P.C.C.M. 41A

Greetings All,

The 41st Penn Central Car Movement series is underway. Billed by me as the Tom Seaver series it's time to get the ball rolling.

Tom Seaver fun fact #1: Tom was originally drafted and signed by the Atlanta Braves in 1966. The MLB commissioner ruled the signing invalid. The Mets won his signing rights in a three team lottery. Tom began his MLB career in 1967 winning 16 games for the last place Mets and the NL Rookie of the Year award.

To:        West Mill / Rock Ridge
From:    North Side Yard, Empire Belt RR
Subject: Interchange of freight cars with the L.I.R.R., 
              Dispatch of Empire Belt Transfer to Terminal Yard.

We begin with the Long Island Railroad's daily freight transfer from their Fresh Pond Yard to the Empire Belt's North Side Yard located in Empire City. L.I.R.R. RS3 1556 is making it's way past Bedford NY with an eight car freight train.

Bringing up the rear is my de facto L.I.R.R. caboose. I'm going to have to break down and buy a decal set for this car. 

The L.I.R.R. train coming around the Bedford Curve approaches the Cornelius Vanderbilt Memorial Bridge as some MOW workers attend to the newly placed ballast.

The new Hohman Ave extension is now open, or at least partially open. As anyone living in a city knows as soon as the road work is done it's time to tear it back up to add new pipes, wires or whatever else the local utilities decide they need to replace.

 L.I.R.R. 1556 pulls into North Side Yard

After dropping their train in North Side Yard the 1556 couples up to the outbound freight cars left on the Empire City Mainline. While running the P.C.CM.s the layout is basically point to point and this curve lay unused. By placing an outbound freight train here I can maximize the layout's point to point capacity and streamline the switching operations. 

The L.I.R.R. train is coupling up to their caboose and add more headaches for local motorists on Hohman Ave. Tower Operator 1/87th scale Larry D is contending with the constant blare of car horns and train horns.

#1556 heads back to Fresh Pond passing Bedford Tower and it's operator 1/87th scale John B. John's thankful he has enough seniority to hold down this much quieter tower position. 

Senior Engineer 1/87th scale Sir Neal is once again running things at North Side Yard and he's teaming up today with newly promoted conductor 1/87th scale AT JOE. Their power today is this pair of loaner GP9s.

As the GP9s warm up the Coal Job arrives with a string of loaded coal hoppers.

The Coal Job enters North Side Yard. They'll tie up their train on track 3, take a meal break and then head back out caboose lite to pick up empties at Terminal Yard to work Hudson Coal.

With the Coal Train out of the way the NSY crew gets to work spotting some cars before they make their last run of the day to Terminal Yard.

Newly minted conductor 1/87th scale AT JOE is manning the rear platform and protecting the shove move towards the East Side. Over at Empire City Caterpillar it looks like that refurbished excavator is ready for shipment back to Sal's Salvage in West Mill NY.

Empty gondolas M.C.R.R. 350623 and KP&W 2140 are spotted at Gervais Pipe and Fitting.

The E.B.R.R. guys coming thru mid town on their way to work the west side.

What's up AT JOE!!! shouts Hohman Ave tower operator 1/87th scale Larry D.

Uh oh! Looks like some unpleasantness on the West Side. 1/87th scale AT JOE gets a close up view as he and 1/87th Senior Engineer Sir Neal begin their work spotting two A.P.R.R. boxcars at Moore & Co to the left.

An unidentified person appears to have been crushed by this heavy covered load that fell after being lifted by the crane to the right. Accident? Intentional? We may never know as these west side guys keep their mouths shut.

With the A.P.R.R. boxcars spotted the crew shoves back to North Side Yard with 1/87th scale AT JOE once again protecting the shove move from the back platform.

Back at North Side Yard the guys ready their train the run to Terminal Yard

Coupled up, air hoses connected and air pressure building. After a terminal air test the transfer run to Terminal Yard will be under way.

The E.B.R.R. transfer run, Extra 505, heads past Bedford Tower and gets the highball from 1/87th scale John B.

