Testing and Assessing

As March came to an end, I was able to fit in a few more hours working on the railroads. On Thursday, I received the track to complete the train layout. I tested the O-42 loop, and the inner O-31 loop. I honestly couldn't remember the track sequence for the next O-31 loop, so I wrote it down the next day :) I found that, with the crossover piece on the inner O-31 loop, additional lockons were required to keep electric currents flowing. "Lockons" are a nifty little invention that allows you to connect electrical wires to the inner and an outer rail without soldering directly to the rail. On Saturday I began testing the placement of the track, to make sure that trains running on one loop would not touch trains running on other loops.

Also on Saturday, I spent 6 hours continuing the assessment of the trains Cal is hosting. I made it through all of the traditional train items. Highlights included a number of PostWar accessories, specifically all 3 of Lionel's coal loaders. Also present are empty boxes for motorized units #50, 55, and 58. I began going through the boxes/piles of miscellaneous "stuff". I've already found several integral pieces that go with previously assessed trains or accessories. What remains are the miscellaneous items, a few boxes of Atlas O track, and a stack of railroad books, magazines, and VHS tapes.

On Monday, I entered all of my notes on the Lionel assessment into Excel. On Tuesday, I put in 3 more hours on the collection, and completed all of the note-taking and photography. Last night, Amber helped me solve a few mysteries regarding a "which accessory goes with which item" question. Thank you dear. I also continued testing track placement on the new layout.

At work on the PostWar collection

MRL and C&NW Geeps testing out the new track

The thirteenth entry in this series on future passenger trains is a long one: The Northern Pacific Vista Dome North Coast Limited.
The two-tone green scheme reminds me of the mighty, endless forests of the Rockies. About 50 years ago, I would have been able to watch this magnificent train stop and pass through Billings from the present location of my desk at work! The "North Coast Limited" began service from Chicago to Seattle in 1900. Its route took it through Bismarck, ND and Billings, MT. In 1948, the train was reconfigured with streamlined passenger cars. And again, in 1954 it was modified into "The Vista Dome North Coast Limited" featuring 4 dome cars throughout the consist, promoting a "modern" way to view the majesty of God's Northern Rocky Mountains. It was at this time that the two-tone green color scheme began to be used. I would imagine that I would have taken this train to a place in the mountains decorated like our Cabin Room. The North Coast Limited was one way of getting from Chicago to Yellowstone National Park - from Livingston, MT, the Northern Pacific's Yellowstone Park Line could take you within a few hundred feet of the North Entrance's Roosevelt Arch. The VDNCL made its last run in 1970. But, it will live on on Mark's MT Railroads!

My North Coast Limited is the longest passenger car consist in the fleet, sporting an impressive 11 cars, 5 of which are domes (see pic at top of this entry). The cars were manufactured by MTH. It is pulled by Lionel F3 ABA locomotives. The total length is 21 feet, which is crying out for a giant layout to run on. But, I'll have fun with it on the new 8x7 set in the Train Room, as we wait for the train layout of the future to come to be. 21 feet of O-Scale train equates to 1,008 feet of full-sized train! Of course, to be scale-accurate, I would need a station platform over 21' long to accomodate this train... I don't think that will come to be. We'll just say that the North Coast Limited is not based in Silver Falls, allowing it to process a few cars at a time at Liberty Station. :) Keep your rails shiny!

The North Coast Limited in Billings - picture from the Northern Pacific Railroad Historical Association

Candy Store

This week, train progress has been slim to none - I'm waiting for the missing track pieces to arrive so that I may continue the project. However, I have thoroughly enjoyed cataloging the mostly-PostWar Lionel train collection that Cal is hosting. It is a pleasure to be able to study this collection first hand. Cal set up a 16x8 foot table in one of his shops for me to process all the pieces. And there are MANY pieces...

I worked on it for 5.5 hours on Saturday, and made it through about 1/3 of it. But, the time zipped by - it is very fun! Highlights from Saturday's session include a #456 Coal Loader in complete condition (with box), and a #2343/2343C ATSF ABA F3 set in a "played with" condition. The original owner had collected dozens of PostWar operating accessories, and each one has a variety of components - most of which are all present, but are scattered about the table. So, when I come across something like an operating sawmill, I need to look through a pile of parts and electronics to find the specific logs, lumber, wires, and connectors that would have gone with the accessory. I'm not complaining - it just makes the process take a bit longer.

