July Update

Just like that we are a little over a week from July being over. In my opinion the month of an ops session always seems to go really quick, especially when there is work to do in preparation for the session. Lets take a look at work done on the layout this month along with a quick recap from my Friday operating session. 

UPPER HURON BACKDROPS
In my last post I briefly discussed the work planned to install the backdrop for the Upper Huron Scene which would allow me to begin full foreground scenic work. As tempting as it was, its important to always work from back to front in a scene... trust me I learned the hard way on others. 

Planning
Working with Dave at Backdrop Junction I selected his GEN-033H scene which was required for around 16' of wall. In short order it arrived promptly and I wasted no time unrolling and planning work to be done. 

The backdrops are offered in three different materials, I chose the adhesive vinyl which is pretty awesome sticks really well to my Eucaboard backdrop that is painted with latex paint. 

Pre-Install Prep

First thing once out of the box was roll out and take a look at the amazing print. The price in my opinion is well reasonable for the good quality pictures, material, and support from Dave to help deliver what I was looking for. The scene came in two rolls which had overlapping scenes on the end to allow for seamless blending. I prefer no sky, so with sharp scissors I cut it out.

Once the sky was cutout, I then used a sharp hobby knife and hold punch to cut out the leftover sky that is close to the trees and buildings. When I used my knife it is important to have a piece of glass behind to keep a hard surface when making the cuts. I did not do any of this on my couch as the photo shows above... Instead I would unroll about 2' of scene at a time and keep the rest rolled up. 

Install
The backdrop board is actually made up for 3 section of which the middle is removable to access my "East Staging" if necessary. In doing so I was able to install the first 8' of backdrop starting from the sugar beet plant working west at my workbench. Following the online video - align, peel the backing, and apply. I had to make a few slight adjustments but it applied really easy and as I worked right to left removed the air bubbles.... This is a great backdrop product!!  

Off-Layout Transition

From this photo you can see the backdrop is installed all the way past where the legs of the wye go "off-layout". Part of why I chose this backdrop was having the trees where the track left the scene. This allows me to use scenic trees and materials to help blend with a "tree canopy" type transition. 

Town Transition
Since I had leftover material I actually ended up removing some of the Sceniking crop scene I had to the right of the road and replaced with more of the field/tree backdrop from Backdrop Junction. Using Sceniking buildings I had cutout, foam board, and a foam hill I will have a nice blend from woods to the town of Upper Huron. 

The end product turned out great, I am looking forward to my next backdrop project which is a secret, but will no doubt help convey a better sense of location. Stay tuned to Fall posts to see whats in store. 
** Note the opinion of this product is my own as I purchased it and did not receive discount or compensation for this blog entry **

NEW MOTORS

Intermountain - GE ET44
While north of Denver for work I had a few extra hours, so working with my contacts facilitated a meet and greet at Intermountain Railway in Longmont, CO. Needless to say after meeting the great people there, seeing great work, and getting a tour I could not resist buying one of their new GE ET44s decorated for CN. What a great product, and it looks and runs great my Intermountain CN ES44. There are probably plenty of online reviews, but the detail is really well done on this motor along with the lighting. Currently it does not have sound but will be getting a 21 pin Tsunami2 later this fall. 

Folks as why not LokSound.... here is my response: with over 95% of my fleet Sountraxx equipped I am happy with their product offering. The product is plenty for me and I know the nuances of programming with JMRI to get the performance, reliability, sound, and consisting I expect. Competition creates innovation so I welcome and look forward to what Soundtraxx, ESU, and others continue to develop. 

Broadway Limited - DCC Trackmobile
For fathers days - the wife and kids picked me up a DCC equipped trackmobile by Broadway Limited. This is a cool little machine and as a friend of mine who has one noted "Folks either love it or hate it." Yep I concur with that statement. This unit has a home at Michigan Sugar's Upper Huron plant and will become more apart of operating sessions in the future. 

Great modern products offered in the marketplace that are superb. Well done to both manufacturers.

**Note opinion on Intermountain product during visit is my own. No compensation was provided for either product** 

JULY OPS SESSION

Wow I finally had my first ops session for 2018.... Only seven months in. None the less it was a great session with five operators and fourteen scheduled trains. This session was the first time folks got to see the work done on my Cass River and Upper Huron scenes. As a layout owner I enjoy having new things for my operators to experience so its not just the same ole M-BAPH train. One cool comfort item I added was the fold-down cup holders from Blue Point. Added five on the layout in key locations, and it was nice to see them used to make a session a little more relaxed. 