Freight cars in the transfer run include these cars from the L.I.R.R. The PC boxcar is loaded with Rheingold Beer for Reynolds Beverage Distributors in Kings Port NY. The empty Morton Salt covered hopper is headed back to Morton Salt in Rock Ridge NJ and the Tropicana RBL is headed to the big NJ Tropicana Plant.  

Extra 505 arrives at Terminal Yard

1/87th scale AT JOE is on the ground helping with the TY switch crew with pulling the freight cars and caboose from their power units.

Extra 505 couples back up to their caboose and will depart Terminal Yard as Extra 412. In the distance 1/87th scale is entering the Terminal Yard office to see when the E.B.R.R. GP9ms will be back from their 30 day inspection.

Extra 412 leaves Terminal Yard

Arriving at North Side Yard we see the Coal Job engines and caboose are ready to head back out. 

That's it for today. Good job rookie! proclaims 1/87th scale senior engineer Sir Neal. We get to do it all over again tomorrow. 

Thanks for reading!!!

Intra-Layout Train Movements

Greetings All,

With P.C.C.M. #41 right around the corner it's time to get a few loose cars into Terminal Yard and ready for departure. Some of these cars have been on the layout for awhile and need to be accounted for and dispatched.

I'm calling my portion of P.C.C.M. #41 the Tom Seaver series in honor of one of my boyhood idols, Tom Seaver who wore #41 for the NY Mets. Tom was born George Thomas Seaver in Fresno CA, is a Hall of Fame pitcher who pitched for 20 years and is most noted for his time with the NY Mets. 

Tom led the Mets to their improbable 1969 World Series win by going 25-7 that year. Although he lost WS game#1 he pitched a complete game 10 inning 2-1 win over the Orioles Mike Cuellar to put the Mets up 3-1 in the series.  I'll add some Tom Seaver Fun Facts to each of the P.C.C.M. 41 series installments that I post.

Now let's get to the trains: 

Penn Central C628 #6309 has come from the engine facility with an old NYC cupola caboose from the caboose track. 

 6309 couples up to a string of empty ore cars on track 5.

NYC GP20 6707 is part of the trio of Terminal Yard power and below it tacks the caboose onto the empty ore train which will be known as Extra 6309. The GD ore car is a tribute to legendary modeler the late John Allen and his Gorre & Daphetid railroad. 

The empty ore train heads down grade from Terminal Yard past Hudson Coal

With the empties on the main 6309 couples up to the loaded cars at T&R Gravel. The PRR and NYC hoppers are loaded with ore for KP Steel on Ralph's K.P.D. layout.

The empties exchanged for loads Extra 6309 heads down grade thru Bedford NY towards Empire City's lower level.

Rounding the curve behind the ACE cafe and crossing over Water street Extra 6309 continues downgrade.

Extra 6309 has come out of the west side tunnel and is approaching Empire City Station.

 Extra 6309 runs past the Empire City USPS facility on the reverse curve.

Extra 6309 emerges from the tunnel on the east side. The train will come back thru EC station and run up the grade to get back to Terminal Yard. Or not... 

The 6309, an AHM C628 repowered with an Athearn BB motor was unable to get the cars up the grade and PC GP30 2332 was dispatched to rescue the stalled train. The light weight of the C628 once again has knocked it out of mineral & ore service.

Former Extra 6309, now Extra 2232 arrives at Terminal Yard and heads for the yard scales on track 9.

Extra 2232 heads thru the weigh in motion scales. The train will terminate further into the yard and the engines will head for the engine terminal. 6309 will most likely end up back in the box.

Back at Empire City the Empire Belt Railroad has left North Side Yard with a transfer run to Terminal Yard. Here's the E.B.R.R. train heading over the Cornelius Vanderbilt Memorial Bridge. The P&LE gondola has had it's girder load from KP Steel removed and is heading back to it's home rails. 

 E.B.R.R. GP9m 7279 leads the train thru Bedford NY

 The E.B.R.R. arrives at Terminal Yard.

