Second Hand Covered Hopper

Greetings Blog Followers,

This past week interchange partner the Atlantic Pacific Rail Road (known here as the A.P.R.R. with eporting marks AP) purchased a quantity of used cylindrical covered hoppers from the A.T.S.F. One of the newly purchased hoppers was located on a siding awaiting loading at the Empire City Cargill Grain Elevator. An alert N.Y.C.T.L. engineer spotted the car and notified the Terminal Yard Train Master. The train master knowing it was a three day weekend in observance of Memorial Day noted the following three things;
1. Workers at the N.Y.C.T.L. Paint Shop were off duty.
2. A.P.R.R. CEO Sir Neal M would gladly pay the holiday wages to have the car lettered and numbered for the A.P.R.R.
3. The Cargill Grain Elevator was also closed for the day.

A plan was then put in place to have the empty covered hopper brought into the Terminal Yard Paint Shop where it would be repainted and then spotted back in place on the siding near the Cargill Grain Elevator. The Paint Shop foreman contacted a few volunteers who agreed to report in and take care of the needed painting and lettering.

Late Sunday afternoon and all is quiet at the North Side Yard and the siding across the main where a group of covered hoppers sit waiting to be switched into the Cargill Grain Elevator for loading. The covered hoppers closest to us have already been loaded and are waiting to be made into a unit train and head out of town.  Note the brown A.T.S.F. covered hopper looking suspiciously at the newly patched A.P.R.R. covered hopper. You can almost hear a "don't I know you from somewhere?"

Just like that the A.P.R.R. has added a covered hopper into it's fleet. Some blue painter's tape, some gray rattle can spray paint and the A.P.R.R. decals and this car is back in revenue service before anyone even knew it was moved. Being a contract paint shop for the A.P.R.R. means that the N.Y.C.T.L. Paint Shop has the materials on hand to accomplish these projects in a timely manner. 

The new AP 314783 waits patiently for Tuesday morning to be loaded. The quick weekend maneuver by the N.Y.C.T.L. will allow the A.P.R.R. to be paid for the Cargill Load.  

1/87th Scale Sir Neal Himself stops to chat with some friends at Dino's Pizza Parlor. Always a class act 1/87th Scale Sir Neal is ordering lunch and dinner for the men and women at the N.Y.C.T.L.'s Terminal Yard complex who made the quick conversion possible.  

Shop Bulletin

FROM:      N.Y.C.T.L. TERMINAL YARD SHOP FOREMAN

TO:            SHOP FOREMAN

SUBJECT: FLEET LOCOMOTIVE REPAIRS

1. The N.Y.C.T.L. Shop forces recently addressed two mechanical failures of it's locomotive fleet. The first incident was the poor performance and poor electrical pick up of  NYC SD9 #9833 (Atlas SD24) which was being tested as part of a proposed rebuilding and repainting project. The second was the poor performance and grinding sounds emitting from PC GP38-2 8148 (Bachmann). The N.Y.C.T.L. Shops have identified the issues and are passing along this service bulletin as it is believed some of you have similar locomotives in your fleet.

2. NYC SD9 #9833 (Atlas) being test with PC SD35 #6309 (Atlas) was found to be running very poorly and unable to speed match with the SD35 which is of similar vintage. 9833 was brought into the shop and overhauled. The following issues were noted and corrected. (A) corrosion motor wiring terminals where joiner connects to motor. (B) gunk on wheel wipers and back of wheels. (C) Loose flywheel. The flywheel was reattached to the motor with a drop of CA. The terminals were lightly wire brushed and cleaned with an alcohol swab. The wheels were removed from the trucks by prying off the retainer from the bottom. The wheels and wipers were cleaned with an alcohol swab. The unit was put back together and lubricated. Testing of the 9833 showed a marked running improvement and m.u. compatibility with the 6309. A parts drawing is attached for reference.

http://hoseeker.com/assemblyexplosionAtlas/atlasemdsd24pg2.jpg

3. SAFETY WARNING #1: ATLAS YELLOW BOX SD35s AND SD24s. Use extreme caution when working on these engines as some of the plastic parts under the shell that hold the wires and wheel wipers were extremely brittle.