The whole crew - minus me troubleshooting a minor JMRI Ops issue.. Yes we had 6 guys in a room that is 13x12 essentially. 

Planning.... Planning.....BSing........

R-GEGL-21 switching up cars left by the M-BAPH-20 from day earlier. We didnt have a chance to run this one during the session, so I marked up and worked the customers at Grays Lake and Gerhard today. 

Michigan Sugar Plant at Upper Huron is now in full operation. Took me three years but finally got a good trackplan that gives the essence of big time operations in a selective space. Plant is serviced daily by L-BAUH out of Bay Yard which then spots / pulls in the storage yard. Trackmobile then switches cars into their respective locations for molasses loading, sugar loading, pellet loading, coke unload. We will look at this facility in more depth on another post, but due to space requirements sugar beet loads just stay on the storage track and are unloaded "off-layout" between sessions. 

Needing a refresh - updated my consist cards after seeing different folks and their formats. Consists are divided by YARD, LOCAL, or ROAD power pools. Single motors use full four digit address while two or more use a two digit advanced consist.

Since implementing JMRI Ops earlier this year, this was the first live session where it was used for train movement and switching. I had to say we were about 80% accurate on moves, reporting, and losing cars. Based on folks who use it, they told me - print out the entire online guide, read it once, read it again, and then read it a third time. No doubt complex, but achievable and customizable for your operation no matter how big or small. Between now and my next session will be making tweaks, but I wanted to show some of the paperwork involved.

Yard inventory - I printed this after the session was over and all trains terminated to reconcile cars. As you can see there were a few messed up or missing. 

Linehaul Train Manifest - an example of how I print my linehaul train manifests. Still some customizing and verbiage to change, but it gets the job done on a live paper manifest. 

Local Train Manifest - not wanting to deviate on the formating based on others best practices I have seen, the manifest notes what work is to be done for the R-GEGL.

So busy month, hope you enjoyed the update. Alot of great stuff in the works and will continue to share monthly on the happenings around the MCIS St. Clair Sub. Thanks to my operators and friends in other geographic locations who continually help make my model railroading experience one worth sharing with you. 

Stay cool - its 100+ here in Texas 

GM 

February Update

February is in full gear and Valentines is just around the corner so lets see whats happening on the MCIS St. Clair Sub. Towards the end of 2018 I started getting off track with my monthly update posts and quite frankly there was a fair amount of content to discuss in my last consolidated post. Back on track we are going to discuss my next scenic area project that I have started and recap a great operating session I participated in over the weekend. 

CASS RIVER SCENE
Anyone that has spent time in Michigan knows there's alot of water whether its lakes, rivers, or creeks. While one of my major scenes on the lower level portrays a crossing of the navigable Saginaw River, I also wanted to model a river or creek on the layout that would be a little more relaxed.

Prototype crossing of Cass River at North Hurds Corner Road, Michigan

- Setting The Scene
Growing up I spent alot of time around the AuSable River in the northern lower peninsula and I wanted to capture that in this scene so early on in the development of the layout the portion that folks ducked under as they entered the room made for the perfect setup. When its all said and done the banks of this scene will be covered in a think canopy of deciduous trees creating a natural scene break between Upper Huron and Grays Lake. The river will portray a slow but steady flow and of course there will be a pair of canoes following the current. Mike McNamara has done a great job with a similar scene on his Woodsville Terminal fremo that really has provided great inspiration. Go back one post and you will see what I mean. 

- Just Add... Plaster
Around this part of Michigan where the railroad operates between Upper Huron and Grays Lake would be a crossing of the Cass River. Originally I had wanted to use a fictional name of Quincassee Creek but the more it crossed my mind the more I realized establishing this as the Cass only better sets my location. This part of the layout was just extruded foam so in short order a combination of floral foam, extruded foam, and Woodland Scenics plaster gauze got me to the spot depicted in the photos below. 

View west towards Upper Huron (Pardon the angled photo) 

 East Approach going into Grays Lake

 Once the plaster had dried it was painting time with simple flat latex and craft paints

Basic ground painting complete - as you can see i used the craft paint to color the riverbed lighter to signify a sandy bottom. Additionally while the cedar brown was wet i feathered it up the slopes so its not just one color.

