An A.P.R.R. Story Part 2

Greetings Blog Followers,

Today we present part 2 of the popular an A.P.R.R. Story series. Let's take a look at what A.P.R.R. CEO 1/87th scale Sir Neal and the gang are up to today...

A group of 1/87th scale railroaders gather on the sidewalk down the block from Neal's Lumber and Hardware prior to meeting over lunch at one of 1/87th scale Sir Neal's favorite spots, Moriarty's Pub & Restaurant. The lunch time summit has been called by 1/87th scale Sir Neal to discuss and hopefully implement an idea that could revolutionize railroading. 

    Gentleman, we now have mechanical refrigeration said 1/87th scale Sir Neal... 

 I want everyone here to think Juice... Juice! Replied the other 1/87th scale railroad owners. 

Yes, Juice replied 1/87th scale Sir Neal. Specifically orange juice. 

Check out the siding before we sit down to lunch.

And there it was, a 50' mechanical reefer painted for Tropicana Orange Juice. Boys imagine a dedicated train of modern Tropicana reefer cars hauling orange juice from Florida to Kearny NJ  for distribution to the tri-state area. Kearny NJ? Where the heck is that and why there said the group? 1/87th scale Sir Neal just shook his head and replied it's in New Jersey right near my Rock Ridge Yard. Come inside and I'll explain further. 

1/87th scale Sir Neal explained that he had the connections with the Seaboard RR, was certain the RF&P would join in and that all he needed was to get the cooperation of the Penn Central. 1/87th scale Sir Neal had a few Tropicana Reefers already painted but would still need a slew of reefers to make this train a reality. For that he called upon all his railroad connections to route their newest mechanical reefer cars towards Rock Ridge Yard.

And so it begins...

A.P.R.R. #358, PC 8024 (liberated from the Kings Port Division) and a NYC GP35 (from the N.Y.C.T.L.) on point of an early juice train. As time went on the Juice Train would become
 "pure" Tropicana Mechanical reefers and ultimately a completely CSX train.

1/87th scale Sir Neal's plan was audacious for the times. This would be the first food product unit train in history. Tropicana would save 40 million dollars in in fuel costs alone in the first ten years of operation. A win-win for the railroads and Tropicana.

An early 1/87th scale juice train with Tropicana cars from Athearn, Lionel and Tyco. 

                                         The plan worked so well that it is still in use today!
                                             
                                              The current CSX version of the Juice Train

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KzrOC9-L1M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sb8mk2HSJUc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0S92Dx1V1M

                                       Sir Neal's 1/87th scale Tropicana Juice facility.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy-sxs9tqN0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=py2Brn8sa5A&feature=youtu.be

Heileman Brewery Upgraded

Greetings Blog Followers,

I was looking for a project to escape the relentless heat and humidity here in the south I came across an easy project that had been on the to do list for a very long time.   

The Heileman Brewery Complex has been on three of my layouts Each time it was arranged to suit the available space. The kit was sold under the Monarch Brewery name by Heljan.

The latest incarnation left the building with a four 40' boxcar siding but loading dock doors for only one car. The the other three would have to be loaded or unloaded through the windows. So after waiting a few years I finally got around to upgrading the building by adding the much needed loading dock doors and blocking off the standard entry doors that lead to a big drop onto the rails.

Here is a picture of the kit  

http://www.oldmodelkits.com/index.php?detail=24207&newlist=nwemagszw

The Heileman Brewery shows off it's four car siding, three loading dock doors, two pedestrian doors(watch the first step!) and plenty of windows. Not really suitable for track side

The first of four 40' box cars on the right are being shoved into the siding. In a rare moment of cooperation between management and labor, shipper and common carrier all agreed that new loading doors were needed

Four 40' boxcars sit comfortably on the siding. The industry looks much better now that you cannot see the lack of loading / unloading access to the the boxcars. The N.Y.C.T.L. probably didn't mind that much as the demurrage charges have been astronomical. But there is always the need for boxcars for other industries and management at the N.Y.C.T.L. does not want to be caught short handed. So they too urged the Heileman honchos to get the project going.   

Three different New York Central System boxcars with 

a close cousin New Haven boxcar sit and await loading

Well look at that! The Heileman Brewery has new loading dock doors spaced for four 40' boxcars.

And the suicide doors have been bricked up as well.

The loading dock doors are made from some spare roll up doors with the tool box staple black coffee straws as weather stripping. A dock plate made of strip wood has been added under each door.

With the new doors now operational the brewery efficiency expert realized he could have cars spotted at any door if they were numbered. So they were. This will work nice for enhanced operations now that train crews can identify what car goes to what door.

Two NYC 40' boxcars are spotted at doors 1 and 2

The P&LE 40' boxcar is spotted at door 3 and the NH at door 6. Why was the three door group of doors 3, 4 and 5 left like that you may wonder? 

