New Company, Scale Trains

I bought my first Scale Trains classic kit at JP's the other day. Very nice, pint the wheels sets, little weathering, ready to roll! From their website down below.....


Relive the Golden Years of model railroading with Kit Classics™ freight car kits.  When you assemble these simple kits, you’ll rediscover fond memories of power packs, sectional track, shake-the-box kits, and dreams of creating your own model railroad empire.super-detail parts are available separately.

As part of the ScaleTrains Kit Classics freight car series, the Evans 5100 cf Boxcar is designed to be affordable, easy-to-assemble, and rugged for years of enjoyment.
Features

• Multiple road numbers
• Separately applied handbrake wheel
• Finely cast underbody and brake system
• ASF Ride Control Trucks
• Machined metal wheels
• Body-mounted semi-scale Type E knuckle couplers
• Replacement parts available
• Minimum radius 18”

History
Introduced during the late 1960s, the Evans 5100 Cubic Foot (cf) Insulated Double-Plug-Door Boxcar was created to meet the growing demands of shippers. Heavy interior insulation and optional internal load restraints led to the Association of American Railroads (AAR) classification of "RBL” - Refrigerator, Bunkerless, equipped with Load restraining equipment. These cars were designed to protect cargo from the elements and extreme temperature swings without the use of mechanical refrigeration or heating equipment.
The 16' wide door opening made loading and unloading easier plus the closed double-plug-doors created a smooth, sealed opening inside the car. In addition, these cars included cushioned underframes so they were popular with shippers of delicate items like canned goods, bottled products and foodstuffs. Shippers of finished lumber such as wood veneers also found these cars useful to protect their delicate products while in transit. The Evans 5100 cf Boxcar helped prevent warpage and other damage that would be possible when shipped via plain boxcars or flatcars.
Developed from builder blueprints and extensive photo documentation, this freight car kit represents a typical Evans-built 5100 cubic foot RBL boxcar or USRE "clone". "Clones" were built in USRE facilities to Evans specs. Lasting from the late 1960s well into the 2000s, the Evans 5100 cf Boxcar has served a variety of railroads and private owners. On your layout, they will be at home servicing industries including canneries, beverage bottlers or distributors, food distributors, lumber mills, and lumber distributors. They can also be used as "bridge" traffic between originating and destination railroads. In short, these cars could be found on nearly every railroad in North America during their lifetime.

Op Session At Brad's

 

March 3rd we had a nice little Op Session at Brad Peterson's Southern Adirondack. I worked the Round Lake Paper job.

 

 Switched out R. A. Dennis Lumber. I like that place...

 Pair of Alcos across the diamond at Mechanicville.

Lehigh Valley Gondola 33308

I had the good fortune to find myself in JP's Trains & Hobbies last Thursday (Latham, NY) where I discovered and bought this model.  While I don't jump on many of the newer (high priced) offerings, when I see ones this accurate, I consider them a must have.

 

Tangent has included a detailed history of these Bethlehem Steel built cars from their original construction date in 1952 to their ultimate demise in the mid-eighties.  They offer the model in the original scheme: product number 10918 (01-06) and in the 1973 repaint scheme 19911 (13-16). Something for your era whatever it is!

 

As with many of the newer companies this offering comes with complete under-frame detail, cut-levers and separate grab irons, etc. It even has the load tie-downs along the top cord and, of course, accurate truck side-frames.

I chose to get the 1970's version since I had already built a fairly accurate early version many years ago.  Remembering what it took to build that car (photo 4) I consider this model from Tangent to be a bargain!  Photo 5 is from a slide I took in Port Jervis 4/81 when this car was about at the end of it's useful life.

