Model Train Journal

Happy Friday!

With the layout pretty much complete (of large projects anyway) Just took some time to run some trains this week. I did take delivery of a new ABA set of MTH CNJ F3s & put them to work.















Caught CNJ SW1 1010 on a transfer run on the NY&LB -




With a couple of MTH NJT units on order, I decided to turn some of the coaches I had into cab cars so I can run in push-pull mode in & out of the terminal. Here's the first one I did - The car includes headlights & has a switch under it to turn them on /off






After seeing 611 last weekend, I had to give her a spin on the layout -



Speaking of 611, took a ton of shots & didn't get to go through most of them, but here are a few I did -
N&W 611 is about to duck under the Blue Ridge Parkway just outside of Roanoke on it's way to Lynchburg on the Blue Ridge District-

A shot I waited 3 years to get for various reasons, 611 breaks the silence of early morning as she passes a small farm just outside of Webster VA. This is a scene that has not changed all that much since she regularly ran these same rails 60 years ago-


Another shot I wanted for a while was something through Solitude on the Shenandoah Valley line. Took a break from 611 one of the days I was up there & grabbed 201 heading southbound past the increasingly rare NW CPLs -


Caught up w/ 201 again on the Pulaski District later that day & got him going under the CPLs at Radford, VA -

Christopher
I like those backdrop pictures of the buildings. They add a lot of character to the layout

HONDO74 wrote:Christopher
I like those backdrop pictures of the buildings. They add a lot of character to the layout

Yeah I love them. Adds a lot to the background. Beats looking at the blue wall

That orange and blue f3 set looks sharp and the cab car treatment on the traditional riveted stream liners is really sharp. 611 looks good as always, especially like the composition of the B&W shot. Thanks!

Thanks Chuck Always good to see 611

Yes, I like both the model and real shots of 611. It's nice to see the real thing, without a damn diesel "assisting".

I don't think I have ever said thank you for your time in posting these photos each week.

Well, these aren't exactly from this weekend. But I did find them and scan them in this weekend. Does that count?

These photos are from December 1965 and were part of a 6th grade project I did on bridges. (Yes, my mother kept everything. ).

First, our old favorite.




Then the Market Street Bridge between Weirton (actually East Steubenville, WV) and Steubenville, OH. This was an open grate roadway bridge for cars, trucks, and at one time (correct me Roger) trolleys. If I recall correctly, my father told me about riding the trolley to Steubenville. He also told me about inter-urban trolleys.



This is the Ft. Steuben bridge. It was demolished in the last decade.



Enjoy!

George

Nice historical shots!

George also knows a lot about this area so he can correct me.
I have only a cousin left in that area now and driving has become
more difficult so I don't get there very often. The last time was
@ 15 years ago and that is probably the last time.
The info about the Market Street bridge is correct. Rode the
street car across the bridge because I liked to ride them.
There was also a commuter train to Pittsburgh from Steubenville.
I can't remember the route because I was too busy looking at railroad stuff.
This would have been in the late 1940s.
I never did it but until @1947 it was possible to make the Steubenville-
Pittsburgh trip by trolley.
This was a great area for a train watcher until the death of the Pennsy.

Thanks Chuck and Roger! It's amazing some of the stuff I'm finding. And some of the stuff that just seems to have disappeared.

I have no idea how Christopher got back up and going so quickly. I am still digging out and making tortoise-like progress.

Love those shots, Chris!

George

Homes with garages built in the last 30 years have garage door openers with sensors. The sensors are supposed to keep little Johnny from being horribly crushed to death when he foolishly scampers under the closing garage door. This is a family forum or I'd tell you what I really think of them. Suffice it to say that my retort mentions political correctness, the "nanny state", and the Darwin Awards.

Frankly, the sensors in the old house stopped working every time I thought about looking at them. They were always going out of adjustment and if you grazed them with the grill while taking it in/out, you were screwed. Aligning them took surgical precision, something like threading a needle from 10,000 feet with a Norden bombsight. Every so often I would manage it, but sometimes they just wouldn't go back into line. Over the past 13 years in the old house, I must have called the repair guy 6-7 times, each visit a $60 charge for the privilege of his appearance and the familiar refrain of "I don't have that part on my truck. I'll come back in 2 weeks when the order comes in."

So where is all of this going, you ask? Well, I fixed the sensors in this new house using the lumber and screws from the protective crate for my PRR Ohio River bridge. I actually put a protective barrier around them. I hope this prevents similar mishaps.

Left side.


Right side.


The disemboweled donor bridge crate.


Yeah, this marginally a train-related post, but **** it feels good!

George

BNSF ES44C4 4251, heading up NS 20N, races through Wyandotte on the Conrail Detroit Line. Shot 5/18/17

George,
I think Christopher is able to get his layouts up quickly because of the type of layout he has been doing.
They seem to be fancy post war style to me. Now I don't mean anything derogatory by that but that is
certainly easier to do from the scenery aspect than a hi-rail type. Christopher also seems to give a
lot of thought to his layouts. He doesn't just fill up tables with track and put in accessories in empty
spots. He puts them where they make sense.

Christoper has a lot of high rail details on the layout but he is working with a much smaller space and the track plan is much simpler. About the only non high rail aspect are his roads.

the only issue with my door openers were these crazy michigan spiders that like to build webs in optic sensors and gas grille burners. About twice a year I have to get a damp paper towel and wipe out the lens/illuminator/reflector. You can tell it's acting up as the red led is blinking furiously. The grille now gets a shot of air from the compressor to clear out the webs.