Gotta agree with Matt there! Not that we get the same amount of snow you do, but I much prefer railfanning in the winter time. No high sun, no getting sunburned while standing for an hour and half for a train that never came, and I'd be too cold than too warm anyday. Not that any of that stops me from taking pictures in the summer either, but I do like winter better.
Only problem is that there is less daylight to work with, and so many things that are late-evening or early morning only sorts of shots are hard to do in the winter when there's no light. But at least it eliminates that darn high sun, and so one could argue there's actually more usable light in the winter.
Anyway, I got a couple more model railroad projects done in the last few days. The first is a "saftey boxcar" the Wisconsin and Southern did. It simply permenantly sits at the end of a siding at the Janesville, WI roundhouse facilities to remind employees of saftey. When decals became avalible from a local company, I decided to do one of them. The car started life as a Accurail boxcar that I stripped, removed and filled the holes from the walkway, and then painted and decaled:
A few weeks ago, Walthers had a sale on their 2 Bay Cement hoppers. I've always liked the cars, and when I saw the sale an idea hit me. At my model railroad club, the Southern Wisconsin Sandhouse Crew (or SWSC) we've been working lately developing lots of paint schemes and cars that are labeled with SWSC. One of members had developed a scheme for these cement hoppers that were grey with orange SWSC initials. I like the design, but nobody had actually done any yet. So, I ordered the cars from Walthers, and printed myself decals.
When I got the cars, I tried stripping off only certain lettering (the reporting marks and a logo) without damaging the paint underneath. I figured this would save me some decal work, as I could leave most of the generic data on the car if I didn't strip it completely. While I managed to strip the underlying paint on one car (as I'll explain below) finally sanding with 1500 grit sandpaper seemed to work the best on the second car. After I'd got the lettering off, I applied the new SWSC decals (on the car, SWSC stands for Sceneca Western Sand & Cement a industry on our layout that happens to share initials with the club), cut .020 styrene squares for the hearld boards (a la Milwaukee Road grain hoppers), applied the couple of grab irons that came with the car, and hit it with a coat of dullcoat to seal the decals. I'm pretty happy with how this one came out:
I figure on doing at least one or two more of the cars in the future, if not more. I just kind of like how they look.
The original plan was to have a second SWSC hopper exactly like the above, only numbered 1957. But as I was testing removing the lettering from the first hopper, I accidently took off a lot of the underlying paint because I tried using Polly S ELO. What to do now? Well, I decided to turn the car into a patch job for my free lanced ralroad, the Appleton, Rivermoor, and Keenville. I'd yet to do a car for the ARK despite the fact that I'd had the idea of the railroad for 3 or 4 years, and so I figured this would be a good start. More decal printing insued, along with patching different parts of the car with different color greys, and I came up with this:
It really cries out for some rust and grime, but I haven't done that yet. Probably down the road.
And while I was taking pictures of the cars on my module that's used in the club's layout, I got a shot of WSOR 3806 (a stock Atlas GP38 that was really nicely detailed straight for the factory) pulling the string of new cars on my module:
There would normally be more details than this on the module, but I don't have most of them on there right now.
So that's my most recent trio of projects. I've got one other rolling stock project started (a passenger car), and then three or four projects in the works for the module. So hopefully there'll be more photos to come soon!
