Mark's MT Railroads: Back On Track

My wife and I recently returned from a trip to attend my sister's wedding in Illinois (explaining the lack of progress in the Train Room last week.)

The "forgotten turntable" picture from last week was taken along the northern edge of Freeport, IL, down the hill near Don's Oasis Restaurant.

It was good to see lots of family and friends in Illinois, and also help out at the wedding. A bonus of driving there and back meant that I was able to bring many more model trains back with me. Amber safely puzzled them into our backseat and trunk, and they all arrived in one piece.

I also purchased two more freight cars on the Trainz Auction since the last blog update. The cars are pictured further below.

I did make a wee bit of progress on the Train Room floor last night. The main part of the room is now 28% done.

The fourth in this series of future passenger train talks is the "Challenger". The real-life train ran between Chicago and Los Angeles, beginning service in 1936. It was a joint venture between the Chicago & North Western and Union Pacific railroads, and thus a variety of equipment was used. My "Challenger" is an all-C&NW train, and is pulled by an E-4 class hudson steam locomotive. The real-life E-4 was a huge, streamlined engine that weighed nearly 400 tons and sported driving wheels that were 7 feet tall. According to Montgomery Scott, this locomotive weighs as much as two adult humpback whales and their surrounding water. Nine of these locomotives were built, but sadly none of them have survived. Fortunately, a bit of their memory can live on through my train sets. The Challenger is a 7-car, streamlined passenger set pulled by a matching E-4 hudson. A hudson steam locomotive has a 4-6-4 wheel arrangement, and were designed for a lot of power at high speeds. At the time I purchased this train set, it was the most expensive single item I had ever acquired on my own. The entire set was built by MTH Electric Trains, and was the first set I obtained with an advanced sound system. The locomotive is able to play a few tricks thanks to the onboard computer. Currently, the Challenger is waiting for its turn in the roundhouse, where it will require a bit of repair work. The engine sat unused and if the battery is left inside of it, it leads to a condition that requires a special re-set. I believe this can be fixed by purchasing a MTH ProtoSounds reset kit, but that is to be determined. Hopefully I can get it up and running quickly, so that visitors can experience the sound and light show it provides on track. On the train layout of the future, the Challenger will be one of the premiere long-distance passenger trains, taking vacationers to all corners of the layout. Keep your rails shiny ~