Welcome to my Blog. The scope of this blog is to record the trials and tribulations of building and maintaining an HO scale layout, the trains and all of the ancillary projects that go with it. In 2017 New York Central subsidiary short line Empire Belt Railroad came into existence. The New York Central / Penn Central and Empire Belt are now the major railroads featured.
New York Central Alcos
NYC RS32 #2040 leads a trio of R32s hauling Train NY-4
The Penn Central six axle ALcos working the rails of the NYCTL have been joined by two more C628s to the delight of local railfans and to the chagrin of our track foreman. Seems these big Alcos developed quite the reputation for being very tough on the rails on some railroads but were welcomed with open arms by others like the C&NW. Whatever the case these big units are earning their keep on the NYCTL.
Much to the delight of 1/87th scale Big Mike the new C628s are from PC subsidiary Lehigh Valley. Below the LV C628s #630 & #631 in the 'snowbird scheme' are pulling an inbound train over the Empire City viaduct behind PC C628 #6304.
The C628s are on the High Line heading towards Bedford Tower and ultimately Terminal Yard.
To no one's surprise 1/87th scale Big Mike is awaiting the arrival of these two Lehigh Valley monsters at the Terminal Yard entrance.
The LV units are now in the engine terminal and 1/87th scale Big Mike is thanking 1/87th scale senior engineer Sir Neal for sending these two LV units to the NYCTL.
Meanwhile over at Bedford Tower another trio of big ALcos are making their way to Terminal Yard behind C630 #6324
The 6324 joins the other newly assigned ALcos at the Terminal Yard engine facility and 1/87th scale John B has come over to check out his favorite PC ALco.
With six big ALcos in the yard and a lot of coal to be moved 1/87th scale senior engineer Sir Neal comes up with a plan to qualify everyone on these big units with AT JOE and John B to get some seat time on the lead engines.
1/87th scale PC Ralph will qualify for helper service in the LV units under the tutelage of Big Mike while conductor John and the rear brakeman will bravely ride the caboose.
The four lead units are pulling hard over the High Line
52 cars back the helper engines are shoving hard against the LV caboose. That's right. 50 loaded coal hoppers and two cabooses!
Check out these big Alcos in action and on the Unit Coal Train.
For the record I ran the 50 car unit coal train with helpers on the layout for several days without a single issue. While the C628s are definitely older models with their large handrails etc I really enjoy seeing them running in consists on the layout. The two LV units will remain in their snowbird scheme.
Thanks go to 1:1 Sir Neal and John Bruce for making all of this possible. Thank you very very much guys!!!
Thanks for reading and watching!!!
Next up will be P.C.C.M. 59 coming out on Friday Night March 8th.
This latest project started on November 11, 2018 when fellow modeler and blogger John Bruce sent me a 'Project Box' that consisted of among other things a treasure trove of locomotive shells like the PC 5699 and PC 5870 to name a few. The shell I was most interested in was this Penn Central C-630 photographed below on John's layout before he sent it off to me.
John built the shell from a TYCO high Hood C630 and a low hood C430. Like the other shells he sent me he put a lot of work into the project adding wire grab irons, uncoupling levers, handrails, mu hoses, body mounted Kadee couplers and a prototypical paint job. Note this very impressive C630 shell is around 40 years old and is testament to John's modeling skills. The C630 was intended to ride on a modified LifeLike C628 chassis. Enter 1:1 Sir Neal who was consulted for help in locating a suitable LifeLike chassis. Within a short period of time Sir Neal sent me several boxes of possible chassis donors. In the second box was a high hood TYCO C628 that after a lot of cutting and nibbling I was able to use parts from that engine and parts from the third box of TYCO engines to get the C630 into the fleet.
Here's the C630 with the TYCO trucks and fuel tank in place. I'm trying to line up the body mounted couplers with the Kadee Height gauge. I swapped out the original body mounted Kadee #5s that John installed for a pair of #27s to get the shell to sit lower on the TYCO truck assemblies.