    

4. SAFETY WARNING #2: ATLAS YELLOW BOX SD35s AND SD24s. It has been discovered that the placement of the engine light in these engines is right under the cab hood. (not shown in diagram) and the heat build up from these old school bulbs will in fact melt the top of the cab. The N.Y.C.T.L. has removed the bulbs from the SD35 (after the top melted a bit) and the SD24.   

5. PC GP38-2 #8148 (Bachmann DCC on Board) (Run #K090930 on bottom of fuel tank). While in consist with GP38-2 8150 and GP40 3007 #8148 was found to be running poorly with an audible grinding noise. The engine was brought into the shop and the troubleshooting showed that the rear drive shaft coupling was spinning freely on the metal shaft that connects it to the gear box. A drop of CA on the metal shaft and the replacement of the coupling have cured this issue. Allow the CA to cure before operating. A parts diagram of an older GP40 has been attached although the gear tower assembly is a bit vague in the drawing. 

http://hoseeker.com/assemblyexplosionbachmann/bachmannemdgp40pg02.jpg

6. This is the second occurrence of this type on a Bachmann DCC engine. The first units affected were NYC RF16s. They were repaired in the same way and continue to run well.

7. Submitted for your information.

J.T.R.

Shop Foreman

N.Y.C.T.L. 

Terminal Yard Shop

Dependable Auto Parts Distributors

Greetings Blog Followers,

It's been a couple of busy weeks away from the layout with both College and High School graduations plus the out door chores that arrive every May. I was able to get a few small things done this week. One of which is this small building built from DPM leftover components. It was a pretty simple and straight forward build that resulted in a pretty nice building that will occupy the front edge of the layout near North Side Yard.

The building features a loading dock and lift up door on this side. The building has been painted with rattle can red oxide and the doors and windows are a rattle can green.

The building is close to the edge and the tracks. A roll up door faces the area where a roadway will be installed. 

The underside shows the card stock roof and black coffee straw supports. The card stock is from some junk mail and the black straws are courtesy of PC Ralph. 

A 32' P.I.E. trailer is spotted at the side loading dock.

The roof awaits some additional details. The gray edging is made of some hobby sticks from Micheal's Crafts. They cover the notches in the tops of the DPM components.

Looking to the left you can see the area getting some attention. A rehabbed structure sits to the left and another industry is located at the far left. All are non rail served industries but they are small enough to fit in at this edge and give the area an industrial feel. A team track in North Side Yard may be in the works to provide periodic rail service to these three industries.  

Needing an identity these decals came in a Walthers kit. I painted some styrene rattle can red and applied the decals. The "signs" were then mounted with a tacky glue. Dependable Auto Parts Distributors is now a thriving non rail served industry.

View from the other side of the layout. Note how that PC car photo bombed the pictures!

Next up is some dullcote and some window "glass" after that I'll continue with this area and report on the progress. 

Big Doings on the N.Y.C.T.L.

Greetings Blog Followers,

Big doings continue in the Big Apple! Let's take a look at a colorful week that featured the Subway Series and other noteworthy layout happenings.

First up the New York Central Train Layout's Terminal Yard Train Master has become the local rail fans most popular N.Y.C.T.L. employee. With the Subway Series Special already on his scorecard the Train Master added to his growing popularity by consisting and dispatching some very interesting and colorful locomotive pairings. With the popularity going to his head the Train Master is actually thinking of setting up a phone line to take requests from rail fans.  Here are a some other noteworthy events from last week.

A four unit lash up consisting of two GP30s and two GP40s. But not just any four unit PC lash up. A rare red "P" PC GP30 and two very rare orange "C" GP40s

The four unit lash up that had the rail fans buzzing passing through Empire City Station
All units did in fact wear these paint schemes for the Penn Central

The Geeps pulling hard up the grade. Note the newly installed Wilcox Barriers on the layout edge.  