Note: I scrap steel load is my own fabrication (see my how-to in RMC 8/2013)

 

Wayne Sittner

Savannah & Atlanta Heritage

The Savannah & Atlanta Heritage engine made two appearances on Pan Am Southern (PAS) in February. The first visit the unique engine trailed in the power consist of 22K  and counterpart 23K going to and from Ayer, MA. Last Saturday morning though, the unit made a surprise return onto PAS leading the same two trains! I watched reported internet sightings on Sunday afternoon regarding 23Ks progress in getting its train ready to depart westbound, as 23K normally makes a “middle of the night” appearance on the PAS west end where I planned to catch it. True to form, 23K was reported through Shirley, MA., just west of Ayer around 18:30. I figured around eight hours over to the Hoosick Falls area.

 

Arriving after the two and a half hour drive down around midnight thirty, I checked out a location I was interested in at Hoosick, didn't like it enough to ignore Hoosick Falls though, and drove back into the Falls! I picked a location shown to me by Cully, just south of the Elm St. crossing and as I was setting up the signal down at the south end of town changed from green to red, indicating either something was coming, or the Dispatcher had lined the route for something coming! Either way definitely this was a promising sign. The weather overnight? Very windy, from the south, featuring temps in the mid-forties with clear skies! Hard to believe this night marked the last gasp for February! No evidence to be found of snow! But............no complaints from me! It could easily be well below zero air temperature with a wind from the north this time of year! Once the lighting set up was completed, I had around a ninety minute wait before I heard a nice melodic air horn way off in the distance!

 

Once they went past the detector south of town the long pause before the detector reported no defects gave evidence of a long train length, a dead give away for 23K which has been very long lately when I have seen them. Single containers and trailers on flat cars comprise the trains consist which is operated between Ayer, MA. and Chicago in partnership with Norfolk Southern, (NS) hence the appearance of the NS Heritage locomotives on PAS from time to time! Not long after 23K cleared the detector headlights were gleaming down the grade south of town! Once the cab was in sight I fired off the lights for the crews benefit and tried framing up the shot handholding the GR as 23K blew for the series of grade crossings encountered coming towards me through Hoosick Falls. As the 1056 passed over Center St. just below me, I watched looking over the top of the GR as its pilot plow reached my mark, the lights did their thing, and the reflected red and white nose decal jumped out at me from the black paint! Success!

 

After a waiting period for the long consist to clear I got down off the stepladder to inspect the shot more closely and liked what I saw! What a treat to capture images of “one of a kind” members of the Heritage Fleet! I was going to start picking up the equipment when I noticed the signal south of town stayed red? This must mean 11R is coming I concluded as the two trains normally are seen close together this time of night, or........it could be the empty Grain Train returning from Ayer also! In any event, I waited to see what cometh, and was glad I did. Shot in Hoosick Falls, NY on February 29, 2016 at 03:38. Please enjoy! Comments are welcomed. Thanks to Cully for the location!

 

All The Best In 2016;

Gary Knapp

Mark Oliviere's D&H

The West Waterford Group had their op-session Sunday night at Mark Oliviere's house.
Here's a few pictures of some of Mark's work. If your going to have a "beer train" you better have the Burgers, Beer & Q crew on board!

West Waterford Station is lit up, scratch build from a copy of the plans he had.

Overall view of the layout, scenery is progressing. Mark ran a 180 car, 7 unit freight train!

Away in the house, Good Night!

Rob D

Modern Yardmaster

This is it! A room with a view. A computer, digital radio, and a few other things, like a space heater under the desk for those cold nights! That's my office!

Rob D

D&H In Fort Edward

We return to the station in Fort Edward, NY tonight for the encore appearance of D&H 7303 & 7304 returning northward from Saratoga, NY. I had just enough time to celebrate my photo earlier of the southbound move with 7304 leading, with a cup of tea, before I went back out from the car to move the step ladder, light stands and flash units across the street to the east side of the station. In all maybe one hour and a half had passed. Then test shots of the station and tweaking the lighting some more. The signals are out of sight behind me here, hidden by trees and brush, so I did not know D47 was headed back my way until I heard a single blast of 7303s air horn! They sounded like they were coming down Ganesvort Hill nearby!