Noah
Noah Hofrichter wrote: Gotta agree with Matt there! Not that we get the same amount of snow you do, but I much prefer railfanning in the winter time. No high sun, no getting sunburned while standing for an hour and half for a train that never came, and I'd be too cold than too warm anyday. Not that any of that stops me from taking pictures in the summer either, but I do like winter better.Only problem is that there is less daylight to work with, and so many things that are late-evening or early morning only sorts of shots are hard to do in the winter when there's no light. But at least it eliminates that darn high sun, and so one could argue there's actually more usable light in the winter.Anyway, I got a couple more model railroad projects done in the last few days. The first is a "saftey boxcar" the Wisconsin and Southern did. It simply permenantly sits at the end of a siding at the Janesville, WI roundhouse facilities to remind employees of saftey. When decals became avalible from a local company, I decided to do one of them. The car started life as a Accurail boxcar that I stripped, removed and filled the holes from the walkway, and then painted and decaled:A few weeks ago, Walthers had a sale on their 2 Bay Cement hoppers. I've always liked the cars, and when I saw the sale an idea hit me. At my model railroad club, the Southern Wisconsin Sandhouse Crew (or SWSC) we've been working lately developing lots of paint schemes and cars that are labeled with SWSC. One of members had developed a scheme for these cement hoppers that were grey with orange SWSC initials. I like the design, but nobody had actually done any yet. So, I ordered the cars from Walthers, and printed myself decals. When I got the cars, I tried stripping off only certain lettering (the reporting marks and a logo) without damaging the paint underneath. I figured this would save me some decal work, as I could leave most of the generic data on the car if I didn't strip it completely. While I managed to strip the underlying paint on one car (as I'll explain below) finally sanding with 1500 grit sandpaper seemed to work the best on the second car. After I'd got the lettering off, I applied the new SWSC decals (on the car, SWSC stands for Sceneca Western Sand & Cement a industry on our layout that happens to share initials with the club), cut .020 styrene squares for the hearld boards (a la Milwaukee Road grain hoppers), applied the couple of grab irons that came with the car, and hit it with a coat of dullcoat to seal the decals. I'm pretty happy with how this one came out:I figure on doing at least one or two more of the cars in the future, if not more. I just kind of like how they look.The original plan was to have a second SWSC hopper exactly like the above, only numbered 1957. But as I was testing removing the lettering from the first hopper, I accidently took off a lot of the underlying paint because I tried using Polly S ELO. What to do now? Well, I decided to turn the car into a patch job for my free lanced ralroad, the Appleton, Rivermoor, and Keenville. I'd yet to do a car for the ARK despite the fact that I'd had the idea of the railroad for 3 or 4 years, and so I figured this would be a good start. More decal printing insued, along with patching different parts of the car with different color greys, and I came up with this:It really cries out for some rust and grime, but I haven't done that yet. Probably down the road.And while I was taking pictures of the cars on my module that's used in the club's layout, I got a shot of WSOR 3806 (a stock Atlas GP38 that was really nicely detailed straight for the factory) pulling the string of new cars on my module:There would normally be more details than this on the module, but I don't have most of them on there right now.So that's my most recent trio of projects. I've got one other rolling stock project started (a passenger car), and then three or four projects in the works for the module. So hopefully there'll be more photos to come soon!Noah
Nice job on the boxcar!
Mechanical Department "No no that's fine shove that 20 pound set all around the yard... those shoes aren't hell and a half to change..."
The Missabe Road: Safety First
coborn35 wrote:Hey EJE818, I heard that CN just gobbled EJE up.
I've heard the same rumors, though so far everything I've seen can all be traced to one or two sources. They are sources that are usually reliable, and that haave inside contacts on the CN, but not contacts that would be directly involved with a EJE purchase (or at least I don't think). The one guy heard something about "operational changes" that would involve purchasing the J, and thusly the rumor began. For now I still just call it rumor, until I see STB filings or stuff in offical print that's been verified.
My usuall saturday practice
i saw the L531 in New london today. it had the power that was few a few weeks ago CN 9461. i already have a pic of it so i shot a video.
heres the link to the vid
its kinda bad cause it was raining out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23bZBxV6cMM
As far as I have heard the CN has not bought EJ&E. Believe me, I would know if CN was going to buy the EJ&E. The local newspapers would be all over this. CN has been interested in EJ&E for years, and so far they haven't went for it once. Also, CN would have to buy the Union RR and Birmingham Southern. Speaking of EJ&E, they are now painting their switchers into a yellow and red paint scheme by request of owner USS. USS last said they were not putting the EJ&E up for sale and have no plans of doing so due to its value. I can't see that happening without UP and BNSF objecting, since they run more trains over the EJ&E then CN does. I finally saw their new SW1500, 460!
Well it's sad news for any WC fan today. We lost another WC loco, WC SD40-2 6006. I'm not sure if we DID lose her, but Brent told me she "Blew Up" in Canda like 2 days ago. I don't know, (I don't know if Brent knows eather. I guess they got it off the Info Group) the extent of damage to her. Anyway it's hitting me hard because she was the first WC SD40-2 I have seen. Maybe Alec, Max, or one of you guys know more info.
BTW: I know that when he said "blew up" I know he didn't mean exploded. lol.
My Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/JR7582 My Flickr Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wcfan/
Lionel collector, stuck in an N scaler's modelling space.
Re: the WC 6006, I was forwarded this off the C-N-R list yesterday (Alec saw it too I know):
rtcdave wrote:Yesterday evening [I assume that would mean Friday] I was working RTC Caramat Sub. WC 6006 (ex ACR 188) was the middle unit on Q-11531-15 had a crankcase explosion. Probably now at Symington. DJP
Yesterday evening [I assume that would mean Friday] I was working RTC Caramat Sub. WC 6006 (ex ACR 188) was the middle unit on Q-11531-15 had a crankcase explosion. Probably now at Symington. DJP
Doesn't sound good...