- Next Steps

With the basic terrain and color in place I can really get a sense if I need to add any more terrain forming before moving to ground cover. Since I will be using "Magic Water" i do plan on using clear caulk to create a sort of riverbed channel and backfilling slightly with Sculptamold to help channel the resin product. Once the channel is in it will be a matter of adding real dirt, talus, and riverbed sand/rock to continue making progress. 

MIKE ARMSTRONG'S OPS SESSION

I had the opportunity over the weekend to attend a session at a local modelers house here in the DFW Metroplex. Mike models the Rock Island from Kansas City (Armourdale Yard) to St. Paul (Inver Grove Yard) in the late 60s with many great scenes and towns in between including Des Moines, Clear Lake Jct., and Albert Lea to name a few. This layout is a stunning double deck around the room with two double track helix's and a double ended staging yards. 

I had the opportunity to operate a two manifests with my first train being #68 from KC to St. Paul and my second being a return southbound back to KC. Average trains ran with 3 to 4 locomotives and 30 to 40 cars. My first train was led by a foursome of Rock Island F7A/Bs and my second train was a Candy Red pair of CB&Q U25Cs. 

Pictures really do not do it justice, but they do show the size and scope of the layout, enjoy!

Train order in hand, I had sometime before the DS let me out so I roamed the room to checkout everything. Mike uses Digitrax radio throttles, which made my life easy being familiar with the throttles. 

St. Paul (Inver Grove Yard) on top - KC (Armourdale Yard) on bottom

 Upper level (L - Mason City / R - Cedar Lake Jct)

Lower Level (Des Moines)

 Cedar Lake Jct. where the Rock crossed the Iowa Traction. This has to be one of my favorite scenes. 

C.King attempting to look busy in the staging room... yes i said room.

Diesel tracks at Inver Grove.... Is that a Missabe SD9... Yes it is! 

Armstrong Yard in KC includes a turntable to turn equipment. 

 Looking inside one of two double track helix's that allowed the operation to "re-stage" the layout. 

A real gaggle at Cedar Lake Jct. with D.Ferris, J. Aust, C. King, and M. Thidemann all looking "busy".

Thanks again to Mike for hosting a great session. The layout is absolutely top notch from the benchwork to the scenic details, truly look forward to returning in the future. 

That wraps up my February update, there is alot to get done before my March post which should come out just in time for school spring break (Mid March). So if you are traveling and need good content to read, there should be a post waiting for you. As an added bonus between this update and March, I do plan to post about the total railcar fleet mix and what it means for the railroad. Giving you guys something to chew on, the layout removed no less than 10 cars in 2017 from active inventory of 204 but now sits in 2018 sits at 237 cars. What is going on.... stay tuned for the answer at the end of February.

GM 

November 2017 / December 2017 / January 2018 Update

Well what can I say, it has been sometime (November) since my last Update post. I owe it to you the reader to provide more consistent updates, but as model railroading is a hobby I can tell you family, life, and work has been busy.

Bay Yard has looked lust like this since my November 2017 ops session ended.

So to catch everyone up, we are going to spend this post catching up on happenings around the MCIS St. Clair Sub for Nov, Dec, and Jan. We will get back on track in two weeks with my February Update post and hope to stay on task through the year.

NOVEMBER 2017 

On the back end of October essentially in November the CFO and I travelled to Denver for a friends wedding. No trip to the Mile High City is complete without a stop by Caboose Hobbies at their new location in Westminster. In my opinion I actually like the new store better and they did not miss a beat on selection when reopening. If you are in Denver, take sometime to check out the shop.

 Yours truly out front @ Caboose

 Amazing selection, great layout, I will return. 

I picked up a Bowser 100 ton hopper in DRGW paint, this car will be re lettered and numbered to commemorate our friends getting married. Just a fun way to add story to the car.

 Two BNSF Executive SD70mac's assigned on the Longmont Local. 

Early November saw arrival of Scale Trains equipment that I had preordered some time ago.