 

As this was Saturday morning early, I was hoping they had not changed locomotives, as what engines they had returning tonight would likely work into the next week on the job as D47 does not “normally” work weekends. My plan was if D47 kept the two D&H engines for power was to invite Greg Klingler out again next week to pose for me.  It is quiet enough to allow me to hear the hollow low pitched rumble as D47 crosses the two open deck bridges across the Hudson River, onto and off from Rogers Island. With no grade crossings in between to give their presence away, the only indication a train is coming is the headlight glow above the tree line. Then the grade crossing signals activate, D47s engineer starts blowing for the crossing just below the station and around the curve comes a mass of headlights in the darkness.

 

It is not until the lead engines pilot plow passes my mark and the flash lighting reflects back that I am relieved to see Champlain Blue! Whoa! 7303 & 7304 are still together into next week! There will still be a chance to get together with Greg next week perhaps! Not that this photo is that bad! Here is 7303 leading, getting her turn for adoration! LOL! Afterward I am full of gratitude to CP for combining the last two D&H painted engines on the roster. Still in my neck of the woods and operating at night! Shot in Fort Edward, NY on December 5, 2015 at 03:38. Please enjoy! Comments are welcomed. Special thanks to Gordy Smith for the heads up!

 

Gary Knapp

Frank Adamec Update

The new 4 x 8 foot engine terminal is in! Designed by Brad Peterson, Frank worked all fall and winter on creating it. Featuring a 180 foot DCC turntable from Walthers,  Diamond Scale fueling rack and a kitbashed back shop.

Operating DCC BLMA search light signals are next!

End of a era, Steve Lamora's Southern Adirondack

 

My section of the Southern Adirondack is coming to an end .The layout is 8 years old is the fourth layout in 16 years in our house but we have outgrown the house and time for a bigger basement. The new layout I will be going back to the Fonda Johnstown And Gloversville.  Here are a few pictures of the layout and what I had finished.

 

Wednesday Night Op Session October

 

The Wednesday night group had a Op Session at Brad Peterson's house back in October. Rick, Blair, Jim and Brad are getting power and assignments ready in Mechanicville yard. 

 

The D&H 4071 was a Atlas RS3 I painted over 15 years ago, Brad bought it from me, decaled it added a decoder and got her running again!

NYAR 300

NYAR 300 in consist on ACWR on 2/23/2016, Pinehurst NC:

http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=4407217

 

 

Rob Gould's DCC Corner

 

 

After about with short circuits this winter I decided it was time to evaluate my DCC system.  Overtime my layout grew but my Digitrax system did not.  At any given time my layout had 39 locos & 5 of those had sound. If I was running 3 trains at once that might be 8 or 9 locos at once.  Also I went  from 3 small staging yards to 3 big staging yards.  Clearly I needed a booster.  My thought was that the current draw from the larger layout with more locos and a longer track bus was part of the problem with short circuits.  Some DCC systems are fooled into to thinking the large current draw upon power-up is a short circuit when the system is trying to recover from a real short circuit such as a derailment.  Digitrax makes boosters and circuit brakers.  Most of the articles I read about enlarging your DCC system point out that you may not need a booster but rather a circuit breaker.  I decided to add both.  I added an 8 amp booster and 2 circuit breakers that have 4 districts per unit.

 

Centralized vs Distributed Boosters

The hardest part was deciding how to divide the layout into isolated blocks with double gapped rails.  Only slightly less harder was getting over the fact that I removed dozens of insulated rail joiners when I converted to DCC.  Now I was putting some back in!  Here are some thoughts on dividing the layout up into blocks.   Choose areas that you can see such as the end of a staging yard and make that its own block.  Make blocks where locos tend to congregate such as a shop scene or industrial area.

I choose 7 blocks and thus have 1 spare circuit breaker for expansion.  I located the booster as far as possible from the command station.  Also I added a new powers supply which handles the command station and booster.  It is interesting to note that each breaker needs its own power supply separate from the command station/booster power supply.  You may want to consider a toggle switch which could shut off areas such as a diesel terminal when not in use.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I wish you success in life while navigating through 2016! May 2016 be a good year for us all.

