Here in Jersey, we have NJ Transit on 12 rail lines and 3 light rail lines, part of SEPTA R3 (not sure about that, whichever goes to West Trenton), the Northeast Corridor, NS, CSX, Conrail (Conrail Shared Assets Operations [CSAO], and this often causes NS and CSX power to be on the same train), Morristown & Erie (ME)(Alcos!), New York, Susquehanna, & Western (NYSW), Cape May Seashore Lines (CMSL), and other shortlines.
Traffic is tons of Intermodal (especially in Newark, Elizabeth, Kearny, etc. and on the Lehigh Line), Auto trains, Manifests, Trash trains, Ethanol, Locals, and of course, M&Ms! (M&M plant is only 20 minutes from where I live! [shipped out in green Louisville & Wadley boxcars on NS H02]). I'm not exactly sure about anything in South Jersey (although it is a different state [for those that don't know, "New Jersey" is actually 3 "different" states- North Jersey, South Jersey, and the Jersey Shore]), but it's probably mostly the same or different stuff.
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True, very true. How about a black geep hauling 8 covered hoppers?
Sawyer Berry
Clemson University c/o 2018
Building a protolanced industrial park layout
Alex
PackerSawyer, don't forget the terrorists tourists, car factories and imports/exports from the southern ports.
Sawyer, don't forget the terrorists tourists, car factories and imports/exports from the southern ports.
True. Hey, south Carolina has the port of Charleston. I could see an autorack facility from the Aquarium on one side, and intermodular on the other. then driving back we passed the intermodular rail yard and I saw a couple locos (and I'm willing to bet I'm using the wrong term, but so sue me). good trip, lol.
Down south we got Geeps, deep dark woods, swamps in some areas, and who could forget the Appalachian mountians and coal haulers?
Yes, we do! Granite, paper, potatoes (in Maine, anyway), textiles (we have a lot of mills, especially in MA, CT, and RI), cement, corn syrup, miscellaneous freight traffic, etc.
And then we have covered bridges, shortlines running Alcos, and awesome fall foliage!
Vincent
Wants: 1. high-quality, sound equipped, SD40-2s, C636s, C30-7s, and F-units in BN. As for ones that don't cost an arm and a leg, that's out of the question....
2. An end to the limited-production and other crap that makes models harder to get and more expensive.
Guilford Guy To keep everyone else up to date. Ship granite blocks south over the line to the MSRR, then onto PAR, and finally to Fletcher quarry. Increased traffic for both WRS and MS!
To keep everyone else up to date.
Ship granite blocks south over the line to the MSRR, then onto PAR, and finally to Fletcher quarry. Increased traffic for both WRS and MS!
Thanks. Good lord, New England has some great indsutries.
Course, down south, you got textiles, paper, chemicals, feed, seed, cotton, flour, cement...................
I think a quarry would look best in Mascoma, so we can replace the team track with that. You're welcome to help with that, and we can name it after you, since it's the biggest industry... It might have some problems with flooding though, since Mascoma Lake is right next to it on the other side of the tracks!
I already have the Walthers Modulars, so I'll use them to build Agrawal Paper. But if I end up going for two paper mills, I may use a freight house.
Is paper only shipped in plug-door boxcars, or can I use regular old sliding-door cars? I never have enough cars for Agrawal when I only use plug-doors! But I have plenty of regular boxcars with the same type of doors as 4900.
A properly done quarry would look awesome. I'll be available to assist with scenery. Assuming that GP40-2Ls(no W, that's a railfan thing) will be around $70+$30 decoder, and you want 3, you're going to need um, lets see, math, right, $300. To be honest that seems manageable. Once that done, because you're rolling stock is adequate for the current situation, I'd begin replacing buildings. Walther's Budd's trucking, and Lauston Shipping would be good for replacing Hyce, and adding another industry in Lebanon, or maybe replacing Agrawal Paper. You know, Seaman Paper trucks their paper products to a brick freight house or something in Otter River, where it is loaded onto boxcars and picked up by Pan Am. This might be a more manageable idea for the new paper company. Rather than invest in Modulars, (Agrawal, or whatever its new name may be) just buy a freight station kit and park some boxcars and trailers by it.
