Getting ready for some MOWing

Hey there, looks like it is about time to start MOWing... no, not grass mowing... stay tuned!

Sort of Spring

In the past week, we had our first visitor in a long while to the train room. My friend and follow model railroader, Darren, from Butte paid a visit. The current roster has been up for about a year, so a roster switch is coming soon!

Meanwhile, Spring will finally come to Montana... maybe?

Horizon of Spring

Hello railroaders ~
No development or purchases for the model railroad since I last checked in, but happy to say that my son (15 months old) and I are equally transfixed by steam locomotives. We will spend hours watching a collection of locomotive footage on DVD, with the narration silenced, so the only sounds projected are the sounds of live steam! I'm hoping to show him a running steamer up close later this year - we'll see if we can make it happen!

Here is the collection of videos we've been watching:
https://www.amazon.com/Steam-Trains-Through-Seasons-na/dp/B00GWZ5BD8

Until next time, keep those rails shiny!

CNW Days

A merry welcome to May ~

In the past month, I've put away the Through-lines roster and set up the CNW roster. I also partially resolved an issue with locomotive sound problems on Track 4. A minor brake wheel repair was also performed on the CNW piggyback flatcar.

So, here's the new CNW roster!

On Track 1, we see the reliable CNW 0-8-0 switcher pulling a couple ATSF cars. The orders were to transport a boxcar full of dynamite to the Midnight Gold Mine at Juniper Peak. However, the engineer didn't want to make the trip with just his tender between him and a few tons of explosives, so he got permission to cut in the hopper car as a spacer! The locomotive was made by MTH and the rolling stock are K-Line productions. Occasionally, the tender coupler was opening when entering the 45 degree crossover track from the northeast, which sometimes resulted in a crash and derailment. This issue has been temporarily resolved with some electrical tape to keep the coupler closed, and no damage has been reported.

On Track 2, the CNW Doodlebugs are making another appearance. For the next month or so, the 'bugs will be running folks and supplies between Red Stone and Juniper Peak. The little unit train runs very smoothly, and I think the directional lighting is nifty.

On Track 3, the mighty and massive CNW Fairbanks Morse Train Master locomotive is hauling a mostly-coal train. Coal prices are up, and so is production at the Peacock Coal Mine deep in the Roosevelt Mountains. They needed a strong motive unit to pull this load through the foothills and into Silver Falls for distribution. From a prototypical viewpoint, the Train Master is the most powerful single-unit diesel locomotive in the current fleet, being slightly stronger than a single E8 unit. (As of this entry, I believe the prototypically strongest locomotive I have is the GG1.) With two motors, the actual model is pretty powerful too. Built in 1980 by Lionel, this loco has a nice growling sound when running, making a sound system unnecessary! This locomotive does have one prototypical flaw, in that the real CNW never operated a Train Master, but the paint scheme is sharp and it’s a fun loco to operate! Behind the engine are three hoppers filled with coal: an MTH GN, and MTH CNW, and a K-Line NP. After that is a Williams CNW covered hopper and another MTH CNW hopper, both empty for this trip. Then there's the 4-truck Yule Marble Co #6 flatcar, carrying a big chunk of marble to be used in a monument in Silver Falls. And, the train is completed by an MTH CNW woodside caboose. This might be the first time the caboose is being run separately from its original freight set. It's been slightly troublesome, in that its coupler kept opening on the northeast corner of the loop, but some electrical tape fixed that right up. No damage reported.

On Track 4, the Minneapolis and Black Hills Express (M&BHX) is being pulled by the CNW class E-4 Hudson. The M&BHX has been led by various locomotives in the past, but this is its first pairing with #4008. There are many happy vacationers on board, heading from the Twin Cities to visit Mount Rushmore, Custer, and the surrounding attractions. The steam engine was made by MTH and the 5 passenger cars (REA baggage, "Chicago" coach, "Minneapolis" coach, "Milwaukee" coach, and "Kansas City" observation) were made by Frank's Roundhouse.

As with the PRR GG1 in the Through-lines roster, the Hudson had sound system issues when running on Track 4. After more troubleshooting, I figured out that the problem was with the wired remote control assigned to the track coming from the MRC transformer. I swapped the remote with the Track 2 remote, and the sound issues went away. The Doodlebugs on Track 2 are not experiencing any sound issues, but their sound system is much less complicated compared to the Hudson.

Now on to the pics and video! Keep those rails shiny ~

CNW switcher #65 hauls some coal and dynamite on Track 1

The CNW Doodlebugs squeeze between the freight trains

The Train Master and the Kansas City

Colorful hoppers

The CNW covered Hudson waits while passengers board the M&BHX

The M&BHX

Milwaukee Road Gifts

For the past few months I've been trying to help a fellow Billings resident with selling a large train collection, which had belonged to her late husband. He and his father had worked for the Milwaukee Road in Montana, and I was gifted a few items from his collection. There are lots of Milwaukee items, along with a few other railroad mementos he picked up along the way. He was a member of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes, and had some interesting artifacts from his time with the union.

There are some MRR pencils and a spiffy Christmas matchbook, a few maintenance handbooks, and several MRR official business envelopes. There's also a NP Vista Dome North Coast Limited train schedule from 1958, and a photograph of a UP Big Boy from 1966. Of greatest interest to me are some handwritten notes listing details about various MRR round houses in Montana, and a listing of many of the unique MRR diesel and electric locomotives in use in the 1960's and 70's.

All of these items will be stored and treasured like the rest of my railroadania collection, and will eventually be housed in the museum/display section of the "train room of the future". Thank you Dee, for giving me this wonderful collection of railroad history!

MRR pencils and a matchbook

Christmas wishes on a MRR matchbook

MRR business envelopes and booklets

NP schedule, UP photo, handwritten MRR notes about Montana roundhouses and locomotives

March Trains for Sale!

Here are pics of the items my friend is selling. Most of these are brand new HO items, along with some great G scale items and railroadania. Please contact me to make offers! Thanks - Mark

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