Early November Update

Happy Election Day! Just like that October is behind us and we are running full tilt towards the holiday season starting with Thanksgiving.

This past week things have been the quietest on the layout in probably six months. After the Lone Star Region Ops session in June, I began the ABS signal project which is now 80% complete, followed by hosting two sessions at the 2016 DFW Interchange. Sometimes a little break is nice before getttig back to the layout. That being said let's look at the Ops Weekend, Industry Changes, and future posts.

Z-BKPH-28 departing Bay City after making crew change

DFW Interchange Weekend
On October 29th I hosted both am and pm operating sessions during the operating weekend. The layout operated very well during both sessions with only five railcars going bad order. I was honored to host guest operators from Houston, Austin, Dallas, Tulsa, and Kentucky. That evening everyone had a chance to meet up and have a group dinner at Uncle Bucks in Grapevine. I put together some quick stats of the days operation: 

Operators Hosted: 10 (5 am session, 5 pm session)
Trains Handled: 25 
Car Movements: 263
Bad Orders: 5 (Tight Trucks mostly)
Operating Hours: 6 hours, 15 minutes 
Donuts Eaten: 5

Provided are a few photos from the day with commentary. Thank you to all who participated and operated on the Michigan Interstate St. Clair Sub. 

Y-BA04-29 pulling across Saginaw River to clear switch to River Spur

L-PBBA-28 awaiting authority to take West Wye Switch and proceed to Bay City

Inbound M-PHBA-29 on Yard 1 to classify. In the photo you can see four sugar beet loads

RCL Operator on front platform of MCIS MP15DC #153 at Bay Yard. 

Every type of boxcar in modern era is pretty much in this photo at Bay Yard

West end of Bay Yard - Sugar Beet harvest is in full swing no doubt

Y-BA04-29 spotting two loads of Bitumen at Interstate Asphalt

Towards the end of the afternoon session we had enough traffic for Michigan Sugar at Grays Lake that we ended up running an extra L-BAUH-30. In this photo we can see the inbound traffic shoving into the plant storage tracks.

Industry Changes
Always looking to continually improve the layout, a few industries will have their locations changed. 

Bay City Station

The history of this location has been altered and the station no longer existed here. The station from its construction has been located on the mainline at Grays Lake. Accompanying the move is a neat history that we can explore along with providing a great architectural add to the downtown of Grays Lake. The location clicked almost instantly and where I placed it was actually a coincidence while I was working on the lower deck. Imagine that....

Grays Lake station looking west

Grays Lake Station looking east

View of station from an eastbound train. The station adds alot of character to this scene,

GEM Bakeries

The bakery has moved from the River Spur (West Switching Zone) to the Elevator Spur (Central Switching Zone) located where the Bay City Station was located. This new location will allow for a facility that will located on the edge of layout while providing three car spots for flour, sugar, and corn syrup unloading. I plan to cut in the switch and industry track over the Christmas holiday. 

Bakery adjacent to MAC Bay City Terminal

Graystone Cement 

In place of where GEM Bakeries had been located will be Graystone Cement's Bay City Terminal. This cement distribution terminal will receive inbound lake freighters of cement from Graystone's Superior, Wisconsin Plant. From here the cement will be stored then transferred to outbound railcars or trucks for delivery to batch plants / smaller distribution facilities. Using photos, a lake freighter will be added to the backdrop behind the terminal. Base model will come from the Walthers Medusa Cement kit. Ever since a kid I have loved the look of this kit, glad I will have the opportunity to add one on the St. Clair Sub. A single track will serve the plant allowing for 3 cars to be stored at one time for loading. 

Having a little fun clearing the lot before silos went in... 

Stand in silos for Graystone Cement. A simple print out of a lake freighter was used to get a sense of the scene.

Overall the changes in industries will net an extra 6 to 10 car movements per session in the form of GEM Bakeries gaining two extra car spots, and adding Graystone's new four car track.