One thing that strikes me is that many items have the original orange Lionel boxes, even piddly things like electrical connectors and replacement street lamp bulbs. I was able to express, to Cal's amazement, the collector value of the boxes - even empty boxes. A huge pile of original paperwork and instructions are present as well. It is interesting to be learning a bit about the original collector through the train collection. I think we would have had a lot in common when it comes to trains. Before he passed away he had already sold off some of the collection, including a #773 hudson. He kept records of what he had, drew up plans, and took lots of pictures of the collection - kind of sounds like me! Studying this fellow through his model trains is what I call microferroequinolgistology, which means "the study of model railroaders". 

I continued the assessment on Tuesday after work. This evening was focused on the "trains" part of the collection, with highlights including a #685 steamer, a newer Lionmaster Southern Pacific cab forward steamer, a 3-car set of B&O RDCs, and 14 6464-class boxcars. I studied the 6464's carefully, and found that they were all of the "common" variety - none of them are the rare versions. Still, it was quite a treat to check out such a nice collection of these colorful cars. By my calculation, there were 29 different "common" Postwar 6464's manufactured. Some of these cars, like the Alaska Railroad boxcar, were made in low quantities. With all of the variations to these cars, some have followed the quest to collect every possible version of these cars. That isn't really the curve of my track - I collect trains so that I can run them on layouts!

This week, I also progressed a bit on finding a buyer for the N Scale train collection.

I have received many questions about the train layout I am currently constructing - I hope this can clear up some confusion:

This layout is designed to operate scale and semi-scale trains. It is 8' by 7', and the table top is over 4' above the floor. Steps and platforms will be provided around the edge of the layout for visitors to stand on to get a better view. This layout will not have permanent scenery or terrain. The layout will have temporary details like cars, buildings, and stand-up trees. This is a toy train set, not a scale layout. The track is all O-gauge tubular track. There will be 4 loops of track. The outer loop will be O-72, the next will be O-42, the next will be O-31, and the innermost will also be O-31. The track will be screwed to the table after cork roadbed is added. At present, there is not a plan for an elevated track, but I am leaving this option open. The primary reason for the height of the layout is to provide storage space for trains, train boxes, and the multitude of other model railroading supplies and accessories underneath it. As of now, the plan is to move this entire train table to another building in the future.

Keep your rails shiny~

Myself and part of a #2343 ABA ATSF set

Test Run!

This week, Train Room guests included Darren and Patti Herman, visiting from Butte, MT. Knowing my fondness of all things ferroequinolgic, they gave me some great goodies: a Northern Pacific - Yellowstone Park Line route guide, and an unused Railway Express Agency tag! These items are pictured below, and have been added to the railroad papers collection. Over the weekend, a flood of progress occurred on various fronts. The staining of Craft Room shelf pieces was completed, as was the actual construction of the shelves. The faux fireplace was assembled by my wife, and I attached the top shelf and the entire assembly to the wall in the Cabin. I cut a rather large limb off the silver poplar in the back yard, and disposed of it. And, in the Train Room, I stained the train table top and affixed it to the frame! I brought the 4x8 and 3x8 pieces outside and applied the stain during the nice weather on Sunday. After they dried, I used a lot of balancing science to safely get the boards into the Train Room through the Cabin. To screw the boards to the frame required me to truly test the frame first hand - using a step ladder I climbed up onto the table top, and crawled over most of the surface to install screws. I used my exercise mat to protect both myself and the table while moving about on top of it. I'm satisfied with the finished result - if it can hold me up, it can withstand plenty of O-scale locomotives! It looks pretty good too. On Monday I moved the structure into position (which has some weight to it) and tested for levelness. I had to move a low-hanging picture to a higher spot. It is mostly level throughout - no shims are required, and it is highly unlikely that anything will roll on its own down the tracks. Speaking of which, I went through the tubs and boxes in the closets and pulled out all of the O-gauge tubular track I've acquired, and placed it on the table. It was so nice to handle and smell the old track again! On Tuesday I laid the available track according to my plan, and found that I need 16 additional curve pieces of various diameters. On Wednesday, I visited with Cal, who is selling a Lionel collection on behalf of an Estate. I agreed to help him assess the collection in my capacity as a member of the TCA. More info on that soon! I ordered the missing track pieces required to complete the track plan from TrainWorld. Also, I wired the outer track for testing, and successfully sent the handcar around it. Amber was present to see the first "train" operate on the new layout!
On MarksMTRR, I went back to previous entries and added tags based on featured railroads or trains. I'm shining up the my rails! Keep yours shiny too ~

The Hermans (and Amber) visit the Train Room in progress

The Hermans donated these great pieces of paper railroadania to my collection!