What's sad is that it seems like all the WC stuff the CN actually wanted to keep always ends up with mechanical failures, and they get rid of the stuff that was still running okay...
Noah Hofrichter wrote: Re: the WC 6006, I was forwarded this off the C-N-R list yesterday (Alec saw it too I know): rtcdave wrote:Yesterday evening [I assume that would mean Friday] I was working RTC Caramat Sub. WC 6006 (ex ACR 188) was the middle unit on Q-11531-15 had a crankcase explosion. Probably now at Symington. DJPDoesn't sound good...What's sad is that it seems like all the WC stuff the CN actually wanted to keep always ends up with mechanical failures, and they get rid of the stuff that was still running okay...Noah
Well that's good to know about 6006, Thanks Noah. Tell me if I'm wrong, but that basicaly means that the engine blew up, and if I'm right there's a big chance she'll be scrapped. Oh boy. Well this is really is making me depressed now.
This message is for Coborn35,
Me and my friend Tim (tpatrick) are thinking of planning a trip to Duluth, MN sometime in September. Tim told me that somewhere you said that you could get anyone a cabride. Is that offer still available? Also, can anyone give me any good ideas on train watching locations in Wisconsin and Minnesota? Thanks.
Depends on where you're going in Wisconsin. Southern end of the state, I'd recomend you find your way to the Mississippi River South of the Twin Cities, and do some railfanning on either the BNSF (which runs on the Wisconsin Side of the River) or the CP and regional Railroad Iowa, Chicago, and Eastern (which runs on the Iowa and Minnesota Side of the river). And down near Dubuque you also have CN/IC too (although no CP down there). I'd consider the scenery on the River to be the best photography spots avalible around here, if that's what you're most interested in. And both the BNSF and the CP have a high volume of traffic (20-30 trains a day on Both lines). My favorite stretch of the river is the BNSF between La Crosse and Prairie Du Chien, and the CP between La Crosse and the Twin Cities. But really it's hard to go wrong anywhere on the River.
Over near Milwaukee, Duplainville, Wisconsin is a good place to go. It's a at-grade crossing of the CP and the CN, good a for a decent amount of trains if you're willing to wait. Not much for photos though.
Regional railroad Wisconsin and Southern (WSOR) now operates quite a few of the branchlines in the Southern Wisconsin area. They have yards at Janesville and Madison, as well as Horicon (Between Milwaukee and Green Bay). Janesville has a roundhouse, turntable, and a decent size yard, and usually has something going on. Madison is a little quieter, but there are three trains a day around there most days. Problem is pretty much the whole WSOR system is unpredictable, and it's hard to tell exactly when trains will be running. There are general times of day when you're more likely to see trains in some places though.
The Stevens Point/Wisconsin Rapids/ Junction City/ Fon Du Lac area is okay if you're looking for CN action. Decent amount of trains, though not much extra special for photo locations either (there are lots of decent shots to be had though).
The UP has a mainline across Wisconsin (known as the Adams Line), but traffic there is hit and miss. Never know if you'll see anything or not.
The CP main across Wisconsin is the same one as on the Mississippi River, and sees a good amount of trains a day.
Northern Wisconsin is almost completely CN (former WC) territory. They've got a main line to Superior that sees a good deal of trains, but other than that I don't know much about their operations up there.
Northern Minnesota (north of Duluth) has the Duluth, Missabe, and Iron Range and the ore mines. Lots of good railfanning to be had up there too, especially if you're into ore trains. And the Missabe is starting to be Canoodled slowly but surely, so if you're interesting in seeing them, I'd do it sooner rather than later.
I really don't know much about the Twin Cities area, never done enough railfanning there. Alec would be better source of knowledge about that area.
If you know specifically what part of Wisconsin you'll be heading through (I'm guessing you'll be taking the Interstate from the Chicago area to Duluth, right?) or if anything specific above interests you I can give you more details. But that's a quick over view.
alstom wrote: This message is for Coborn35,Me and my friend Tim (tpatrick) are thinking of planning a trip to Duluth, MN sometime in September. Tim told me that somewhere you said that you could get anyone a cabride. Is that offer still available? Also, can anyone give me any good ideas on train watching locations in Wisconsin and Minnesota? Thanks.
A good spot in Wisconsin is Stevens Point, and North Fon du Lac. Stevens Point has more veiwable areas of the yard, while North Fon du Lac dosn't, but make it up in action.