Tank cars for Interstate Asphalt
A friend in Virginia snapped photos of three Interstate Asphalt cars coming out of VMID after receiving new markings and tank maintenance. The railcars were waybilled empty to Bay City for loading. Those cars sure look fantastic!

Steady progress is key.... it may not be alot but it is still progress. Always remember to continue moving forward with your hobby no matter how large or small the gain is.

Have a safe month.

GM

Virginia Sightings

Railcars whether private or railroad constantly criss-cross the North American rail network carrying goods of an endless variety of different customers. While we as modelers can easily model the rest of the "network" through modeled interchanges or staging yards, some modelers exchange or share cars with other like theme/era modelers. Beyond your normal empty - load car cycle cars also transit to a host of shops for work that could range from cleaning, painting, and light repairs to full rebuilds extending their lifespan.

Shannon Crabtree snapped photos of various pieces of Michigan Interstate equipment transiting the Virginia Midland and Virginia Central over the past month. Since Shannon's VMS contract shop does work for MCIS, it is not uncommon to see our equipment in Virginia. Let's take a look at what each piece of rolling stock was 

MCIS 8590 loaded for Specialized Beverage with cases of "Laker Lager" coming from Great Lakes Brewing. While a regional brew folks in the MidAtlantic really got a taste for it.

MCBT 8498 loaded with wood veneer from Michigan's Upper Peninsula for Klotz Distributors.

Three FMC 4700s for beet pulp/pellet and agricultural service at Fredricksburg Flats. Just like the ACF car below they had transited to VMS for interior lining and finishing details. It didn't take very long for vandals to tag their "art" on two of the cars.

One of MCIS' rebuilt ACF 4600s now in malted barley service for Huron Malting. The cars were painted by FRS in Michigan but the interior linings and final detailing / decaling were completed at VMS. The cars are in the "stealth" scheme that has been used in the past year on covered hopper repaints. Additionally these repaints received an American flag in the upper left corner similar to PAR's boxcars.

MCIS ballast hopper at Virginia Central yard heading to VMS for dump door refitting and solar panels for automatic operations. 

**Backstory - these cars all went to Shannon Crabtree for weathering, as you can see from the pictures his work is awesome which is a testament to his modeling skills. Check out his blog for more photos and videos**

Everyone have a great Halloween in case I don't get my Late October post out. Life can be crazy with kiddos so you never know what your schedule will hold.

GM

Early July Update

Well June and its significant rainfall is now gone, but the scorching heat and humidity of a Texas July is in full swing. Back earlier this summer I outlined what projects I had planned for June, July, and August in hopes to complete them. I am happy to report that June's sound install project (LHT #02) is complete and both P2K GP38-2s (MCIS 3827 and MCIS 3833) are operating and sounding fantastic. Being able to complete this and have our second child was quite a feat. Thanks to my wife for giving me time in the evenings while the kids were asleep to complete the project. This post we are going to focus on the recent motive power and rolling stock additions, while the Mid-July post will dive into the July project which entails adding scenery to Bay Yard.

MCIS 4052 and CN 6256 lead the M-PHBA-07 through Upper Huron, MI.

Motive Power
Earlier this spring three MCIS motors and one CN motor were sent to VMS in Virginia for sound installation, and other wok. VMS otherwise known as Virginia Midland Shops is work that my friend and fellow modeler Shannon Crabtree completes for me. Just prior to the July 4th holiday VMS completed work on two MCIS EMD SD40-2s and one CN EMD SD40-3 arriving back on property just before the holiday. I happened to be at the right place at the right time to capture two of the motors heading up the M-PHBA-07 through Upper Huron yesterday.

MCIS 4052 (EMD SD40-2) closeup.

CN 6256 (EMD SD40-3) trailing. Last I checked the prototype motor was operating up on CN''s DMIR property.

MCIS 4056 at Bay Yard receiving inspection, ditch light, and air conditioner installation.

Rolling Stock
Trailing behind the power on the M-PHBA-07 were three railcars that are new to the St. Clair Subdivision and also represent new business for the railroad.