The tabletop has been stained and attached to the frame

And the first test of the outer track is a success!

Trains Go By

Hello again, this week involved more work on a separate project to get closer to train time. It has mostly involved staining the various pieces of a wooden shelving unit I'm building for my bride's Craft Room. The train table frame has made an excellent workbench for staining the rather large and long pieces. So, not much specific train progress this week, but we're still on track!

Yesterday I took a peaceful walk at lunch, and after hearing the distant horn of an approaching train, I headed over to the CB&Q caboose, located across from my office. Eventually a BNSF mixed freight came along, and I snapped some pictures of some of the more unique members of consist.

Enjoy the pics, and keep your rails shiny~

Here is one of the few CN locomotives with the special 15-year artwork on the side

And here was a pleasant surprise - a tall-sided gondola still bearing the Great Northern sky blue scheme, including Rocky the mountain goat!

Framed

Welcome to March - I hope Spring is on the tracks ahead.

This week saw a major advancement in the Train Room. First, continuing the final touches on the hallway log cabin, I cut some large decorative log pieces "manually", and treated them with bleach to prep them for permanent display. I measured and cut the border molding and shelf piece for the faux fireplace too. My wife started staining the boards I cut the previous week for Craft Room shelving project. I purchased the majority of wiring for the train set as well. I will be using 10-gauge stranded wire for the main runs, and smaller gauge for the "short lines" to lighting and accessories. So the big milestone is that I cut all of the 2x4s for the train table frame, and completed their assembly over the weekend. It will be able to support the trains, and also myself, as construction goes on. I used one of Lionel's current display layouts as an example when planning the under-structure. It is basically made of 4 walls, attached to create a rectangle, and topped with support beams for the table top. On two of the walls, I placed the studs so I could easily get in and out, along with the many storage boxes and tubs which will reside under the table. That is the primary reason the table is so tall: storage. My two storage closets are basically full, and there are a lot more trains headed this way from my folks' house in Illinois. When finished, the top of the table will be a whopping 52" above the floor. And yes, of course I will be building platforms and steps so our shorter friends and family can see and enjoy the layout too :) I'm thinking about building step pieces similar to what the railroads used to help passengers board and exit their trains. But that will be a bit further down the track... Last night I installed some diagonal braces along the train table frame studs to give it a bit more sturdiness. 

For the twelfth future passenger train discussion, we'll head back north for The Olympian Hiawatha.

In my earlier years of model railroading, I was quite against acquiring any Milwaukee Road equipment, as this would be in direct competition to my existing fleet of Chicago & North Western trains. My sense of rivalry between these two now-defunct railroads has mellowed over the years, and I now welcome a bit of competition in my empire. The Milwaukee Road, and even this specific passenger train, used a big variety of unique and visually striking motive power on their lines from Wisconsin to Washington. The Olympian Hiawatha began service in 1947 (its predecessor starting in 1909) and ran from Chicago to the Twin Cities, and across the Dakota Territory to Harlowton, MT. Harlowton is an otherwise unsuspecting town just east of the Castle Mountains, but its location made it a very important place. Here the train's steam or diesel locomotives would be traded for electric locomotives for the next leg of the journey. The Milwaukee had one of the largest electric divisions of American railroads. I've spent a bit of time in Harlowton, performing some railroad archeology, and tracing some of the same steps as the mighty Hiawathas. In one of their parks, they display a MR boxcab locomotive. Of the Road's many electric units, I fancy the L-5 "Little Joe" the best, and hope to one day add one to my roster. In the realm of steam, the F7 Hudson is the one I would pick for my line, to race with the C&NW E-4. The Milwaukee Road used interesting passenger equipment as well, with some of the most unique being the Otto Kuhler-designed "beaver tail" observation cars. What a treat it would have been to ride in one or see it rushing across the Montana plains or climbing the mountains! For the train layout of the future, I'm looking for a specific version of the Olympian. This set would feature the orange and maroon color scheme, pulled by the F7 over the prairie and the Little Joe up over the Roosevelt Range. Keep those rails shiny this week ~

Before...

...and After!

The Milwaukee Road F7 Hudson

The Milwaukee Road "Little Joe" Electric