These empty cars came into the Empire Belt's North Side Yard from the L.I.R.R. in P.C.C.M. 40  

The following day the Terminal Yard Switcher is building an outbound train while a commuter train takes on passengers on track 1. P&LE 40331 has been loaded at the Terminal Yard repair shop with scrap wheels for Sal's Salvage in West Mill NY. The hoppers with ore from T&R Gravel will be going to Kings Port Steel in Kings Port NY. Both are served by the K.P.D.

 The cars are shoved back thru track 9 to a departure track.

A few of other cars heading out in P.C.C.M. 41 are L.F.N.W. #160 that will be traveling back to it's home rails in California. We'll see more of the 160 as P.C.C.M. 41 progresses. PC #229046 is loaded with rolls of printed labels from Berk Enterprises in Bedford NY and headed for Van Winkle Canning in Bloomberg NY and P&E #3638 loaded with packaging material from Berk Enterprises and headed to Cavendish Fine Foods in Mayfield NY. 

So the stage is set to start the P.C.C.M.41 "Tom Seaver'' series.
 I'll start posting that probably tomorrow so stay tuned. 

Thanks for reading!

Piedmont Pilgrimage Layout Tours

Greetings All,

The 2017 Piedmont Pilgrimage billed as the 15th annual tour of the Atlanta areas great model railroads is well under way. The event is sponsored by the NMRA / Piedmont Division SER of the NMRA and Scale Trains.com. For more on the event click the link 
www.piedmontpilgrimage.com

Two new layouts were on the tour this year that were close to my house so on a Saturday afternoon with a little free time I made the move and went layout visiting. 

The first stop was the home of Patrick Parker to visit his Ocmulgee River Belt Line. Upon arrival I was greeted by Patrick's wife and either mother or mother in law. Both were friendly and after signing in was directed to the train room on the second floor of the home. Once upstairs I was greeted by the host, Patrick and his friend Walt Liles who was manning the throttle(s) and keeping the trains rolling. Both men were pleasant and took time to explain the insight of the layout, modeling techniques used, engaged visitors in conversation and answered all questions cheerfully and in detail. This was a good layout to visit and I enjoyed my time here.

The Ocmulgee River:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocmulgee_River

Here are some photos from Patrick's Ocmulgee River Belt Line;

A Georgia Central Hi Hood U23B leads a freight train on the O.R.B.L. The Georgia Central is a railroad in southern Georgia. The 3919 has a 1:1 GC counterpart.  http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/locoPicture.aspx?id=5442

Plenty of SCL/LN Family Lines power at the engine terminal. At least some of these engines were sound equipped and they were idling away the afternoon nicely.

Much of the rolling stock on display was nicely weathered like this Georgia Ports Authority boxcar. Patrick uses chalks and acrylic paint washes to achieve these results. 

 A close up of SCL #7055 and a rare SCL BQ23-7

A local freight shoves a string of cars towards a large industry at the corner of the layout. The area being modeled is the east coast of Georgia with it's marshes and river ways.

An SCL U18B with an SCL GP7 leads a freight train on the Belt Line.

 Another nicely weathered train in the freight consist.

 I tip my hat to Patrick and Walt for their hospitality and camaraderie. These are model railroaders you can easily spend time with shooting the breeze about trains and modeling. Thanks guys!

My next stop was a layout that I will withhold the name of located a few minutes away. Upon arrival at the house's basement I was greeted pleasantly by family members. I was offered one of the nicely made brochures for the layout and after signing in I was directed to the train room. Upon entering the 13' x 21' train room I noted two guys running trains on a mostly plywood layout, the layout owner and one other visitor. No one so much as looked up as I entered and the owner and his operators went out of their way to avoid any and all eye contact or acknowledging that I was in the room. The other visitor was trying in vain to engage the owner in conversation but getting mostly useless one word answers.

After about five minutes of watching the operators derail their trains thru closed switches and being ignored I took my leave. The only conversation I remember from my visit here was one operator asking the owner how much longer they would have to be open. This only one hour into the tour!

So this visit was a total bust. Why the owner agreed to host an open house is a mystery. It was clear he and his operators were totally disinterested in having visitors. 

Thankfully Patrick, Walt and The Ocmulgee River Belt Line had given me good memories to contemplate on my drive home.