 

Please enjoy the attached photo! Finally............the winters first snowstorm arrived in my neck of the woods December 29th and 30th. On cue, the NECR ran northbound 323 with New Englands only Tunnel Motor, NECR 3317 leading the night with the most snowfall advertised! Wanting to take advantage of the opportunity, but remembering the Vermont Highway Departments policy of not maintaining roads overnight during winter storms, the nearby gazebo in Waterbury suddenly became attractive again! What better place to shoot a passing train in a snowstorm than a gazebo? Plus it is only some twenty miles away from home, most of it Interstate driving. Once I reached the Interstate it was an entertaining drive over to Waterbury in the middle of the night. I found very little competition for space on the Interstate and was able to maintain a forty mph speed. In little more than thirty minutes I was off I89 and driving through the downtown to pull in beside the gazebo.

 

Temps are in the low twenties as I set up the lighting with maybe three inches on the ground. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters security came by but kept on going after they saw me! In the heavy snowfall, maybe an inch an hour, I placed a zip lock bag over the flash units. If you don’t, the flash heads get snow covered, reducing the light output! Any snow buildup can be easily shaken off the plastic bags if needed. Meanwhile, some ten miles away southeast of me, 323 & 324 were meeting in Montpelier Jct. 323 with 3317 was in the passing siding, waiting for 324 to switch out a salt storage shed and leave town before they could come out and head towards me. This sequence takes quite a while and it seems like I have been set up and ready for an hour or more before 324 has departed and 323 is headed my way. I alternate positions between kneeling on the gazebo floor looking at angles and composition/test shots, (the preferred activity) and sitting in the car five feet away drinkin’ tea.

 

The drivers side window is left cracked open two or three inches to facilitate listening to the scanner, and predictably, snow builds up on the inside and armrest of the door but it’s worth it. Once I hear 323 has departed Montpelier Jct., I give ‘em a few minutes then find my spot on the gazebo floor again to kneel on and wait. Around me the streets are busy with pickups and small tractors clearing snow, thankfully none are equipped with those roof mount rotating yellow beacons which set off the flash units when their light hits them. So far, no one has ventured into the parking lot next to me to begin plowing either! The snow flying in the air dampens my hearing, and I don’t pickup the sounds of EMD exhaust as 323 comes down Slip Hill, but I hear the engineer laying on the air horn for a little used grade crossing! Maybe 1/8 of a mile away headlights round the curve, silhouetting the swirling snow. I fire off the lighting, and down the tangent track comes 3317 at thirty to forty mph.

 

3317s cab rolls by, it’s in the gazebo window and just as quickly gone! The flash lighting and the GRs leaf shutter capture the dramatic image amid favorite conditions for me! The difficulty presented in getting on location at night in a snowstorm are more than compensated for with images you have a chance to capture. By the time I have come back down from cloud nine and packed everything up the snow has changed to freezing rain! Nasty stuff if you are driving on bare pavement, but............the plows are not out at night here so it falls on packed snow! That’s a horse of a different color and the slow drive home is uneventful. Shot in Waterbury, Vermont on December 29, 2015 at 04:25. Special thanks to Ed Ferguson! Please enjoy! Comments are welcomed.

All The Best In 2016;

Gary Knapp

Op Session at RPI

 A few photos from the operating session at RPI's NEB&W back in April.

 

 

D&H at Fort Edward

As I was collecting the lighting at the rear of the Civic prior to loading it into the trunk after capturing the pair of ex-UP SD9043MACs from Rogers Island, I overheard the D&H North End dispatcher telling the VRS crew up in Whitehall Yard ...........”They should be up there at 03:30” and I concluded she (Maureen) was referring to local D47 which operates out of Whitehall Yard and runs to and from Saratoga Yard. Frequently the VRS night job from Rutland waits for D47 to deliver cars, and apparently this was one of those nights. And...........D47 operates with a pair of CP GP 38-2’s! I remembered how Greg Klingler had dragged me over to the station in town to check for possible angles after a night photo we combined on in the past there on Rogers Island, and I thought...........why not? This is about as spontaneous as I get at night! Lol!