Thrall 4427 cubic carbon black hopper (River Counter)

Trinity 31,000 gallon crude tank car (Operator)

I decided to pick up one of each to put through its paces on the operation. An ops session later and they operating superb on the "Clair", maybe there could be more Scaletrains equipment to come? One item I do like is the inexpensive decal package you can purchase to spruce up the crude tank car operator models, in my opinion it is just enough. 

Mid November I hosted my only ops session for 2017..... dismal but glad I still got one in. My "Regular" crew filled the job board with solid 3.5 hour session moving twelve trains with around 160 car movements. Not bad for a 11x13 double deck layout. Here are photos from the session.

 Operating or congregating.... you decide

 M-BAPH-16 led by MCIS 4008 (GP40-2) and engineer M.T. taking the main at Gerhard, Michigan heading east. 

 M-MCBA-15 led by MCIS 6051 (GP60) rolls across the Saginaw River into Bay Yard Restricted Limits.

 Yardmaster CMP assisting with DP link up. 

 M-PHBA-16 rounding the curve through Grays Lake, Michigan.

M-CNBA-15 knocking down the West Siding Switch signals at Upper Huron.

DECEMBER 2017

Shopping, Christmas activities, and family time were the priority this month. During this time I did not get a lot of work done on the layouts but made up for it with what Santa and the family got me for Christmas. I am beyond blessed to have family that support me and my hobby.

New Atlas equipment adding to the layout roster, just a sampling of new additions. 

JANUARY 2018

A new year and time to refocus on the layout and blog.

Started out the year making some railcar fleet changes. Staying current day has its pros and cons such as acquiring and retiring equipment.

- 4600 Cu. covered hopper fleet (Retired)

These cars had come to MCIS through the years post Conrail either as new or second hand acquisition serving our agricultural customers moving various grains. As covered hoppers grew in cubic size and changed, so the usage of the 4600. No longer needed in agricultural service the cars were assigned to rock salt service. When the business changed so again did this fleet. Rock salt service is tough on railcars so now in the 2010s, older worn out cars were scrapped while the younger cars were rebuilt for 50 year service. Growing agricultural demands in unit train service stressed the active fleet of ag. hoppers prompting MCIS to place the 4600 into single carload service for agricultural customers. This service was only temporary as the Equipment team placed an order for forty brand new 5188 Cubic hoppers from Gunderson. These new cars are expected to be in service late Q1 2018 working alongside with 5161 cubic hoppers in unit and large block carload service. Adding a newer car to the fleet causes a cascading effect, in this case moving 4750 cubic cars to single service and displacing the last of the 4600s.

Block of four 4600 cubic cars on their way to DELC loaded with grains for chicken feed.

The cars have now found good homes on other freelanced model railroads living on as MCIS equipment in earlier eras.

- 3600 Cubic covered hopper fleet (Retired)

A similar story to the 4600s where these cars had been acquired for rock salt service. In the end these cars were rebuilt at 40 yes but still aged out based on the 50 year rule. The cars have been traded to a local friend who in an early 2000s era layout will use them in rock salt service.

The last two 3600 cubic hoppers awaiting pickup to begin journey to new owner.

Getting back to modeling skill roots, I found a Bowser 100 ton hopper kit for $5 and thought it would be a good project to sharpen my skills. After a little paint, decals, and weathering we have CWE 125690 which will be in coke service between Follansbee, WV. (Mountain State Carbon) and Upper Huron, MI. (Michigan Sugar).

Final product turned out pretty nice - trucks need to be slightly darker. 

Wrapping up January's, I found myself back in Denver for daytrip. I had a few extra hours before my evening flight and took advantage of stopping by to see John Parkers BNSF Fall River Division. The layout is amazing and I could spend an entire post discussing it and maybe one day we will do a post covering an end to end tour of a train, but today I am just going to show some great photos of the visit. If you want to check out more of this layout John has a Facebook page (BNSF Fall River Div.) and website open for anyone to view: http://www.bnsfrr.net/

 Boise Cascade lumber mill at Winston

 The mainline heading west from Overlook passes over itself in a large loop as it descends into Kimber

 BNSF Staging Yard (Represents Tacoma / Lincoln)

 Highway crossing at East Horton adjacent to Kappa Grain

 Hobos..

 Yours truly at Fall River Yard

 Fall River Switchers and the DPU of an empty PSC coal train. I love this yard scene.

Fall River Yard

Enjoy the photos and stayed tuned for February's Update which should be back on track.

GM