north-south movement of our HO Scale railroad freight.
The DJS Railway uses the initials that belong to my nephew and dates back about twenty five years when he and my sons were much younger. Our family, located in New York at this time, had staked out their own railroads like the NYC, PRR, B&O.
One Christmas each boy received a Walthers Trainline Alco FA1 locomotive and I thought the Southern Railway would be a good fit for DJS, after he moved south with his parents.
The Southern Railway interchanged freight traffic with the Pennsylvania Railroad and later Penn Central at Potomac Yard in Ivy City (Washington DC) and via Buckeye Yard in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Not having his own layout and not wanting the locomotive to sit in the box for another 20 years the Southern 2853A below was sent my way in 2025 to run and film.
DJS Train 2853 prepares to depart from Terminal Yard in December, 2025. At this time the DJS was using a leased NYC caboose.
Fast Forward to 2026
Capital Investments
One of the first goals I set for the DJS Railway was to add additional motive power (like any good model railroader) to allow the DJS to haul more tonnage and make more revenue.
The 2853B is an older Walthers release purchased via ebay. After a thorough cleaning the locomotive runs great solo and in multiple unit operation with the 2853A.
Railfans and railroaders alike check out the newest locomotives to visit the terminal.
The 2853A and newly purchased 2853B get serviced in the Terminal Yard engine terminal.
Railfans and railroaders alike check out the newest locomotives to visit the terminal.
Operations Plan
The DJS Railway operates out of Sterling Yard and is a friendly interchange partner for freight traffic traveling north and south to and from Terminal Yard. Transfer trains are carried from Sterling Yard to Terminal Yard as Train DJS-1 and return as Train DJS-2.
To run these trains the DJS added Southern caboose X458 which is the Walthers kit I purchased in early January.
An Athearn RTR 40' double door Southern boxcar arrived on the layout in early January.
Steel products like this long beam from U.S. Steel in Fairfield, Alabama will come thru Sterling Yard as will the Central of Georgia boxcar behind the Southern gondola delivering CAT products from Thomaston, GA to Empire City Caterpillar.
With the Southern Railway becoming more involved in the day to day railroad operations I was able to add a couple of Southern boxcars like this Walthers 60' boxcar
Freight traffic to be moved via the DJS will include coal traffic coming from the Hoschton Railway, The Crossroads of the South, headquartered in Hoschton, GA.
Below a Hoschton boxcar delivers freight to the Terminal Warehouse & Cold Storage complex. The Hoschton Railway was the freelanced railroad conceived by our late friend Engineer Ed Walsh and lives on in 1:87 scale.
See DJStrains DJS-1 and DJS-2 move the freight.
Early March Train DJS-1 and DJS-1
with a High & Wide Special
Trains DJS-1 and DJS-2
April 2026
Final Thoughts and Comments
A special thank you to my nephew for entrusting me with his locomotive and allowing the DJS to participate in my model railroad operations plan. This has been very gratifying for me and I enjoy filming the DJS trains as they move thru the layout.
Look for more DJS action in the future.
Thanks for reading and watching!!!
See you soon!!!
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