PC C630 #6324 is on its maiden voyage as the number 3 engine in this four unit ALco consist.
The non powered 6324 is holding its own with the three powered units. The ALco Century 630 was introduced in 1965 and was easily distinguishable from the C628 by the large aftercooler bulge on the long hood. The Pennsylvania RR bought fifteen units, 6315-6329 which retained their PRR numbers after the merger
As testing continued I placed the 6324 in the lead position and it worked there with no issues. Here it is meeting 1/87th scale John Bruce for the first time.
1/87th scale John B rides the C630 front porch thru Bedford. The C630s had a varied career on the PC. They could be found anywhere from Weehawken to Baltimore leading manifest freight trains, to helper service on Horseshoe Curve, to Mingo Jct mineral and ore service where they closed out their PC days.
The 6324 and John B pose for photos in front of the Hostess Plant. Although I wasn't able to power this unit I am really happy to have it rolling freely and to be able to put it in a consist with any
of the DC engines in my fleet.
The big C630 at rest awaiting its next assignment as the guys gather for a closer look.
That next assignment will be posted shortly!
Thanks go to John B for this shell and the many other things he sent me. I'd like to also thank 1:1 Sir Neal who came up with the parts to get the C630 rolling and the many items he has sent for this project and a lot of others. Thanks Guys!!!
The Alcos are coming, the Alcos are coming!!! This is part one of a three part series.
A pair of Penn Central Alco C628s have been transferred from Conway Yard to Terminal Yard and joined my own C628 #6309 for assignment to mineral and ore service. This project was made possible by 1:1 Sir Neal who sent several IHC Premier C628s my way to help in my search for a chassis to put under a John Bruce custom built and painted C630 shell. The C628s however did not work for that project. When I told 1:1 Sir Neal that I was going to send them back he generously said 'keep em'! Thanks Sir Neal!!! My PC C628 in a 2017 photo. At some point this engine was remotored with an Athearn BB engine. The original IHC Premier chassis went to my son's poorly running AHM US Army C628 and the AHM chassis received the BB motor.
The downfall of the remotoring was the large weight in the gas tank had to be removed and the engine lacked pulling power.
Here it is being rescued by a GP30 after stalling with a short train while going up the grade on Main 1. To quote Big Mike this unit would slip in the 1/2 notch.
Here is an IHC Premier C628 with it's flywheel equipped motor and the large weight in the fuel tank. The chassis is plastic so that weight is crucial. The motor runs OK with little amperage draw making them good candidates for multiple unit lash ups. But be careful these models seem to have a top speed of about 200 mph!
These IHC engines came with talgo mounted transition type couplers that are way to low.
After fooling around with coupler boxes and seeing how much cutting and filing I would need to do I opted for this simple application.
The Kadee #22, medium overset shank coupler, as installed, matches up well with the Kadee height gauge. Kadee has this conversion application using the #29 coupler on their website.
Penn Central C628s #6303 and #6304 are fresh out of the paint shop. The 6304 and 6309 are ready to receive their ACI labels and Conway maintenance base identification and shown on the 6303.
The motors and trucks were removed to allow the frames to be painted. I've reclaimed my original IHC chassis and motor from the AHM US Army unit to better m.u. with the two additional C628s in this project.
Fuel tanks and trucks have been painted flat black. The fuel tank printing reads Made in Slovenia By Mehano.
Some ALco C628 Prototype info:
The PRR purchased fifteen ALco C628s between March and December 1965 numbering them 6300-6314. The units were equipped with C-C trucks, an Alco 251 engine and capable of producing 2,750 HP. In early 1970 the Penn Central placed some of the former PRR C628s in helper service at Pitcairn PA to assist with loaded coal trains and heavy freights on the 30 mile long 1% grade from Pittsburgh to Derry PA. Other C628s would join the Alco party at Mingo Junction.
The trio of C628s have arrived at Terminal Yard
The 6303 sports the small PC logo common on many PC C628s.
