New Additions / March 2012

Some good news from the purchasing department, two NYC Flexivan spine cars, a 75' PRR F39 flatcar with 2 PRR trailers and a 75' Trailertrain flatcar with 1 NIckel Plate Road trailer and 1C&O Trailer were added to the roster.

 

Upper Level Work Continues

 

It has been a long time between posts as the work on the upper level continues. Here are some photos of the work in progress. Some main line, sidings and a reverse section have been added with some industrial buildings being test fit for best location. A lot more to report in the upcoming days so stay tuned.

Upper Level Work Commencing

The 5x26 peninsula has been cleaned of all buildings, figures, scenic elements and trains that I put in place to showcase the progress of the layout and run some trains during the Holidays. I have begun building the upper level of the layout and it now resembles a construction site again. Portions of the lower level will be covered and the track no longer accessible so the Holiday running was good for troubleshooting the track work and making the necessary adjustments. At this point I have installed risers and plywood roadbed to a about 1/3rd of the layout. I had been less than enthused by how the work was going as I ran into some design flaws that needed to be cleared up. Mocking up some solutions has taken quite a bit of time as I work through the progress. I finally came up with a nice solution and the layout is once again moving forward. I should have some pictures of the new work available for the next post.
 In the mean time here are some photos of the layout during the Holiday running.

 A mixed freight travels through the station platform under the upper level mock up.

 NYC GP30s enter the station on the lower level

 Track cleaning cars stand by

 NYC A-B-A Sharks lead a freight through the station. Note the piers to the right of the train that weer used to mock up a proposed elevated rail line. 

The Next 8 Feet is Complete

 The next eight feet of the layout is complete and an additional six feet have been completed as well. While it took longer than I expected to photo and post the results the work went fairly quickly. The delays were caused by the need for auto repairs and the replacement of our water heater all of which I did myself. Without further ado here are pictures of the progress

The Next 8 Feet

As things have gotten back to normal after the Holidays I have turned my attention to the next 8 feet of railroad needing completion. After months of toying with so many different building placements and ideas for this 8 foot by 1 foot area along the back wall  just beyond the highway overpass I have finally moved forward. Scenery is being installed and buildings are now dedicated to their sites. A second highway overpass that will be about eight feet from the one above is being built and some other scenery elements are being worked in as well. Work began yesterday, January 16th 2012, and progress has been slow but steady. Updates and pictures will be posted to show improvements to this area.

Drawbar equipped Athearn F7s

Here are some photos of an easy to project that swapped out traditional couplers for a draw bar between Athearn F7 A units. Start by removing the old coupler assembly. Locate the mounting hole on coupler mounting ad and drill this hole all the way through. A note of caution here is that you should either remove the motor and trucks or at least cover them well so the metal shavings do not get into the gears. Using a piece of plastic from my scrap box I attached one side to #210 with a 2-56 screw. On #215 I installed a 2-56 screw with just enough protruding from the bottom of the coupler pad to hook the draw bar. When assembled the units are close coupled and the plastic draw bar insulates the units to eliminate any potential electrical shorts.

A-B-B-A Lash UP of NYC FTs

The Pacemaker Freight train has left Terminal Yard behind an A-B-B-a lash up of EMD FTs.