3175 brings up the rear of the consist while construction workers put the finishing touches on the Wilcox Barriers. The barriers are named after renowned rail photographer Bill Wilcox who noted the absence of the safety devices at the edge of the abyss to the concrete floor. 

A M&E Train heads towards the lower level on track 1

The newly famous ALCO FA-FB-FB-FA lash up leads the M&E Train into Empire City Station. The consist has become very popular with rail fans and train crews alike.   

What's This!! That's right a trio of SD40s in PC and BN livery!

Now we see the first unit is an HLCX Leaser. Unit#2 is in the BN white face scheme.
All are powered BB units.

Pipes, pipes and more pipes. Gervais Industries looks to be on a 24 hour work cycle!
CEO Bobby G has left his foreman in charge while he spent the weekend in the Big Apple with family and friends aboard the Subway Series Special. Looks like the profits are way up this year.

Clam Shell Coil Coaches on their way back to the Kings Port & Western for another revenue run.
KP&W CEO and President PC Ralph will make sure these cars are spotted quickly at Kings Port Steel. 

Another recently refurbished SDP40 in full Penn Central regalia leads a group of heavyweight coaches to Empire City Station. With the Subway Series the N.Y.C.T.L. has added some extra short haul passenger trains to handle the commuter crowds.

A baggage car has been converted to a temporary bar car and has been tacked onto the rear of the train.

Speaking of the Subway Series, NY Yankee fans arrive at the Grand Central - 42 Street Station. The Yankees are known to some baseball fans as the Evil Empire. Looks like the Yankee fans have taken that to heart. Or these guys have traveled a few light years for the game. Holy Cow!

Uh oh! The NY Mets fans have arrived at the G.C. 42 Street Station at the same time. The Mets are the young start ups in NYC being only 53 years old. Compared to the NY Yankees who have been around  since 1903 starting out as the NY Highlanders

The #4 train rolls through

What's This? The dark lord of the Evil Empire has stopped at Neal's Lumber to try and turn 1/187th scale Sir Neal Himself  to the dark side!
The Force is strong in 1/87th scale Sir Neal  and he would not be turned.
 Darth Vader left with a Let's Go Mets! ringing in his ear.

Now back to the trains!

Another set of coaches arrives at Empire City Station behind a NYC lightning striped F7A 

Surprise! A Penn Central F7A on the rear of the short passenger train.

Reason: the lighted coaches usually short out the reverse curve. 

Solution: Push Pull Mode with dual power on both ends 

The train heads back to Terminal Yard with the PC unit in the lead. This unit is up for a possible repaint as the PC fonts are wrong. It just might end up a NYC gray cigar band unit to consist with the lightning stripe unit. Both are MRC Platinum units. Both have steam boilers for passenger service. Although the NYC never had any F7As (or FP7As) in either passenger scheme the lightning stripe scheme looks too good to me to repaint. We shall see.

Penn Central 6197 makes it's debut on a Subway Series Special

Greetings Blog Followers,

The Terminal Yard Train Master is getting well deserved high praise through the rail fanning community. This morning Empire City rail fans were treated to a Subway Series Special that originated on the Kings Port & Western in Kings Port NY, stopped at West Mill NY and then connected with the Atlantic Pacific Rail Road at Rock Ridge Yard before making its trek towards the Big Apple. In the lead is none other than newly refurbished and repainted Penn Central SDP40 #6197 with assistance from NH SDP40 6502.

PC 6197 wears the orange "C" scheme formerly only worn by a small group of PC GP40s. The orange "C" is a shout out to the New Haven RR as both Blue Box units power the Subway Series Special. For the purists neither the NH or PC had SDP40s on their respective rosters. 

Side shot of the 6197 downgrade on track 1.
The orange "C" decals are courtesy of PC Ralph.
Thanks Ralph! 

