New York Central Train Layout

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Empire City Subway Fan Trip

Greetings All,

During the Holidays the New York Central Train Layout Trainmen and Tower Operators got together for a subway rail fan trip. With the reduced schedule the Empire City Transit Authority took this time to make some interesting equipment moves which is what seems to have been one of the reason for the trip.

The guys have gathered at the Grand Central Station / 42nd Street subway station. Note this is not Grand Central Terminal which would be upstairs.

The first move is this cool looking set of Porter Hustlers with both NYC and PC reporting marks. The low roofs on these engines make them ideal for subway service

The guys admire the custom painted unit that came out of the N.Y.C.T.L. Paint Shop

A more traditional sighting, A subway train. The car is an R17 class that were purchased in the mid fifties to replace Interboro Rapid Transit cars. The IRT is a component of the NYC Transit Authority. The other two components making up the N.Y.C.T.A. subway system are the IND(Independent Subway System) and BMT (Brooklyn Manhattan Transit Corp)

Another work M.O.W. train heads thru the station behind a set of S12s

Meanwhile subway traffic heading North is running smoothly

Intercity upstairs, subway down stairs

For more check out this short video;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jc3n3NyFqHA

Thanks for reading!!!

Friday, January 6, 2017

First Project of 2017

Greetings All,

January 1st turned out to be a productive day for me and the New York Central Train Layout. With foul weather and a day of NFL football available to be listened to as I spent time in the train room the day was very enjoyable.

I started looking over some areas of the layout that I wanted to address this year. As I started checking off some spots I took a good look under the High Line, home of the NYC Water Street Freight Terminal and the Railway Express Agency. Years ago I had put black poster board over the plywood to simulate asphalt and hide the plywood. The drawback was that the entire area was too dark in the shadows of the High Line. At one point I had added a cement lot to the R.E.A. building which I liked.

I was hesitant (lazy) to attempt this under the High Line at the Freight Terminal as I would have to unscrew the High Line supports from below the layout. So in a moment of motivation instead of just adding this location to the list I knuckled down and got it done.

While it's really nothing fancy I am pleased with the results. Using some card stock, a straight edge, a razor, sharp #2 pencil and some tacky glue it was a nice easy project that produced little mess.
Let's take a look;

Here is a photo of the area from 2015. Note that I started to add the cement parking lot in the lower right.

Here's a photo of the newly updated area

A close up of newly brightened area has the Freight Terminal foreman talking with one truck driver while a Lee Way tractor trailer is being loaded.

A NYC Pacemaker box truck sits in door 1 while a NYC 28' trailer awaits the call to duty in the new parking lot.

40' trailers spotted in the loading dock doors and an SP trailer sits empty. Note the expansion joints made using the #2 pencil and straight edge.

Over at the Railway Express Agency an REA driver backs in a tractor trailer

REA box truck and and tractor trailer at the loading docks. The REA lot also received expansion joints.

Looking under the High Line the color contrast between asphalt and the new truck lots looks much better in person and in photographs.

A simple no mess project is now in the books. Most modelers can easily handle a project like this and achieve good results. Modelers who really enjoy the scenery process may want to consider using other materials for the paving and asphalt areas for even better looking results. Those looking at that may be interested in using this simple method as a 'stand in' until such time as the more advanced project gets under way.

Thanks for Reading!

Friday, December 30, 2016

Year End Update

Greetings All,

With 2016 in the books for the N.Y.C.T.L. now is a good time to look back on what transpired this year. 2016 was a year of much layout progress and much learning. New friends and old friends helped make the layout a joy to work on and operate.

The beginning of the 'virtual ops' with my friend Ralph V's Kings Port Division http://kingsportdivision.blogspot.com/ played a huge part in the completion of rolling stock, motive power and scenery projects. Dubbed the 'virtual ops catalyst' this led to many positive accomplishments over the year. Some of these include;
25 'virtual ops' installments with well over a hundred photographs of the layout and equipment.