http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?2006120218432819807.jpg
I still want to have a quarry, or at least a gravel transload center, since those are very common in New England. I'll probably have that in Enfield, as well as the paper mill that's actually there (except larger, built with Walthers Modulars, styrene, and junk box parts) but it will be smaller. I'll still run a dedicated train, but you won't find any massive loaders and buildings. It will just be a big gravel pile with a front loader nearby. I'll buy a nice scale one for that... In the real Enfield, there's a tree covered hill in that location, so I can live with building a loading track there...
I will be adding a depot and some buildings, and I'll have to add a river where part of Kimball Scrap is. I'll just build that around the river...
I don't know what else I'll do for industry changes. I didn't bike to Canaan, so I can justify doing whatever I want there short of building a nuclear power plant (although nuclear waste cars on WRS track would be fun! )
Then I have a bridge or two to add to the Mascoma Lake Grade, and some different stuff in Mascoma. It doesn't look good with a New Englandy town right next to the steel engine house and Hyce Machinery. I'll put those structures in Enfield and make the town of Mascoma miles away from the tracks just like the real thing!
Also, I may actually use pulpwood flats for Delery Pulpwood & Lumber traffic rather than gondolas, and use the gons for rock service. There were actually several prototype roads that did that, especially since it's larger rocks (small table-sized on an HO figure) and not really gravel.
Tyler, you might not want to remove all the heavy indsutry, because that could make the local a very boring job unless there were still some good local industries.
Also, since you model it as if it was never abandoned, the heavy indsutry could be modern indsutries that came after the time the line was supposed to be abandoned. Just a couple of thoguhts.
Well, I think I'm gonna change the SCRail corporate design again (not the layout design, and changing the corporate design will make my layout design more believable). I haven't really worked it out, but I think I will end up expanding the CPDR portion and make that the real loco hog etc., and then say they operate indsutrial branches and also jsut brnach lines throughout SC.
For example, they would have three branches in Aiken county. I'd model the north one. Each would require a road switcher for the way freight, and then maybe 4-6 other locomotives to run other trains (on my branch, there's the local, but there's also a fertilizer plant at the end, off layout (staging) that would probably require two locomotives to operate it in real life). I still need to work out the particulars.
OK, enough about the SCRail corporate crap.How about some finished motive power? All that's left is weatheirng, which is why I didn't put the windows back in. I'm getting enough turnouts to lay the mainline along the 4x8 (not enough flex or the one turnout for staging) from a guy on another forum hopefully before school starts, and then construction begins. will hopefully get the brackets and foam for the staging and 4x8, respectively (I have enough foam left over to cover the staging). but anyways, pics:
Also, finally painted and built this kit:
Guess where I went this weekend? I biked over the rail trail that I model, in modern times, as if it were never abandoned! I made some comparisons between the actual place and my layout, and here are my thoughts:
Andy, looks good.
Alex, I forgot to ask earlier, but what was the paint combonation you used for weathering the trucks on your ALCO? Reason being that it looks really close to what lots of pictures of BN engines have for their trucks.
I made a round to the LHS the other day, lo and behold, they had dullcote and HO scale frieght cars (although they were all basic Bachmanns or Model powers). I picked up an ATSF cylindrical hopper in addition to dullocte. I also checked to see if they had the paints Pelle Soeburg used in his weathering article. However, I didn't have the funds for the paint or a second can of dullcote.
I went and weathed that, my Soo hopper and the 3 recent Ps-1 boxcars I got and my U30C (which came out really well). Unfortunately, the sealing coat didn't seal again (the powders come of if I look at wrong), and that the can was empty before I could try a second sealing cote.
Needless to say, I wasn't happy (no I didn't thow anything, except the empty can in the trash).
So now I intend to use my airbrush for weathering. Question is should I go with Acrylics or Enamels for weathering, and can clear paints be used to seal in pastels? I figure a jar of clear paint will last me longer than a can of dullcote. I don't really intend to use those cheap $1 acrylic paints since they seem to fall off rather easily.