 

A few minutes later I was walking around the east side of the Fort Edward station, liking what I found! The only wrench in the works was a speed limit sign and post I had to compose around. After I repositioned the car on this side of the tracks, I quickly got to work setting up lighting, imagining how nice a pair of bright red CP GP 38-2’s would look against the refurbished station. Two different police vehicles came past several times as I was going back and forth from the Civic with lighting and one rolled down his window to ask....................”Are you surveying”? I bet the two officers has guessed on what I was up to! This officer lost, as I told him I was setting up to take a night photo of a train. Officer Bill Gatewood, down in Ashland, Virginia would have won the bet as he knew what I was up to when we crossed paths years ago! lol! The officer tonight asked when the train was due, mentioned how they come thru all night long here, and then we parted ways wishing each other a safe night.

 

I’m just finishing the lighting when things start falling apart! I can hear D47 coming down Gansevort Hill below me, the grade ends at the bridge which crosses a portion of the Hudson River onto Rogers Island..........the stepladder and camera are still in the Civic. Not good! I get to the car and stuff the tiny GR and Pocket Wizard into each back pocket then make a racket dragging the stepladder out of the back with light stands and clothes falling onto the ground after coming along with it. As I position the stepladder D47 is blowing for the bridge, not much time to waste! I mount the Pocket Wizard onto the GR hotshoe turn everything on and climb up atop the stepladder as D47 rumbles over the bridge perhaps half a mile away. I fire off a test shot and it looks way too bright! Something is not right as I had set the flash output to expose the scene much darker!  I examine the exposure settings and try to increase f-stop from f2.8 but the GR for some reason does not respond! I’m not using the correct dial?

 

The crossing gates are activating next to the station! Unable to adjust the f-stop, I increase the shutter speed to 1/1000th of a sec. from 1/640th and the test shot looks better as D47 is blowing for the crossing. I’m thinking this is wild! How can it expose like this at 1/1000th? I had manually preset the focus so as D47 comes into sight I frame up the view and watch as the leader comes out of the dark, over the crossing and past my mark at around forty mph. A silent press of the shutter results in the lighting reflecting back.......................Champlain Blue, Yellow and Silver, as D&H 7304 flies past me! What a nice surprise! And the shot looks excellent! How can this be I wonder standing atop the stepladder as D47’s short train is gone into the night. Then........... I notice what’s goin’ on.

 

In my hasty handling of the GR I cleverly (somehow) managed to move/nudge the protected MODE DIAL which I normally set on manual everything. I had moved the dial to “shutter/aperture mode”! In this mode the camera adjusts the ISO setting for the selected aperture/shutter speed. SO I’m checking the settings on the rear screen of the GR, 1/1000th.......f2.8........ISO 12,800! Oh no! I instantly conclude I have a grainy/noisy shot here at such a high iso setting, as I was using iso 1600! But...........zooming in it does not look bad on the GR’s rear screen! I can’t believe it! Back home in post-processing the image is CLEAN! I’m impressed. This is quite a performance/save from a $560 camera/lens combo! Plus, it’s a shot of D&H 7304, one of two remaining locomotives on the CP roster to wear a variation of the D&H Lightning Stripe scheme! Please enjoy! Comments are welcomed. SHot on June 12, 2015 at 02:55 in Fort Edward, NY. Special thanks to Greg Klingler, you were right Greg!

 

All The Best In 2015;

Gary Knapp

Laser Cut Bridge

A really nice laser cut bridge from Monroe Models will hide the hole in the backdrop looking towards Newport....

 Wayne sent a photo along from his layout...

The prototype idea...LV - CNJ Blackman St. Bridge.