The 6304 wears the early red 'P'. It would later receive an all white PC herald.
The guys have gathered to check out the 6309 and the other beasts from Alco. 1/87th scale Big Mike is quick to point out that this C628 consist is enough to scare any track foreman.
1/87th scale senior engineer Sir Neal will be doing the honors of running their first coal train out of Terminal Yard.
The C628s on the move.
Right now these three C628s are running very well together. They easily pulled the 25 loaded hoppers with track cleaning caboose around the layout and up the grade back to Terminal Yard. Prototype information courtesy of Penn Central Power by Robert J. Yanosey and Penn Central Bi-Annual by Robert H. Reid. Big Mike's C628 quote can be found here starting around the 1:00 minute mark.
Greetings All, Another nicely detailed Penn Central GP7 has joined my fleet thanks to the generosity of John Bruce and the ''Project Box" he sent me late in 2018. John included the Athearn handrails in the box and had added some good looking footboards to the model. While in transit most broke off. UGH!!!! I was able to find some Detail Associate #2209 replacements after striking out on the #2208 metal steps. Here is the model getting ready for the replacements to be added.
Here's the shell with the new footboards, handrails and horn installed. John added the nicely detailed brass cover on top of the short hood. He also removed the winterization hatch from the long hood while adding the two fans.
The newly painted GP-7 is ready for decals.
I chose PC #5870 for the model as it closely resembled the shell. The model is in the Solvaset phase.
PC 5870 has come over to Terminal Yard from its base at Buckeye Yard. I added the Proto 2000 m.u. towers from my parts box ala the prototype.
The 5870 joins recent Project Box graduate, PC GP7 #5699.
Welcome back to the P.C.C.M. 58 Series!!! We'll wrap up the NYCTL's portion today so let's get started.
We open at Terminal Yard with 1/87th scale ATJOE reporting for duty for the Bedford Turn and see yard hostler Wet Willie trying to explain to ATJOE why there are no ALcos assigned to BT-27 today.
1/87th scale ATJOE has brought BT-27 into Bedford and seems to be enjoying the GP7-GP35-GP35 consist. TP&W #627 sits at Berk Enterprises getting it's next P.C.C.M. load.
BT-27s first job is working the Hostess Siding where they are spotting PC 229046 loaded with shipping boxes from Canton Box and BM 109 & 110 loaded with bagged from from Blue Ribbon Flour.
BT-27 has been lined onto main 2 by Bedford Tower Operator 1/87th scale John B. They'll run back on main 2 to get behind their train sitting on main 3 in order to shove their train into the Bedford Park lead off main 3
BT-27 is shoving three NYC double door boxcars onto the Bedford Park lead where they'll get picked up by the Bedford Park switcher.
BT-27 heads back towards Terminal Yard with cars from Hostess, the TP&W boxcar from Berk Enterprises with it's next P.C.C.M. load and PC 360158 trailing the caboose.
BT-27 is shoving back onto the University Millwork siding and spotting empty PC 360158 for its next P.C.C.M. load.
1/87th scale ATJOE and BT-27 head back towards Terminal Yard
Their run now over BT-27's power has cut off from it's freight cars sitting on track 2 and is running back down track 1 after using the engine escape track.
Next we'll head out to the friendly confines of Bedford Park. The switch crew is on duty and prepping the yard for today's work.
The Bedford Park Yard Switcher (BPY) has retrieved the three NYC double door boxcars left by BT-27.
The BPY switcher pulls an empty boxcar from All City Storage.
The first of three NYC 50' double door boxcars loaded with appliances for local distribution from Peerless Appliance has been spotted and the All City Storage dockworkers get right to work.
Car two of three is spotted and dunnage is being removed.
Car #3 is in place and the forklift operator has placed the metal plates between the cars for unloading.
The three NYC boxcars from Peerless Appliance are spotted and in the process of being unloaded.
The BPY switcher spots three freight cars on the Bedford Park lead for pick up and that concludes the NYCTL's portion of P.C.C.M. 58