Doors 2 and 4 can accommodate two 50' boxcars

The cars are spotted by a NYC SW8

With the new loading doors in place the beer can now be shipped ice cold
in old style iced reefers. Before the upgrade the siding and the cars would
have been a wet mess! 

With the advent of mechanical refrigeration the N.Y.C.T.L. 

has spotted two of it's cleanest 50' reefers at Heileman 

A Schaefer 50' Reefer at Heileman's! Kind of like having an EMD switch out the Ford plant. The dock workers may not notice as all they see is the inside of the car. Hopefully the shipping clerk does not recognize the cars reporting marks.

For more on the prototype Heileman Brewery check out this link;

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2840500100.html

An A.P.R.R Story Part 1

Greetings Blog Followers,

As many of you know the A.P.R.R.(Atlantic Pacific Rail Road) has been an active interchange partner with the New York Central Train Layout for quite sometime. While the modeled A.P.R.R. is set in the modern day today we are going to go back in time to the early 1970s when the upstart A.P.R.R. came into existence during the dark times of Northeast Railroading. With many of the class 1s like the Penn Central, Lehigh Valley and the Erie Lackawanna in bankruptcy or close to it the Atlantic Pacific Rail Road was able to carve itself a profitable niche through shrewd business maneuvers that allowed it to purchase or lease rights of way thought to be non profitable. Combined with track rights on some class 1s the A.P.R.R. came to be a railroad to be reckoned with and was able to stay independent during the Northeast Rail Road Revitalization Act of 1976. This granted the A.P.R.R. additional  revenues and trackage rights with the newly formed Conrail.

The man behind the A.P.R.R. is really 1-to 1 Sir Neal but for story purposes we are going to attribute the founding to 1/87th scale Sir Neal Himself  who started the railroad from his office at Neal's Lumber and Hardware in Empire City. Seeing all the trains running into and out of North Side Yard seemed to light a fire in 1/87th scale Sir Neal. Before long a rail siding was put in at Neal's Lumber and Hardware and he became an excellent online customer. Then 1/87th scale Sir Neal brokered a deal with N.Y.C.T.L. management where Neal's Lumber and Hardware would be switched twice a day with the outbound shipments going in NYC Pacemaker Freight cars because 1/87th scale Sir Neal liked the colors and wanted his products to arrive at their customers one day earlier than the traditional freight traffic. The next thing you know 1/87th scale Sir Neal Himself became the proud owner of his own passenger car, a sleeper observation car, named "Nassau County". From there chartered trips and weekend specials became regular occurrences. With all this railroad activity the next logical step for 1/87th scale Sir Neal was to own his own railroad. With many railroads in bankruptcy good buys could be had at bargain basement  prices. And so the A.P.R.R. was born.

Let's take a look at the A.P.R.R. first arriving on New York Central Train Layout tracks;

The Pride of the new fleet! A.P.R.R. GP38 #358 is the first unit painted in full A.P.R.R. colors. This engine and five others were built by EMD for the Reading and Seashore Lines (P.R.S.L.), a jointly owned Penn Central Reading Company subsidiary, in late 1970. The P.R.S.L. however could not gain financing and four of the units went to the bankrupt PC who had better credit and 1/87th scale Sir Neal scooped up the fifth unit. The unit was painted at the N.Y.C.T.L. paint shop and fitted with dynamic brakes by EMD.
The four PC units, 2010 - 2014 were fixtures in the Camden N.J. area for many years. 

The 358 with a fully painted 50' foot A.P.R.R. boxcar and caboose head for Terminal Yard with this one freight car transfer train. 

A nice shot of the first A.P.R.R. freight car, AP 16035. Since the unit was painted at the N.Y.C.T.L. paint shop 1/87th scale Sir Neal and the paint crew agreed that a slightly different shade of jade green would be appropriate to show that the car was part of the family.

It didn't take long! The A.P.R.R. #358 is now part of the Terminal Yard power pool.

#358 is in the rocking chair as it passes the 

Empire City Cargill Grain Elevator with a unit grain train. 

A.P.R.R. #358 is teamed up today with PC GP38-2 8024 and GP40 3175 

Some say 1/87th scale Sir Neal suggested the orange "C" to Al Perlman President of the PC

The three unit lash up will need all of the advertised horsepower today!

The A.P.R.R. began buying used freight equipment to start building a decent roster. As many railroads of the period were looking to shed unwanted cars the A.P.R.R. was ready to scoop them up. Below is a second hand cylindrical hopper purchased by the A.P.R.R. from the A.T.S.F.

A few days later A.P.R.R. #358 had the honor of switching out Neal's Lumber and Hardware.

A brakeman holds traffic while the A.P.R.R.GP38 blocks the street.

