'The Seven Engine Itch'

Greetings All,

After posting the ''Having Fun with 'Wasteful' Dispatching" blog post last Saturday I suddenly came down with "the seven engine itch". The 'seven engine itch' comes from photo on page 55 from the Penn Central Power book by Robert J. Yanosey where seven engines are powering a freight train to make sure enough of them stayed on line to keep important single track mainlines open. 

During the prep work for the "Wasteful Dispatching" blog post 1:1 PC Ralph sent me some great photos which were a catalyst for this follow up project. As noted by Ralph running this many engines from different manufacturers in straight DC is difficult but they look great in a photo.

John Bruce was already busy putting some big DCC consists together on his L.F.N.W. Check the link for how he consists his engines.

1:1 Sir Larry of Flemington also caught the bug and sent over a nice google link of prototypical seven engine lash up videos. 

Keeping the important River Line open was a major necessity for the Penn Central and utilizing extra units was considered prudent as we learned in the "Wasteful Dispatching" blog entry. Below a 1/87th scale Emery Gulash was out capturing the action on the River Line;

If that wasn't enough motivation I later noted on Page 140-141 of the Penn Central Railroad Color History by Peter E. Lynch a six engine PC powered VN-4 heading from Selkirk to New York City with some of the engines deadheading to cover the later westbound trains. Since Empire City is loosely based on New York City and VN-4 is one of the trains I run this fit right into my layout's operations.

With this in mind I hit the train room and sought out powered and dummy engines to cobble together some seven engine consists that I could actually run without overheating the controllers and blowing the circuit breakers. Here's what I came up with;

First attempt was this all PC all Athearn GP38-2-GP35-GP38-SD40-SD45-GP38-2 seven unit consist with six powered engines. It ran good but I think it has too many powered engines. I'll rework this consist in a later photo.

An all PRR, all Bachmann F7A-F7A-F7B-F7B-F7A-F7A-GP30 lash up looked good and ran very well. Five of the seven units are powered. All units belong to my oldest son. This is what happens when you buy your competition. 

The all Bachmann PRR units join the all Athearn BB PC units on the High Line.

Six Bachmann powered engines and one Athearn BB dummy U30B made up this consist that performed very well.

 Four GP30s and two B Boats provided plenty of power.

Triple Sevens on the High Line!

An all Bachmann NYC / PC consist. Three powered NYC F units, two dummy PC F units and two NYC  FM H16-44s provided plenty of power without overheating the controller.

The H16-44s bring up the rear of the consist as a seven unit consist from the High Line now sitting on Track 1 looks on. 

A reworked seven unit consist of mostly Athearn BB units that ran much better. Two powered BB GP38-2s, a dummy Bachmann GP35, a powered BB PC GP40 make up the front four units. 

A dummy NYC GP40, powered BB PC GP35 and dummy BB PC GP38-2 round out the consist. This was a keeper.

Next I got out six big U Boats and added a B boat to make up this seven engine consist. The 6500 series is pretty appropriate here as the consist measured 65 inches long. 

Four powered units and three dummies. This consist ran pretty good once I got the power and dummy positions worked out.

 The U Boat consist dwarfs the others on the High Line. 

After some mixing and matching this seven engine lash up was a keeper. Five powered and two non powered units. The NYC B Boats and PRR GP30 are powered.

Two powered NYC GP30s with a dummy U30B and dummy PRR GP35. Having the powered units on the ends worked well.

A second reworked seven engine consist sits on track 2. Powered PC GP30 2228 is followed by two unpowered F7As, a powered F7B and a non powered F7A. 

Powered GP30 2204 and 2232 are at the other end. Another consist that worked very well.

While running the seven engine consists was fun the reality is the N.Y.C.T.L. was not built to handle them on a consistent basis. Their lengths overwhelm the engine terminal, sidings and freight yards. On the positive side using the VN-4 example of having a six (or seven) engine consist coming eastbound on VN-4 to Terminal Yard and getting broken up for later westbound trains is definitely doable. I could probably make up one eastbound and one westbound seven engine consist per ops session without fouling things up so don't be surprised when these big engine consists make some guest appearances on future blog posts and in the Penn Central Car Movements! 

Special thanks to PC Ralph, Sir Neal, John Bruce, Engineer Ed, AT JOE and Sir Larry for the information and contributions. The guys sent over some great photos and info but I was unable to get the photos on the published blog for some reason.

By the way the adding of extra engines to keep the River Line open did not end with the Penn Central. Check out this Conrail nine engine consist on the River Line from February 1977. Anyone want to tackle that on their layout!

