P.C.C.M. 48L / Interchange with the Long Island Railroad / Conclusion of series

Greetings All,

Welcome Back to the P.C.C.M. 48 series! 

Our five layout coast to coast series concludes today with the Long Island Railroad and Empire Belt Railroad interchanging freight cars and a high & wide extra at North Side Yard.  

The action starts with 1/87th scale PC Ralph at the throttle of Empire Belt High & Wide Extra 2160 arriving at North Side Yard

After a little switch work the high and wide train is placed on the industrial lead. 

The rider caboose is now next to Pizza Land so the riders from Peerless can grab a bite while they wait for the L.I.R.R. to arrive and take the train. That PC Ralph's all class! 

 Better eat up! The daily L.I.R.R. transfer run is passing Bedford Tower and getting a run by inspection from tower operator 1/87th scale John B.

 The inbound L.I.R.R. freight cars at Bedford Station.

Two cabooses are attached as the L.I.R.R. has sent two crews to take care of their regular train and the high and wide extra.

The L.I.R.R. heads into the Hohman Ave entrance of North Side Yard and gets a wave from tower operator 1/87th scale Larry D.

 The L.I.R.R. crew talks it over with some of the E.B.R.R. guys

Time to get back to work. The L.I.R.R. crews have split their engines and cabooses. After inspecting the high & wide extra one crew couples up to the high & wide train.

The other crew heads back towards Hohman Ave to grab the scheduled train.

After coupling on the caboose and performing their terminal air test the L.I.R.R. Transfer run leaves North Side Yard. The three NYC 50' double door boxcars are loaded with TV's from Zenith for the B Gertz warehouse in Jamaica NY. The Morton Salt hopper is loaded with salt from Morton and headed towards Ronzoni in Long Island City NY.

EL 40' boxcar #73510 is loaded with Peerless Appliances and headed for Friendly Frost in Westbury NY. The PRR, NYC and APRR hoppers are loaded with gravel from Hedberg Aggregates and consigned to NYS DOT District 10 in Hauppauge NY

P&LE 35892 is loaded with cartons from Canton Box for Sunshine Biscuits. PC 229046 is loaded with Cake mixes from Blue Ribbon Flour, P&E 3638 is loaded with packaged foods from Cavendish, EBRR 358160, AP 60382 and 60394 were all loaded at C&P Restaurant Supply with packaged foods. All five of these cars are headed to Pilgrim State Hospital in Brentwood NY.

The transfer freight passes Bedford Station as it heads back to Fresh Pond Yard 

With a clear slot the High & Wide train now known as Extra 461 and is departing Empire City. The large A/C unit from Peerless Appliance is headed for Suffolk County Community College.

The three pole loads are from Bell Pole and headed to NYS DOT District 10 in Hauppauge NY for a highway improvement project.

Extra 461 passing Bedford Station as it makes it way back to the L.I.R.R.'s Fresh Pond Yard

That concludes the P.C.C.M. 48 series!!!!

Thanks to John B, AT JOE, Sir Neal and PC Ralph for their respective efforts to make this a successful coast to coast virtual ops. Unfortunately 1:1 Engineer Ed was unable to join in. Please join us in keeping E.E. and his family in your thoughts and prayers while he is sidelined. 

Thanks for reading!

P.C.C.M. 48K / Handling a High & Wide Extra

Greetings All,

Welcome back to the P.C.C.M. 48 series!!


The action continues today with the arrival of High & Wide Extra 8150 that originated in West Mill NY on Ralph's K.P.D. layout.

Extra 8150 at Bedford Station heading towards Terminal Yard.

Extra 8150 meets BL-72 working the Bedford NY industries.
Perfect timing! 1:1 PC Ralph built this excellent Peerless extra large AC unit on the PC depressed center flatcar. The flat and a PC boxcar(a gift from PC Ralph) frame a recently painted PS 2 hopper from Ralph's freelanced KP&W railroad. 

Extra 8150 arrives at Terminal Yard

The High & Wide Extra is now in Terminal Yard on Track 4 where it will wait for the Empire Belt RR to pick it up. The train will be taken to North Side Yard where it will be interchanged with the Long Island Railroad.

Meanwhile at Bedford NY 1/87th scale AT JOE is finishing up BL-72's switching duties having spotted Western Pacific 40' Bulk Sugar boxcar #26839 at Hostess. This car was loaded at US Sugar on John B's Malabar District in P.C.C.M. 48A. 

BL-72 making it's way back to Terminal Yard encounters a commuter train heading for Bedford Station and holds on track 3.

Back at Terminal Yard switch crew A pulls the train crew caboose from the High & Wide Extra. The second caboose is for riders from Peerless Appliance to monitor the extra large AC unit on the PC depressed flatcar. PC 77047 is a buffer car to protect the riders and train crew in case of any problems with the high and wide AC unit. 

The Empire Belt RR personnel meet with the riders from Peerless Appliance at Terminal Yard to inspect the High & Wide train before taking delivery. This large AC unit from Peerless Appliance in Mayfield NY on Ralph's K.P.D. layout is heading to Suffolk County Community College's Ammerman Hall.
The E.B.R.R. guys next inspect this extra long pole load from Bell Pole in Bloomberg NY that is heading to NYS DOT  #10 in Hauppauge NY with two other gondolas of poles for a highway improvement project. Pole loads built by 1:1 PC Ralph.

