Boxes North and Boxes South

I recently set up a new roster and ran everything through shakedown trials. I was not able to place all of the rolling stock as planned, because of a surprise I encountered with some Atlas boxcars. Some of the Great Northern boxcars have trucks that will not navigate the tight O-31 radius curves of Track 1. These cars are by no means long, so length is not the issue - it is the trucks! Anyway, I shifted some things around and now each track has a more diverse representation of rolling stock from different regions (just like real trains).

Another small obstacle was a coupler that wouldn't lock shut, and a bit of wire took care of that.

The biggest shakedown snafu was a human error, and it was a bit costly. In my eagerness to run a BCR-equipped MTH PS1 locomotive, I failed to let the BCR charge for 60 seconds (as prescribed by the manufacturer). I used the Direction button on the MRC transformer remote, and that proved to be a no-no. The interior lights on the loco flashed brightly for a moment and then failed. Dang. The full damages are the cab lights, and both pairs of number board lights. At this time I don't know if there is a board failure or just the bulbs. Thankfully, all other lights and locomotive functionality are operational, and this has likely taught me a valuable lesson I won't forget.

Everything is 1:48 O-Scale this time around:

On Track 1 is a short Great Northern freight pulled by MTH GP9 #620, including an MTH outside-braced brown Chicago & Alton boxcar and an MTH wood sided brown Great Northern boxcar, and trailed by a K-Line Great Northern caboose with a handsome livery that matches the locomotive. This is the first run on the temporary layout for all of these. Speaking of "temporary", this layout has been in use for over nine years now! I'm still making steps towards the new layout's construction, but "temporary" may not be an appropriate term for this setup. Perhaps the "basement layout" or the "fifty six layout" (7' x 8').

The Great Northern Geep

Anyway, Track 2 is powered by the reliable Lionel Chicago & North Western 4-6-0 "ten-wheeler" steamer. Its 6-car consist includes an Atlas yellow Armour reefer with the "star" logo, a pair of MTH brown C&NW steel-sided boxcars, a pair of Atlas brown Great Northern boxcars (which can't navigate O-31 curves), and an MTH red C&NW CA-1 caboose. This is my first run of everything on this train except the locomotive.

Brown boxcars are also a theme this time

Track 3 is powered by another reliable Lionel steamer: the #4100 Frisco 2-8-2 mikado, which is celebrating 30 years of operation this year. The mike is pulling an eclectic bunch of freight with road names known for southern routes. Following the loco is an MTH brown Cotton Belt boxcar, a Weaver brown Illinois Central "Mainline of Mid-America" boxcar, two MTH blue/gray/yellow Missouri Pacific boxcars (the one with the gray roof comes from my Uncle's collection), a Weaver brown Frisco outside-braced boxcar with a pesky coupler, a Lionel silver Southern tank car from my Uncle's collection, an MTH orange Frisco hopper with coal load, and the Lionel brown Frisco wood sided caboose. This is the first run here for everything between the hog and the cabin.

Happy 30th to the reliable Frisco mikado!

Track 4 is the token passenger train of this roster, and I believe it steals the show. For the first time, my complete version of the Milwaukee Olympian Hiawatha is on track and rolling. This is the first time I've had any of these on the layout, and is the very first time some of the passenger cars have been out of their box. The entire train was manufactured by K-Line in 2000, and everything matches brilliantly. And yep, this has the full 21" passenger cars. All together this is one of the gems of my collection, and I'm excited to finally get it out and play with it! Motive power comes from an F3 ABA, which is followed by the train's express boxcar, and then a baggage car, parlor car "Maple Valley", dining car, coach car, and finally the extra-spiffy "Dell Rapids" skytop lounge car. Altogether a stunning streak of orange, maroon, and black.

Strength of the Olympian Hiawatha

The Dell Rapids Skytop Lounge

Until next time, keep your rails shiny 

Through-lines coming Through

Here's an update from the train room for March 2017. I'm very happy to report that my son, now 3 months old, really enjoys model trains. When he's upset, I run the trains for him, and he calms down every time. The combination of the train's motion and sounds have a lulling affect, and he's even fallen asleep a couple of times as the trains circle about in front of him.

Since my last post, I celebrated another birthday, and my parents and my parents-in-law all gifted me some nice railroad-related items. I received two nice posters of steam locomotive paintings, for the Northern Pacific and Great Northern railroads. I was also given several model railroad scenery supplies, including a bag of real coal. I also received an authentic chain for my railroad pocket watch. And, my wife gave me an evening with just the two of us, which meant a lot more to me than a thousand trains. Thank you to everybody for your generosity!

I've been running NP 0-6-0 for my son (well, for me too) and haven't had any problems until recently. I warmed it up one day, and there were no audible sounds from the speaker. This is the same issue I encountered last year, and took it to Caboose Hobbies in Denver to have it repaired. I've contacted The Caboose (new owner and location) to see if they have detailed records of what was specifically repaired last year, in hopes that I can duplicate it.

Over the past week, with help from my father and son, the train layout roster has been changed. We also performed a bit of inventory on the previous and new roster items. As of now, there are 97 items remaining to inventory. The theme of the roster is "through-lines", meaning that these trains are not run by local/regional railroads - they are "passing through". The locomotives in use are the only ones in the collection from their respective railroads. So, here's the new March-April 2017 roster for your review and entertainment:

On Track 1, the Blue Train makes its first-ever run this month. With the majority of its members hailing from the mostly-blue livery of Montana Rail Link, I developed this train simply because my bride likes the color. With last year's acquisition of the Union 76 tank car, this mixed freight now includes three scale-and-time-displaced cars with a locomotive and caboose. As more primarily-blue rolling stock is collected, they will be added to this special freight. This version of the Blue Train consists of the MRL SD9 (Lionel), a Needham Packing reefer (MTH), a Union 76 oil tank (K-Line), an MRL double-door boxcar (Lionel) and an MRL extended vision caboose (Lionel).