The 6197 and 6502 roll past construction workers installing the Wilcox Barriers to protect the trains from the four foot drop to the concrete floor. The barriers are named after Bill Wilcox, a renowned rail photographer, who noted the unprotected edge to the abyss. Although N.Y.C.T.L. Management has been aware of the issue for sometime once it is pointed out by another party something bad is bound to happen unless the situation is corrected. N.Y.C.T.L. train crews and passengers are extremely thankful to Bill for spurring on this safety upgrade. 

Looks like the Subway Series Special has a definite NY Mets slant and a party atmosphere. A Schaefer Beer reefer (one time Official Beer of the NY Mets) is on the head end with a baggage car converted to a bar car for the special. That New Haven Coach is carrying the Gervais Industries CEO along with his friends and family. Connecticut is usually considered Yankee country and CEO Bobby G has not declared his allegiance to either team just yet.

A refurbished Penn Central diner sits about midway in the consist. The diner features oatmeal on demand as specified by avid Mets fan KP&W CEO and president PC Ralph.

A New Haven baggage car has been temporarily converted to a piano bar offering a more subdued place to start the evening and have a night cap before moving back to the two sleeper cars. Passenger are hoping PC Ralph not only sings but shows how to mimic a diesel horn on the electric organ that has been added as well. My first request. The Mets Jingle!  

A Penn Central Sleeper for the KP&W CEO is coupled with Mets fan 1/87th Scale Sir Neal's private varnish Nassau County which is bringing up the markers. The train and it's passengers will be spending the weekend in the Big Apple using the sleeper cars as their hotel accommodations. The train is slated to lay over in Sunnyside Yard in Queens but there is a concerted effort being undertaken by the passengers who chartered the train to have the train layover at Hunts Point Yard in the Bronx to be closer to Yankee Stadium. For those not in the know Hunts Point Yard is located in the confines of the NYPD's 41st Precinct. The precinct was known as "Fort Apache". Then the South Bronx burned down and it became
"Little House on the Prairie"  

The obligatory roster shot of the 6197 going through the grade crossing as it enter Empire City Station.

Penn Central Six Axle U-Boat Action

Greetings Blog Followers,

This past week I spent some time running the newly painted Penn Central U-Boat 6557 in various assignments. Let's take a look at what the 6557 and friends have been up to;

A three unit set of U-Boats enters the West Side sidings and reverse curve. 

This part of the West Side is usually reserved for four axle Geeps or switchers.  

With flanges squealing the U-Boats surprisingly make it through the West Side  

 A three unit set of custom painted Athearn BB GP35s roll towards Terminal Yard on track 2.

A trio of PC Geeps holds on track 3 awaiting clearance.

A short time later a three train meet!

The EMD Geeps are still in the hole on track 3. 

The GE U-Boats are slowly rolling towards a red signal on track 2. 

Train NY-2 lead by an ALCO FA-FB-FB-FA lash up climbs up track 1 

and a green signal towards Terminal Yard. Last time we saw the ALCOs

was on April 4th when they were headed towards Chicago with Train LS-1  

The crew of the big GE Units are gathering in the slack on track 2

Last entry I talked about the dummy U-Boats being sleds and making them rolling better. Below is a U-Boat dummy truck with a metal electrical pick up bar. If you look closely you can see that the metal axles sit in plastic sleeves. This is a sled.

This is a corrected U-Boat dummy truck. The metal electrical pick up bars have been bent away from the wheels. The plastic sleeves that house the axles have been filed with an emery board to loosen their grip on the axles The axles and sleeves were oiled slightly. This was a huge improvement.

This is also a U-Boat dummy truck. No metal strap. No sleeves on the axles. The axles fit into the side frames much like an Athearn freight or passenger car. This unit rolled pretty well out of the box.

A five unit set of U-Boats roll across the Empire City Viaduct. The two end units are powered. The middle three are non powered / dummy units. All are Athearn BB.

Keeping with the six axle theme two SD35s lead a manifest freight through Empire City Station 

on the lower level behind a wall of covered hoppers.

The five U-Boats measuring four feet in length lug a coal train through Empire City.

Note the new PC covered hopper from the March 28th entry at the lower right.