With the inspection complete 1/87th scale PC Ralph has coupled a pair of E.B.R.R. GP30s onto the high and wide extra and waits for clearance to depart. 1/87th scale AT JOE and BL-72 are entering Terminal Yard having completed the job in Bedford NY.

1/87th scale AT JOE checks in with PC Ralph as the high and wide train, now known as Extra 2160, is waiting for opposing traffic to clear so the train can depart.

Speaking of opposing traffic, 1/87th scale Engineer Ed at the throttle of PC SD45 6190 leads Empire Belt Train EC-2 towards Terminal Yard.

EC-2 arrives on track 2. You know Double E is going to miss the high horsepower ratio he has today.

1/87th scale EE and AT JOE wish PC Ralph luck with the high and wide extra as it's ready to depart Terminal Yard for North Side Yard.

Extra 2160 heads downhill from Terminal Yard past Hudson Coal

1/87th scale PC Ralph has the train on a slow and steady pace thru Bedford with the ultra reliable E.B. GP30s 

Extra 2160 rolls across the High Line and into Empire City.

Extra 2160 arrives at North Side Yard where we'll end today's installment. Tomorrow we'll conclude the series interchanging the high and wide train and a large number of freight cars from Train LI-2 with the L.I.R.R.

Thanks for reading!!!!

P.C.C.M.48J / Local deliveries

Greetings All,

Welcome Back!

The P.C.C.M. 48 action continues today as we dispatch Empire Belt train EC-1, powered by a pair of E.B.R.R. U30Cs and a PC SD45, from the Penn Central's Terminal Yard to the E.B.R.R.'s North Side yard in Empire City.

The 9,600 HP on today's EC-1 will be put to the test with today's long train that includes cars for Empire City industries and the Long Island Railroad. The EC-1 crew is shoving back to pick up the remainder of their freight cars.

EC-1 passing a commuter train heading in the opposite diection at Bedford Station.

Hohman Ave Tower Operator has all trains stopped to give the guys a head's up on today's heavy train traffic. 1/87th scale Senior Engineer Sir Neal will heading towards Terminal Yard with EC-2 as soon as 1/87th scale Engineer Ed 's EC-1 clears the switch for the High Line.

1/87th scale Double E brings EC-1 into North Side Yard track 3. EC-2 is to the right.

EC-1 will have to double over to track 2 with this extra long train which is the reason for EC-2 clearing out the yard very early this morning.

EC-1's engines shove the Long Island RR cars back into track 2.

With EC-1 in North Side Yard 1/87th scale Sir Neal has made the transfer run with EC-2 and arrives at Terminal Yard. 

The Empire Belt is enjoying a short term loan of PC SD45 #6190 and 1/87th scale Engineer Ed is in his glory with 9,600 HP at his fingertips. Here the train crosses the switch to the industrial lead to perform it's switching duties.

The first move will be switching out empties for loads at Cargill. 

A trio of Penn Central cylindrical covered hoppers from the large Cargill facility in Rock Ridge NJ are now spotted. 

Next move is to switch Ralph's Grocery Warehouse. 

BRMX 5298 is loaded with meat products from the Denver Stockyards, B&M 105 is loaded with chocolate chip cookies from Freihoefers Bakery and USLX 13068 is loaded with Tropicana Juice products from Tropicana in Rock Ridge NJ.

Next stop is Neal's Lumber & Hardware where we find 1/87th scale Sir Neal prepping his yacht for shipment to Florida. In PC Post Volume 19, Number 1 on page 25 there is a photo and note that  Henry Boats of Plain City, Ohio shipped boats by rail so there is actually a prototype for this Athearn BB car. 

EC-1 has backed into the yard, coupled up and is now pulling 1/87th scale Sir Neal's yacht. 

They've now spotted GN 40' boxcar #3630 loaded with Redwood Lumber from Pacific Lumber. This car came out of the SP Taylor Yard in LA. 

The EC-1 crew has pulled these three reefers from Empire Produce

EC-1 is now spotting these three reefers at Empire Produce. BAR 11128 is loaded with California Pears from Southern California, SFRD 33840 is loaded with fresh fruit from Denver as is UPFE 458054. The SFRD load was bought by Empire Produce as it went thru Elkhart Yard. A nice wrinkle adding produce brokers that was introduced by Brian. 

Meanwhile at Terminal Yard 1/87th scale AT JOE(Brian) is at the throttle of PC U30B 2875 heading out of the engine facility with 1/87th scale Big Mike flagging the crossing with his hands in his pockets.

1/87th scale AT JOE couples up to the short train that is today's Bedford Local, train BL-72.

BL-72 heads off towards Bedford with a NYC 'Road to the Future' caboose.

BL-72 rounds the T&R Gravel curve where KPW PS 2 Hopper 445052 makes a cameo appearance.

PC 887242 and 882147 are shoved into T&R Gravel to be loaded with sand for the APRR Engine Terminal at Rock Ridge NJ

BL-72 continues thru Bedford NY towards Hostess and meets Extra 8150 heading towards Terminal Yard. We'll end it here for today and pick it back up tomorrow as there's lots to see and do in the final two installments.

Thanks for reading!!!!