Railfan Alex Hey Andy! That's some good work, I like it a lot! Amazing what a few details do to that model. There are 5 of our club members that have the Bachmann 2-10-2 and all of them run like crap. How does yours run?
Hey Andy! That's some good work, I like it a lot! Amazing what a few details do to that model. There are 5 of our club members that have the Bachmann 2-10-2 and all of them run like crap. How does yours run?
Never had any substantial problems with the way the 2-10-2 runs. The only comment i have is that with the original decoder (which i have since replaced with a tsunami sound decoder) when it ran (more noticably at slow speeds) it would lurch slightly. Now that problem has pretty much gone away. It pulls well. I like it a lot!
Thnaks guys! Yeah Alex, wheels and trucks are completely unweathered. I need to drybrush them soon.
Alex- That C424 is pretty schweet!
Andy- Great job in the steamer!
Sawyer- Nice job with the weathering! I didn't notice the wheels, maybe because the pix were resized, or it's just my computer (no shock there!).
Sawyer, weathering on the boxcar doesn't look to bad! But you should paint the wheels a rusty colour or something, they sorta stand out like soar thumbs.
Looks great Andy!
Got my decals Wednesday, unfortunately my paint either was damaged itself or the box it was in was, but hopefully that'll be here today, then I can paint my locos handrails and finally have them all painted up. But that's another story. I've gotten that NW caboose decaled and weathered, 5 of my locos decaled, and my CSX boxcar weathered. pics:
Before pic of caboose:
After (red decal trim film and Gothick Block White numbers used):
(this side got messed up early, but it still looks ok):
pic of my rs-1:
here's the album w/ all the loco pics:
http://s253.photobucket.com/albums/hh55/Packers_1/weathering%20pictures/
Yesterday I cut the running boards near the front of the loco and lowered them. I had to file a small indent do accomidate the steam chest. I think it turned out well.
My next step will be to drill a small hole behind the smoke stack and install the bell.
Comments Welcome!
looks great to me Andy!
Well, 5 of my locos now have number sand my caboose is pretty much weathered up. Pics tomorrow.
Here's an update on what I've been doing lately. I got my MBE cab that I ordered online and was disgusted by the quality. The detail was appaling and the thing basically fell apart in my hands! So I modified the PS cab that I had so the front wall was no longer angled.
Guilford Guy It would have been nice to have the locos3 months ago, but the fact that I can afford my track and 2 sound equipped GP40s is really quite nice. This means I can now start working on acquiring/scratchbuilding structures for the layout!
It would have been nice to have the locos3 months ago, but the fact that I can afford my track and 2 sound equipped GP40s is really quite nice. This means I can now start working on acquiring/scratchbuilding structures for the layout!
Your Welcome...
My Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/JR7582 My Flickr Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wcfan/
Thanks guys!Alex, they lost your GP40-2's?!? That sucks... But I guess you end up with more from the insurance money, so that's always good.
Alex your Alco looks great!
Alex, that looks very spiffy! Skills must be relative to names!
So um, USPS lost my GP40-2s, so with the insurance money, I'm getting 2 GP40-2s with sound, xurons, 9 Central Valley turnout kits, 36ft of M-E Code 70 flex, 18 feet of M-E Code 55 flex, and 30ft of cork roadbed. I figure that spurs and whatnot won't need roadbed and will be laid directly on the foam.
I need to order 2 GP40-2 shells form Atlas because the only sound equipped undecs at MB Klein had the nose hoodlight, but 12$ for the 2 shells isn't a big set back, and it gives me a couple more test shells!
Awesome work weathering that C424 Alex!'
Well, my decals should be in at the hobby shop today, and I have youthgroup at my church tonight, and the hobby shop is on the way to church, so I'll pick them up then. I'll probably start applying decals Friday, as I want to read The Secret Life of Bees Thursday (dern summer reading!) My girlfriend is coming over saturday, so decal work will resume Sunday.
Alex, Looks good. Leeme know when you start replacing that BB stuff.