Penn Central U-Boat Make Over

Greetings Blog Followers,

I recently had the opportunity to give one of my three Athearn Blue Box Penn Central U28Cs a make over thanks to fellow modeler and Penn Central fan known here as PC Ralph. Here's the story of the make over and some PC six axle U-Boat tidbits.

PROTOTYPE PENN CENTRAL SIX AXLE U BOATS: Built by General Electric starting in 1963.

U23C  6700-6718 Delivered new to PC in 1970 for hump yard service. U30C body with 12 cylinder FDL engine. Saw occasional road work to clear out accumulated carbon deposits.

U25C  6500-6519 Delivered new to PRR in 1964-65  Featured a one piece windshield.

U28C  6520-6534 Delivered new to PRR in 1966. Featured two piece windshield and new style trucks.

U30C  6535-6539 Delivered new to PRR in 1967. Featured FDL-16 3,000 hp prime mover.

U33C  6540-6563 Delivered new to PC in early 1968. Ordered by PRR. Featured large wings on long hood. Missed being PRR power by only a few weeks.

THE ATHEARN BLUE BOX MODELS: Three U28C models purchased new from Caboose Hobbies in Denver in late 1990s. Order was for one powered unit and two dummy units. Typical Athearn powered product from that time period with metal handrails, sintered wheels, all wheel drive, dual flywheel motor and horn hook couplers. All units in road number 6533.

ON THE LAYOUT: At time of purchase my train layout was much smaller and tighter than today and featured 18" and 15" radius curves. These units were not well suited for that set up and consequently spent much of their first years in the box.

Fast forward to 2002 and a new layout with larger radius curves. The units saw some action and I renumbered two of them from 6533 to 6538 and 6583 with a fine brush and white paint. Were only PC engines in the stable at that time and their usage was light. So light that I discovered that I had never hard wired the unit in all the years I had it when I began this project.

The lone powered U28C in the fleet of three proved to be not powerful enough to pull the two dummies which were like sleds at first and a decent sized train. Often the engines were longer that the rest of the train. After I got the dummies to be free rolling I added one powered and one dummy BB U28C in P.R.R. livery to my son's growing engine fleet. This allowed me(and him) to swap out the power chassis and pull trains worthy of this amount of visual power. So now a three unit consist has two powered units.

Fast forward to 2015 I came across a BB PC U Boat featuring the red "P" logo for sale on ebay. It looked good and I forwarded the ebay link to PC Ralph. After an exchange of e-mails where I told Ralph I was thinking of painting one of my units with the red "P" if I had the decals in stock. Ralph generously offered to provide the red "P" decals for the project. Being even more generous Ralph sent me an envelope of numerous PC logos featuring the red "P", orange "C" and some others from the Micro Scale PC Esoterica decal set. Thank you Ralph!

With the red "P" decals now at hand I selected U28C 6583 to be stripped, painted and lettered as PC 6557 which actually wore the red "P". PC 6557 was a U33C but I didn't let that stop or bother me for this project.

The U Boat has been stripped and painted gloss black and the decals are ready to go

I kept the cab separated for the numbering process. This way I could dull coat it
 and then add the windshield. This way I only had to attach the cab once and 
reduce the chance of scratching it with the metal handrails.   

Decals have been cut and are ready to go. 

Newly lettered PC 6557  

Engineers side of PC 6557

PC 6557 and 6533 go nose to nose

Typical 1990s Athearn BB engine set up. This is my NH SDP40 power chassis

Note the metal sliding bar used for electrical contact

Removing the metal bar and "hard wiring" the unit

Hard wired and ready to go

PC 6557 with 6538 and a U Boat still in PRR paint lead a train into Empire City Station

The 6557 showcases it's eye catching red "P" courtesy of PC Ralph.

The 6557 was the only six axle U Boat to wear the elusive red "P".  

Three U Boats invade Empire City Station while a coal train crosses the Empire City Viaduct

The U Boats shake the glass of the control tower 

The 6557 gets a passing glance from some EC Station passengers.