Model Railroading > The 2016 Penn Central - Along the railroad as it develops...

I designed both my track plan and my overall railroad to match the kinds of things I like to look at, when I look at the real thing. 

I wanted long vistas and places where one could compose some interesting "local" shots as well....and to do this the "shape" of the trackage had to play a large part as being the stage on which the trains are viewed.

So here are some images of such areas....designed to be viewed from certain angles.

Picture #1 is the "St Lawrence Jct crossing and interchange with CN - a single track CN line crosses the 2016 PC here just before a bridge over the Grasse River. An interchange track with CN will ultimately be added via a hinged-down double track siding which will tie into the track you see laid alongside the CN main..

Picture 2 is the view on the opposite side of the river. I prefer broad convex curves to concave ones in most cases, and this view looks particularly good when you hava train crawling over the swing bridge about to enter st Lawrence Yard. The calcium carbonate plant adds interest.

Picture 3  looks along the main toward the north end of CP 221. You can see long trains coming down this stretch at an angle to the benchwork with a small station, the diamond over which the steel mill railroad crosses the PC main, and over to the right to scrap handling area of the steel mill itself. Off in the distance and behind me to my right are the tracks that lead into the large set of diamonds, out of sight to my left. The mill's BOF is just to my right behind me. 

Of course it will all look better when sceniced...but all were done with a plan in mind all the way up through scenery.

Bob

---

---

---

Looking good Bob! I am enjoying the pictures of your progress, thanks for sharing.

Andrew C

Here are a few more.....

Picture 1 is a full St Lawrence Yard on a Thursday morning....

Picture 2 I don't think I have to tell you what kind of lettering changes this caboose will be patched-to :)

Picture 3 - This is the main yard tower for St Lawrence Yard, located at the middle-most of the 3 entrances to and exits from, the yard. This is CP "SW" or Southgate.

 

---

---

---

Love the big green mill-Well done!

Mike Bannon
St Catharines, ON

That is one heck of a protolance (is that the right word?) RR!

Looks like you are having fun! I enjoy your updates.

Sacramento Valley Moulding Thrall car in #4. I used to manage the real-life fleet, of which we had 10 or 12 (memory going).

Tom Y



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/16 19:16 by icancmp193.

Very nice scenes there!   I really like the yard with some distance spanning out.    Very accurate.   All too often yards have sharp curves in them or aren't long enough to show that many cars.    

algoma11 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Love the big green mill-Well done!

Thank you....still a long way from completed...lots left to do on it...but the compliment is appreciated :)

Bob

SPDRGWfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That is one heck of a protolance (is that the
> right word?) RR!

Thank you...doing it this waycertanily allows the creative juices to flow :)  It also allows for purchasing a lot of already-decorated rolling stock lol....

"Protolancing" is a nice term for it....

Bob

King_Coal Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Looks like you are having fun! I enjoy your
> updates.

Ya know....it really HAS been fun :)  I belong to a local club in Providence, RI and as a result I know a lot of New Haven modelers....I recently patched some now "ex-NH"  Centuries and I painted up a few "plausable" NH GP-60's for one fellow....and so far there are no known contracts out on my life ....lol...

Bob

icancmp193 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sacramento Valley Moulding Thrall car in #4. I
> used to manage the real-life fleet, of which we
> had 10 or 12 (memory going).
>
> Tom Y

I keep looking at that car as it's green color can be weathered and faded enough to make a plausible PC car......but then I have enough things to do without adding more. It is a nice car as it is...so they moved molding in those types of cars?  I had assumed it was all high grade lumber and plywood...great to know as there is a furniture plant on the line eventually and a cabinet mfgr.

Be interesting sometime to hear about managing such a fleet....

Bob

Fizzboy7 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Very nice scenes there!   I really like the yard
> with some distance spanning out.    Very
> accurate.   All too often yards have sharp curves
> in them or aren't long enough to show that many
> cars.    

Exactly - and one of the other reasons to have done it is the sheer amount of time - at scale speeds - it takes to run a switcher the length of the yard or take power off/put power on a train...at restricted speed it takes forever .
The yard has a capacity of 514 50 ft cars and the tracks can hold from 35 to 55 cars each. The mirror on the far end is a big help too.....but disguising it will be a highway bridge and building flat eventually.

Thank you for the compliment :)

Bob

Seriously NICE!

Go, Penn Central!!

SantaFeRuss

Posted from Android

Moulding became a big business for a number of years that extended the life of many very small mills in the California, Oregon, Idaho and Washington areas. If a mill had the right equipment to handle large lumber they could purchase the 'knifes' that transformed simple 2x somethings into intricate decorative moulding that comanded a pretty high price. Many small operations were able to make payroll, or pay off loans by producing moulding. There were also larger operations that did well by adding moulding to their existing facilities. It was the definition of high end lumber for a while. I'm not sure where all that stuff is made anymore, although I have heard about Southern Oregon and high end kitchen Cabinets once again. There was a large and very broad re-structuring of the market in the 90's.

The 'all-door' cars fell out of favor due to the high maintainance door guides and rollers along with the general safety and liability concerns of moving the doors across the length of the car. You can only do so much with a fork lift before something starts to break. Some owners would simply weld the outer set of doors in place. The mechanical structure of the all-door car is a Bulkhead flat car causing issues with the roof and all that supports it.

Nice job on the layout and the infomative posts.

> -----
> > Sacramento Valley Moulding Thrall car in #4. I
> > used to manage the real-life fleet, of which we
> > had 10 or 12 (memory going).
> >
> > Tom Y
>
> I keep looking at that car as it's green color can
> be weathered and faded enough to make a plausible
> PC car......but then I have enough things to do
> without adding more. It is a nice car as it
> is...so they moved molding in those types of cars?
>  I had assumed it was all high grade lumber and
> plywood...great to know as there is a furniture
> plant on the line eventually and a cabinet mfgr.
>
> Be interesting sometime to hear about managing
> such a fleet....
>
> Bob

The PC woodchip gon is interesting. Did the actual PC ever handle chips? I can't remember ever having seen a PC chip car of any sort, nor can I think of online paper mills off the top of my head. I suppose there might have been some papermaking in northern NY and maybe Massachusetts.

CPR_4000 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The PC woodchip gon is interesting. Did the actual
> PC ever handle chips? I can't remember ever having
> seen a PC chip car of any sort, nor can I think of
> online paper mills off the top of my head. I
> suppose there might have been some papermaking in
> northern NY and maybe Massachusetts.

Given I am modeling modern New York state, in a Penn Central merger that only OCCURED in 2000,  the car is imagineered.  I do plan to have a wood chip and pellet plant  modeled on the railroad, and I have painted up 6 of these cars, and finished one of them.  That is the one you see. It will get it's chip load soon...The chips also make good export cargo for Port Massena. 

Bob

The real PC did handle wood chips. The HPA trains that ran from Erie to Lock Haven for Hammermill Paper carried both pulp wood and chips. The chip cars were owned by Hammermill. Later Hammermill bought the Erie line from Emporium Pa on the Buffalo line to a point close to Erie. Conrail operated the trains for years for Hammermill until the Allegheny Railroad came about which was owned by Hammermill. The traffic existed back in the PRR days. Back then the PRR used gons for the pulp wood. No chips at that time . ---------  Ken McCorry