The 358 is in the lead on this hotshot intermodal train with a four unit diesel consist. It's just left Terminal Yard and believed to be en-route to the newly opened A.P.R.R. "Reynolds Intermodal Yard". 1/87th scale Sir Neal Himself was quick to realize that Intermodal was going to be a big part of railroad profits in the years to come. 

Well look who it is! 1/87th scale Sir Neal Himself is monitoring the 

intermodal train from A.P.R.R. caboose #58

Lee Beverage Distributors

Greetings Blog Followers,

Urban renewal and some structure rehabilitation have lead to the grand opening of Lee Beverage Distributors adjacent North Side Yard in Empire City. This was once a blighted neglected area and considered undesirable due to it's proximity to the rail yard throat and front edge of the layout. Recent zoning changes and an uptick in the real estate market have lead some small industries to relocate to this area so they can use the prestigious Empire City zip code, benefit from tax breaks and enjoy a location where there businesses are welcome.

One such business is Lee Beverage Distributors. Lee's is the newest occupant of a modified Life Like Mt Vernon Manufacturing Co kit.



I originally built this kit in the early 1990s for a layout specific area. The building was in the L shape you see above but the left hand side was glued as a second floor on top of the right hand side after cutting part of the right side roof off. This was done to allow trucks to enter under the building to access the loading dock which was placed at the rear of the first level. After that layout was torn down the building was moved and turned into a city jail and then subsequent moves left the building languishing in the big parts container for a decade at least.

I stripped the building in 91% rubbing alcohol, re-configured it and repainted it with rattle can brown oxide primer. Signage was from a Walthers kit. I then sprayed the building with Krylon clear flat. This caused that a faded look to appear on the building and decals.

Track side view of Lee Beverage Distributors. Note the NYC FA2 with PC F7As across the aisle in the newly mocked up station scene. We'll explore that in an upcoming blog entry. 

Space is tight and the yard throat ensures hands and arms will be reaching around and over these buildings so no fragile details are being applied. Wood sticks are side being used as sidewalk mock ups. 

Aisle view. The windows and loading dock wood base are brush painted with acrylic green paint.

A 40' trailer is spotted at Lee Beverage Distributors while a 45' trailer and

tractor navigate the narrow streets still in mock up stage. 

A bakery supply company can be seen behind  Lee's at the edge of the edge. 

That will be the third and final building to occupy this area.

Dependable Auto Parts which was featured here a couple of weeks ago has received some roof top details. 

Nothing too tall to snag a wrist or hand.

Roof vents made from some wood pieces I bought many many moons ago and 

vent pipes made from black coffee straws (Thanks Ralph!)  

Special Duty Trifecta Part 2

Greetings Blog Followers,

The New York Central Train Layout Mechanical Shop and Paint Shop appear to have once again risen to the occasion. The shop forces refurbished and repainted three vintage Special Duty Units that are now back in service. The focus of the project was to take three units in different paint schemes, two Atlas Yellow Box SD35s and one Atlas Yellow Box SD24 (now an SD9), and make them into a consistent consist as seen in the Green Frog Penn Central Video Series. See Special Duty Trifecta Part 1 for additional information.

Penn Central SD35 6018 wears the red "P" (thanks Ralph!) as it leads SD9 6922 and SD35 6024 towards North Side Yard with a hot shot auto parts train

The three SD units show three different aspects of full Penn Central regalia
but make up a consistent consist that was the goal of the project.

Penn Central SD35 6024

Penn Central SD9 6922. This unit has had it's roof top air tanks removed, the holes plugged 

and a new horn has been added. 

Penn Central SD35 6018. This was the former 6039. The prototype 6018 wore the red "P" 

The SDs use their combined 6,750 horsepower to haul their train into Empire City

The SD units are on the viaduct heading towards North Side Yard

The train is entering Empire City on the upper level above E.C. Station

The SDs cross the Empire City viaduct

A reverse shot of the units on the E.C. viaduct

The train as arrived at North Side Yard, an additional block of cars have been added and the train is ready for departure with the 6024 now in the lead.

Some custom painted power was photographed at North Side Yard .
Two GP30s to the left and two GP38-2s to the right.

Word's gone out over the scanner about the newest SD units in the fleet and 1/87th Scale Sir Neal Himself has cruised over to a favorite Empire City rail fan spot in his Trans Am. Looks like 1/87th scale PC Ralph was passing through and had the scanner on in his vintage corvette and decided to stop and have a look.  

The SD units are leaving Empire City under the watchful eyes of of 1/87th Scale Sir Neal and PC Ralph who are under the watchful eyes of the E.C.P.D. 

In concluding this project I am quite pleased how the three units turned out. Three pretty old (20+ years) Atlas units have been refurbished so that they run well individually and in consist. They were stripped and repainted into a nice looking consist that will see plenty of main line freight trains for many more years to come. Not to bad for some old second hand units....