For more on the topic listen in to Mike Bednar and Jerry Hoare discussing their railroading careers. They'll cover this exact topic. 

Thanks for reading!!!

Having Fun With ''Wasteful'' Dispatching

Greeting All,

Recently the Penn Central celebrated it's 50th Anniversary (02/01/1968 - 02/01/2018). During this time 1:1 PC Ralph shared with us his witnessing PC trains on the River Line led by up to seven locomotives. Ralph lamented that being young he didn't think to take any pictures and could not identify any of the engines involved. He did recall how impressive the sight of these big lash ups were. 

I was kind of envious of Ralph's good fortune to witness these monster consists. My only recollections of trains during this time period were the graffiti covered subway trains I rode to high school. This also reminded me that another rail fan was watching the River Line during this period documenting the action and armed with a camera. 

Fortunately for us Penn Central fans Robert J Yanosey was out recording the comings and goings of the PC. Mr Yanosey is an author, photographer and the publisher of Morning Sun Books which started with the Penn Central Power book. My absolute favorite railroading book.

Perhaps Mr Yanosey caught the same lash ups as described by Ralph. Here is one such seven unit lash up that he photographed on page 55 of the Penn Central Power book. It is used here with permission.

Here's the excerpt from the PC Power book where Mr. Yanosey commented on the above photo. Aside from excellent photos R.J.Y. can turn a phrase. It is used here with permission. 

Being a model railroader I thought this might be fun to emulate. I originally toyed with the excessive engines concept in my Hauling Steel with Sir Neal blog post by using a six engine consist. 

I also used a five engine lash up for Train UHC-2 in P.C.C.M. 44B

Then on a rainy late February Sunday I hit the train room and spent an enjoyable day putting together some 5 and 6 unit consists to power my freight trains. I focused on getting the Steel Products Train to Terminal Yard and then to North Side yard for interchange with the Long Island RR. I didn't have to worry about excessive fuel consumption or locomotive shortages like the Penn Central. Although I think my house lights were dimming with some of the older engine lash ups!

A three train meet at Bedford NY with a total of thirteen engines. An Empire Belt transfer freight holds on track 3 while PC Train LS-1 behind a five engine lash up heads towards the camera on track 2. On track 1 Extra 2228 climbs the grade on track 1 towards Terminal Yard.

1/87th scale Engineer Ed is at the throttle of the LS-1 five engine lash up (not in the photo is SD45 6190 trailing SD40 6282). All engines are home painted and all are powered Athearn Blue Box models. Talk about the house lights dimming!

1/87th scale Senior Engineer Sir Neal has the steel train extra climbing the grade on track 1 at a slow and steady pace. With LS-1  clear Sir Neal's Extra 2228 has the green signal to proceed towards Terminal Yard.  

The thirty car steel products train continues it's climb up track 1 under the watchful eye of Empire Belt GP30 engineer 1/87th scale PC Ralph 

This is one long steel products train and the six engine lash up may have been prudent to tackle the grades on track 1 and behind Hudson Coal. This is the first time I've run this train and it's all a learning experience today. 

Extra 2228 arrives at Terminal Yard. The six engine consist had the power to get the thirty car train up the grades.

Extra 2228 rolls thru the weigh in motion scales which groan in protest.

The Empire Belt transfer run arrives next at Terminal Yard. 

The Empire Belt train with the two cabooses and Extra 2228's focal orange caboose wait for the yard switcher.

 The switch crew at work pulling the cabooses from both trains.

The following day the steel products train needs to be moved to North Side Yard for the Long Island Railroad to pick it up. The Empire Belt has cajoled the Terminal Yard power desk and will borrow this five unit lash up to get the steel train to their North Side Yard in one move.   

1/87th scale PC Ralph will be running the five engine lash up that are all Atlas Yellow Box home painted engines. Another light dimming consist! Train designation will be EC-1.

Train NY-2 and EC-1 meet at Bedford NY. 

Six axle power is in evidence on both trains. SD45 6190 leads NY-2 with SD40 6282 right behind it. EC-1 boasts SD35s 6018, 6024 and SD9 6922. The 6922 is out on the main for a carbon cleaning. 

 A very busy 1/87th scale John B gives EC-1 a rolling inspection at Bedford Tower.

1/87th scale Sir Larry is out of the tower to check out this ground shaking lash up. BTW the construction crews have left and new grade crossing lights and arms have been installed.
EC-1's five engines cut an impressive figure as they pull into track 3 at North Side Yard. 

EC-1 has doubled the train over to track 2 and is coupling up to the freight cars on track 1 for the return trip as EC-2 to Terminal Yard.

