Happy New Year and welcome back to my occasionally-updated blog. For the next month or so, a gang of General Purpose ("GP" or Geep") diesels have control of the layout, so let’s go check them out!
First, on Track 1, Williams-made Illinois Central GP9 #8959 leads a short freight consisting of a CNW hopper, NP reefer and a Texaco tanker, trailed by a wood sided Illinois Central caboose.
Next up, the snappy looking Rock Island GP9 (also manufactured by Williams) pulls a mixed freight on Track 2. Here's the roadnames, car types, and builders: NP hopper (MTH), D&H hopper (Lionel), MRR gondola (MTH), CGW tanker (K-Line), NP log car (Lionel), CSS boxcar (Weaver), Baker's Chocolate tanker (K-Line), and a Rock Island caboose (Lionel).
Track 3 hosts an abbreviated Bozeman Zephyr with a Lionel Postwar Celebration Series Burlington GP7 at the point. Behind the locomotive is the newest addition to the roster, a boxcar celebrating and commemorating the birth of my son Wesley Hudson last November. This short Zephyr includes a baggage car, coach and observation car.
And, Track 4 finds a double-headed snowy reefer freight! Lionel Chicago & Northwestern GP7s numbers 1518 and 8375 haul an 11-car train while pushing the CNW rotary snow plow through the drifts. The colorful reefer cars are filled with dog food (Doggie Diner), ham (Dubuque), baked beans (Heinz), assorted groceries (IGA), butter (Land-O-Lakes), biscuits (Merchant), mustard (Nash), bananas (Northern Refrigerator), fruit (Pacific Fruit Express), and cheese (Phenix). The whole deal is followed by a red CNW caboose.
Hope you enjoy these views of the new GP roster! Keep those rails shiny ~
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| The double-headed snowy reefer freight |
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| Burlington Geep and Special Addition Bozeman Zephyr
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| Spiffy CRI&P Geep
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| Logs and South Shore
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| Geep Season |
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| Mid-layout view |
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| IC Geep |