Pipe load for Alaska
TR874111 is carrying banded pipe out of Wolverine Steel Products at Marine City heading to the Fairbanks, Alaska via ARR barge at Seattle, WA.

Railcar is Atlas 73' model with custom pipe load created by a local friend and fellow modeler in the Fort Worth area.

A future post will showcase many of the unique and awesome open top loads that his modeler has created.

Closeup of load - meticulous detail with each bundle wrapped individually.

Coke for Sugar Beet Production
CWE 125379 and CWE 125360 from Tom Patterson's Chesapeake, Wheeling & Erie are carrying coke destined to Michigan Sugar at Upper Huron. Once these cars reach Bay Yard at the terminus of the M-PHBA-06 they will then return to Upper Huron on the Port Belle Turn (R-BAPB). This is a great win for the railroad as in the past the coke was being trucked out of Detroit, but with a pooled supply of cars from CWE and MCIS a product pipeline will be in place to deliver anywhere from 2 to 6 cars a week depending on the sugar production needs.

Both railcars are Bowser 100 ton models. 

These modernized 100 ton hoppers were painted, decaled, and weathered by Shannon Crabtree's Virginia Midland Shops before heading to the CWE for loadout. More to follow on these cars in my next foreign railroad equipment post.

Later on this weekend I will be posting my Mid-July update focusing on this months project at Bay Yard.

GM

2nd Operating Session - July 12th, 2014

On Saturday another St. Clair Sub milestone was reached... the first full length operating session. Chris Palimeri, his son, and father joined me for a three hour session that I knew would put the layout through its paces and hopefully reveal gremlins that we all know exist.

Session Recap

Luckily the gremlins were minor such as plastic couplers don't do well when they are on the lead car of a 14 car train operating conventional not distributed power...... A few other items such as ground throw adjustments, rail joiners, and yardmaster lists will need some fixing but the railroad operated as intended and everyone had a great time. 

The session lasted roughly 2.5 hours operating 8 trains that constituted around 100 car moves. My sequential operations plan had 13 trains to operate and we came close to meeting this. The only trains we did not operate specifically were one manifest and four locals but the yardmaster did block them for running. I will finish up operating the layout so it will be ready to start a new car cycle with the next session hopefully sometime in August. I consider this a great success as the layout operating sequentially allows for it to be operated by 1, 2, 3, or 4 operators.

Session Resources
Helping the operators during the session I utilized many resources that I had collected from hands on experience on other layouts and other layouts.

Item A - Train Profile Card (Credit to Steve Rodie)
   Provides instructions regarding specific train operations over layout including info such as train length, HP requirements, and any special instructions.

Back on train profile card on left for M-BAPH and front of train profile card on right for L-BAUH.

Item B - Locomotive Card
   Provides operator information about the prototype and model such as horsepower, address, and functions.

Example of locomotive cards - besides the multiple DCC functions listed, the grayed "Locomotive Card" cell help differentiate between sound / non-sound.

Item C - Operators Handbook (Credit to John Parker)
   The handbook (50% complete) provides operators an overview, Subdivision timetable, and station by       station diagrams to assist with location awareness and switching assistance. The diagrams in the handbook match up with the station guides mounted on the fascia for each switching zone or station.

Here are a few pics taken during before the session..... need to do better at getting more during the session.

T-EXBA-05 "Transfer Job - LSRC Essexville to MCIS Bay Yard" with GP38-2 3823 and 3GS21B 2101 at Bay City awaiting permission from St. Clair Dispatcher to proceed out to west end of Bay Yard in order to shove in interchange cut they returned with. 

Tail end of T-EXBA-05 at Bay City. There was a larger than normal cut of cars that interchanged from LSRC. Looking at the manifest 16 of the cars originated off the Virginia Midland in Virginia. Please see the link below to take a look at these cars fresh from the contract Virginia Midland Shops (weathering / decalling) work.
http://virginiamidlandrr.blogspot.com/2014/07/lower-deck-work-and-weathering.html

Have a safe summer -

GM