My collaboration and communication with Ralph has been very enjoyable and his friendship is highly valued. Some of the virtual ops catalyst projects were adding several new engines, each one accurately painted and lettered for their prototype.
PC FP7 4348

NYC #1644

NYC / PC #4072

PC U30B #2875

The virtual ops catalyst led to scenery upgrades throughout the layout like here on the West Side, a long needed fence was installed

A new parking lot

and the Gervais Pipe and Ralph's Grocery Warehouse siding

Meanwhile Ralph's Grocery Warehouse, named for Ralph V went from this;

to this;

And 1/87th scale PC Ralph has been a fixture on the layout!

Gervais Industries went from this

To this

Weathering of rail cars and engines to look more like their prototypes was tried and tested.

Adding power packs to Hudson Coal and the West Side for easier switching of these locations.

The West Side controller

Some imagineered structures to enhance the operations and photographs like this tank car unloading facility

and this steel unloading structure

The 'virtual ops' has been a lot of fun and I am looking forward to it's continuation in 2017.
I've also had a lot of fun with my buddy Engineer Ed and our "actual ops" This too has been a huge catalyst to have the layout looking good and all the equipment running reliably. Can't hide a derailment during an actual op! Here's 1:1 scale Engineer Ed operating at Terminal Yard;

Here's 1/87th scale Engineer Ed at Bedford Tower talking with tower operator 1/87th scale John B

We've run a lot of trains and had a lot of fun.

We also took several road trips for layout visits, swap meets and train shows that were a lot of fun. We visited Eric Siegel's beautiful O scale Appalachian & Western RR

We checked out Master Model Railroader Bill Zawacki's HO scale Little Towne RR

And most recently the Tuscarora Mountain RR.

A beautifully scenicked and operating 2 rail O scale layout

A box of goodies from a swap meet journey

Upgrading and adding better looking and functioning railroad equipment has always been one of my priorities. To facilitate this I continue to employ the services of the N.M.D.C. (Neal Multz Diesel Consultants). Over the years 1:1 Sir Neal has been a huge supporter of the N.Y.C.T.L. and a great friend. His Neal's Lumber and Hardware is one of the NY.C.T.L.'s best online customers. I look forward to our continued friendship and adding his A.P.R.R. into the virtual ops.
Agents from the N.M.D.C found, arranged for purchase and forwarded these subway cars for the Empire City Transit Authority.

and this L.I.R.R. RS-2

I also raided my purgatory box for several projects that paid big dividends.
From the Purgatory Box; A PC caboose project went from this

To this;

The NYC 499043 project went from this;

To this;

NYC / P & LE Gondola (pictured with a Model Power blue flatcar) went from this

to this;

CB&Q and Southern gondolas also weathered with better looking loads

And the Model Power blue flatcar became this NYC flatcar;

A Bachmann depressed center flatcar went from this;

To this;

Thanks to 1:1 scale John B, who's alter ego is 1/87th scale tower operator John B, the towns of Bedford and Bedford Park came into being. Giving these layout locations an identity has greatly enhanced the way I view the layout and paid huge dividends in the way the railroad operates. Shakespeare said 'what's in a name?' The answer is plenty for the N.Y.C.T.L.
A layout location in need of an identity; Bedford is born

So much better for train photos and a sense of location Bedford and Bedford Park have become good spots to rail ran and enjoy switching operations

Day one at Bedford Tower. 1/87th scale John B is on the job.

The rest of the 1/87th scale crew pays a visit to welcome John to the layout. Note engine #358. An A.P.R.R.engine painted in the N.Y.C.T.L. Paint shop. The A.P.R.R. is 1:1 Sir Neal's freelanced model railroad.

Bedford Station. NYC Observation car "Nassau County" is 1/87th scale Sir Neal's private business car. As the senior engineer and N.Y.C.T.L. employee 1/87th scale Sir Neal enjoys some serious perks.

NYC GP7 5746 stops at Bedford Station where some REA cars are receiving express shipments.

Another project that is one of my favorites of 2016 was adding PC 10-6 Sleeper Car 'James Park Jr' to my fleet. 1:1 John B was instrumental in determining who James Park Jr actually was. Thanks John!
The PC 10-6 sleeper went from this;

To this;

Another upgrade this year was adding 1:1 Larry D. to the group and adding Hohman Ave Tower to the layout. This simple structure manned by 1/87th scale Larry D. has added some great photo opportunities and a sense of realism to Terminal Yard and the West Side of the layout.