 EC-2 holds temporarily on track 3 as a commuter train zips by.

Not to be outdone the Long Island RR has leased two RS-1s from the PC to assist their two RS units in getting the steel products train out of North Side Yard in one move.

L.I.R.R. RS-3 1556 couples up on track 3 while their inbound cars sit on the outer main.

L.I.R.R. RS1 561 leads the four engine consist with the steel products train in to towards their home rails.

That wrapped up the action and a very nice afternoon of running trains on the layout. All told I was able to get thirty one locomotives some run time on the layout and had a very enjoyable time doing so. 

A special thank you to Robert J. Yanosey, author, photographer and publisher of Morning Sun Books for granting me permission to use the aforementioned caption and photograph.

Thanks for reading!   

Penn Central Car Movement # 44F / The Wrap Up

Greetings All,

Today we'll wrap up the three layout P.C.C.M. 44 series with the arrival of Penn Central empty hopper unit train UHC-1 at Terminal Yard and begin the coal loading cycle again at Hudson Coal.

If you're just tuning in 1:1 Sir Neal started it off dispatching UHC-1 from Rock Ridge Yard. I followed it up with the dispatch of UHC-2, a loaded unit coal train consigned to R.M.O. Electric on Neal's layout. Both trains met at West Mill Yard on Ralph's K.P.D. layout. The unit trains then continued on towards their respective destinations but not without some interesting operations, additions, twists and turns. I strongly recommend checking them out.
P.C.C.M. 44A
P.C.C.M. 44B
P.C.C.M. 44C
P.C.C.M. 44D
P.C.C.M. 44E

To:         Rock Ridge Yard /West Mill
From:    Terminal Yard
Subject: Arrival of PC Train UHC-1 at Terminal Yard

We open up with PC Train UHC-1 outlawed in Empire City adjacent the Empire Belt's North Side Yard. UHC-1 has been sitting here for almost 24 hours. 1/87th scale Engineer Ed and AT JOE have been called as the relief crew. 

1/87th scale Senior Engineer Sir Neal and the guys talk it over. This latest development has stalled service in and out of North Side Yard causing service disruptions to local industries.

Here is the cause of the 24 hour delay, a train has derailed in Bedford NY and the Terminal Yard Wreck Train was dispatched.

The wreck crew's final task is to rerail this New Haven 40' boxcar. Track #2 should be open in a few minutes and the trains can now start moving.

The first train past the wreck site is NY-2 the Meat Products train led by a trio of Alco Century's.

NY-2 at Bedford Tower getting orders from tower operator 1/87th scale John B.

NY-2 makes it's way past North Side Yard as Empire Belt Train EC-2 with 1/87th scale PC Ralph at the throttle gets ready to proceed towards Terminal Yard. 

Following the slow order thru Bedford 1/87th scale PC Ralph guides EC-2 slowly past the crane spotting the New Haven boxcar.

Meanwhile 1/87th scale Double E and AT JOE have just received clearance to proceed to Bedford Tower from Hohman Ave tower operator 1/87th scale Larry D

1/87th scale John B is out again handing up clearance forms. I bet he wished he took off today!

UHC-1 rolls slowly past the wreck train. If the wreck train engine consist looks familiar chances are you've watched the Green Frog Penn Central volume 1 video.

UHC-1 with the much needed empty hoppers tackles the grade towards Terminal Yard behind Hudson Coal.

UHC-1 arrives at Terminal Yard a day late. 

KP&W and A.P.R.R. hoppers along with a PC caboose bringing up the markers are at the end of UHC-1. It's going to be awhile before the Coal Job is called though. There are manifest and commuter trains to get past the wreck site first.

 Later that day the wreck train returns to Terminal Yard.

The yard crew now gets busy building the first Coal Job train of empty hoppers for Hudson Coal.

 The hostler pulls the Coal Job's power set from the engine terminal

After a 36 plus hour delay the empty hoppers head for Hudson Coal

 The loads are pulled. 

The Coal Job engines are shoving the empties back towards Hudson Coal on track 3

The extra board brakeman is riding the lead hopper as they pass the loaded hoppers on track 2

The Coal Job has spotted their 15 empties at Hudson Coal and now heads back to Terminal Yard with their 15 loaded hoppers. The coal loading cycle can now continue. 

The Coal Job arrives back at Terminal Yard with their loaded hoppers. Later today if all goes well the Coal Job will head back to Hudson Coal and exchange another 15 empties for 15 loads. 

Operations are slowly getting back to normal until the next crisis occurs. However, with the PC in bankruptcy crisis will be the new normal.

Put it in the Books! 

Thanks for reading!!