Track 2 hosts an all-dairy-related train. The Dairy Express is led by the MPC-era MKT NW2 (Lionel), a GN stock car (Petersen) a Borden milk tank car (Lionel), a Carnation reefer (K-Line), a Dairy Men reefer (Lionel) and an MKT extended vision caboose (Lionel). The NW2 is a single-motor unit and runs very well - it growls like a Postwar locomotive and was the first diesel model I had as a youngster.

On Track 3, reliable and mighty Mikado #4100 pulls mixed freight #408. A variety of goods and materials are in tow behind the Frisco 2-8-2 steam locomotive, built by Lionel in 1993. First, a CP log car (Lionel), followed by two recently acquired Lionel tankers with Philadelphia Quartz and Army liveries, a Midnight-Chief-inspired boxcar (#97191, K-Line), a Peacock reefer (K-Line), an Old Dutch reefer (K-Line), a GN hopper laden with coal (MTH), a CNW flatcar with semi trailer (called a "piggyback") (MTH), a late-80's MRR tank car (Lionel), an IC hopper (Williams) and a Frisco wood-sided caboose.

The ATSF boxcar has a brake-side coupler issue. It's opening at certain spots on the loop, but I haven't determined the cause yet. I thought the magnet was activating, but I've proved that isn't the issue. It only opens when it is coupled to another car, so weight and force, combined with certain sections of track are somehow causing it to malfunction. I'll keep troubleshooting, but for now I've placed the boxcar at the end of the train to prevent uncoupling problems.

Also, as I learned while holding my son, one should not shift the Frisco Mikado into forward from neutral at 25% power. I had gotten used to running the NP Switcher, which has a very gentle shift and can run smoothly at low speeds, but the 2-8-2 experienced extreme acceleration. The log car uncoupled from the tank car and both derailed. Of course, this happened at the inaccessible corner of the layout, so it took some ingenuity, while holding a baby, to pull the cars closer and re-rail them. No harm done, and everything is running again, but it was a small adventure to fix it.

And on Track 4, I've assembled the longest-yet version of the Northern Range heavyweight coach train. This time, its being pulled over Pennsylvania Railroad ROW, so the train is called the "Philly Phoenix" and is pulled by a big GG1 electric locomotive (Williams). The real-life prototype for this locomotive is nicknamed "Blackjack", and can be viewed at the Pennsylvania Railroad Museum. Behind my O-scale version of Blackjack is a troop car converted into an REA head-end car (Weaver), the Van Twiller combine (Lionel, first time on rails ever), the Willow River coach (Lionel), the Willow Valley coach (Lionel), the Willow Range coach (Lionel), the second Willow River coach (Lionel), the Highland Falls sleeper (Lionel), and the Granite Canyon coach (K-Line) takes up the rear.

The GG1 horn sputters frequently while pulling the Philly Phoenix. This can be prevented by holding down the Bell button on the controller. I think this is just a symptom of something fishy going on electronically with Track 4, as I’ve had problems with Whistle/Horn-Bell functionality in the past.

With my son around, the trains are all getting a lot more run time, which means more fun for everybody!

Have a blessed day, and keep those rails shiny!

Bday steam locomotive artwork

The Blue Train

Dairy Express

Frisco 2-8-2

"Chicaqo" piggyback

Santa Fe Blackbonnet paint scheme

Mike and Blackjack

Part of the Philly Phoenix

The Town of Red Stone

Howdy folks, there wasn’t any train activity this week, so today I’ll talk a bit about a town I’ll be building on the future train layout.

The train layout will be based on the mid-1950’s, and Red Stone will be a bustling western town of about 2,000 people. It will be an important railroad community, linking the fictional layout to big cities like Denver, Kansas City and San Francisco. The four chief railroads that will have operations in Red Stone will be the Santa Fe (ATSF), the Katy (MKT), the Rock Island (CRI&P) and the Frisco (SL&SF). The town will have plenty of through-passenger traffic, and will be located near oil fields, cattle ranches, crop fields and a military base, which will provide interesting freight traffic.

Generally, Red Stone will be south of the city of Silver Falls and west of Cedar Falls, a logging town. North of Red Stone will be a desert area with some interesting sandstone rock formations, and a small creek will run along the east side of the town. Several train tracks will be located along the south side of town, and that’s where a collection of railroad buildings will be found (station, sheds, water tower). East of these structures, at the end of McLintock Avenue, will be a church with a cemetery and a small park. Traveling north on Huskie Street will bring visitors to a variety of businesses including the Big Boy Bakery, Jackey Lowp’s Bar, and the Wall Pharmacy. There will also be several homes and a gas station near the corner of Huskie Street and Tamarack Road. North of town will be some bleachers where onlookers can view rodeos and other events near the sandstone rocks.

From a real-world standpoint, the Red Stone area will be located at the southwest corner of the future train layout, and will a 7x9 foot area, so it will be roughly the same size as the current train set I’m operating. Initial plans are shown in the pictures below. I hope everybody has a great day, and keep your rails shiny ~

Red Stone details

Red Stone showing Area divisions