Thanks for reading!

Empire Belt RR / Atlantic Pacific RR Paint Project. Part 1

Greetings All,


We're at it again! 1:1 Sir Neal has scored big time at a local train show and the N.Y.C.T.L. Paint Shop has been contracted to paint three groups of freight cars for 1:1 Sir Neal's Atlantic pacific Railroad and my own freelance Empire Belt RR. 

And so it begins... 1:1 Sir Neal has sent this large box of freight cars for me to paint and letter according to our agreed upon specifications.

Note how 1:1 Sir Neal carefully packed this box of model railroading goodies. Damage free shipping is the goal for any packages being shipped. You want your trains well protected in transit. Too many times improper packaging has led to our models arriving with broken parts. 

A large painting project is in the works!! 1:1 Sir Neal does most things on a grand scale and he did not disappoint here. All items have arrived damage free. Group one is seven coal hoppers, group two is the eight 50' boxcars on the right and group three is the two 86' auto parts boxcars. 

To get the project started I disassembled the Atlas 50' double door boxcars being used for this part of the project. Note the horn hook couplers, these are new old stock cars. 

Next I disassembled the coal hoppers. If you can get the metal weight off the car without damaging anything do so. If not leave it like this.

Boxcars and coal hoppers disassembled. A bucket of soapy water waits. First you put your boxcars in then you add in your meatballs and sausages, a cup of sugar and there it is. Wait, wrong recipe! Dunk the cars into the water clean carefully and rinse well. Note the hoppers are also new old stock with their horn hook couplers.

All cars are now cleaned, rinsed and air drying. I wash the cars to make sure any mold removal agents or other contaminants are removed prior to the painting process. Once thoroughly dry the cars will be ready for painting on the Patti-O Paint Shop just outside the window.    

Seven coal hoppers are now painted and drying. This is the most basic of rattle can painting. I used a flat black to paint the cars while they were in their various sub-assemblies shown above. I put the cars back together and then painted them gloss black. Here they are drying and waiting for the next step.  

Next for this project is the mock up. (Are you mocking me!! No judge I wore this ridiculous suit just for you) The A.P.R.R. decals come in two sizes per sheet and will letter two cars per sheet. I've sent this picture to 1:1 Sir Neal for his review prior to lettering the models.

While I was waiting to hear back from 1:1 Sir Neal I painted the boxcars according to our project's guidelines. Six orange cars to be lettered for the A.P.R.R. and two cars for my E.B.R.R. All cars were painted with gray primer prior to their finish coats.

Having received approval from 1:1 Sir Neal the coal hoppers are lettered and in their SolvaSet phase. SolvaSet is a decal setting solution that allows the decals to soften and snuggle down over the rivets or seams of the freight cars. This part of the project is huge. Patience grasshopper!!! It will take several days at least for these decals to be totally snuggled down with no air bubbles. Use a pin to prick any bubble AFTER several coats of SolvaSet has been applied and the model is dry. Sometimes the decals will settle on their own and the pin prick will not be required.

Back to the boxcars the all important mock ups and decal cutting is under way. The green Empire Belt car is mocked up using the decals for the project. The orange A.P.R.R. car will follow the lettering style of the white A.P.R.R. cars in the background. The A.P.R.R. decals have been cut and each car is represented by a container. All decals for that car are included in the individual container so when't it's time to decal you're ready to go. 

Two E.B.R.R. cars are almost ready for the next phase of adding a clear spray like Testor's Dullcote to protect the decals and dull down the glossy finish. Both cars are numbered 358160 as one will stay with me and the other will go to 1:1 Sir Neal for use in our virtual ops or Penn Central Car Movements. (P.C.C.M.s)

All the orange A.P.R.R. cars now have a white roof and the orange has been sprayed with Testor's Glosscote. I'm not a fan of orange rattle can paint but in the end the cars came out pretty good. The coal hoppers are lettered and in the Solvaset phase.

The first AP car being lettered. Next installment I hope to be able to showcase the new AP fleet of boxcars and coal hoppers. There's still a lot of work to be done but the project is moving along at a nice pace. 

Thanks for Reading!!