Foreign Model RR Equipment - Part 2

Some time ago I had posted part 1 of 2 in my foreign railroad equipment series. The time between each of the posts was longer than originally expected, but none the less here we are. In Part Two we are going to explore MCIS railcars at home on other model railroads.

If you haven't had a chance to review part 1, provided is the link to get caught up before reading part two.

Foreign Model RR Equipment - Part 1

But before we look at MCIS on other freelance railroads, there is one newly added freelance model railroad railcar that I want to showcase.

Chesapeake, Wheeling, and Erie - CWE

Alot of modeling license was used to accelerate Tom Patterson's CWE from the 1970s to 2015. This goes to show that not only have cars been back dated for other railroads that we will see below, but they also have been moved forward into the future.

CWE125379 at Michigan Sugar awaiting unload. An important lifeblood commodity on the St. Clair Sub is the processed products from sugar beets. To extract this product coke is needed to be burned with limestone. Michigan has plenty of limestone locally that is trucked in but the coke is sourced from the Appalachians. The CWE, WLE, and MCIS formed a coke railcar pool transporting product from Mountain State Carbon at Follansbee, West Virginia to Michigan Sugar at Upper Huron, Michigan. 

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Now we are going to look at MCIS railcars on two other freelance model railroads. 

Virginia Midland Railroad - VMID

Out east there are quite a few Michigan Interstate cars roaming around on the VMID. Since this railroad is set in the 1990s the equipment seen here is different than what you find on home railcars set in current day.

VMID GP39-2 #274 spots MCIS7282 at Mid-Atlantic Feeds for unloading. This PS 4427 cubic hopper is carrying corn for use in making animal / livestock feeds. These cars date back to the late 1970s and would be off roster around 2008 being replaced by larger capacity cars such as the PS 4750 and Trinity 5161 cubic hoppers. 

VMID GP11 #280 pulls MCIS8347 empty from Klotz Distributors. Wood paneling products from Michigans northern lower peninsula criss-cross the country to distributors or finishers which in this case happens to be Klotz. These ACF 70 ton boxcars while much more weathered are still active on the general fleet in 2015. 

Here we see 9800 series 2 bay covered hoppers in Sand service at Rappahannock Aggregate. The majority of these are in cement service within the great lakes serving numerous cement plants, but a small subfleet of the cars were in service hauling sand from Michigan Dunes to states along the Atlantic and Canadian Maritimes. In 2014 the fleet was beginning to show its age and by October the last of the cars were retired from service. In their place customers opted to obtain their own lease fleets of newer higher capacity cars. 

In reality when these cars were "retired in 2014" they were physically shipped to Shannon's VMID where they "returned to service" in the 1990s era. Provided is a link to a post showcasing this change. 
2 Bay Hopper Attrition

Washington Northern Railroad - WN

With cars in the east there we cars bound to be in the west as well. Kevin Kletkke, owner of the WN snapped two shots of Michigan Interstate equipment out in Washington state. Like the VMID the WN is set in the 1990s era.

Provided is a link to view his published WN Bulletin featuring the MCIS railcars.
Washington Northern Railroad - Bulletin #7

MCIS2930 is in processed aggregate service hauling lime, cement products, or foundry sand to name a few. LDM materials and St. Marys cement have both transitioned to their own lease fleets of Trinity 3281 Cubic hoppers. 

MCIS72829 is apart of a nationwide boxcar pool handling various types of autoparts around the country. These smaller cars were replaced by second hand acquisition of larger 60' Plate F Berwick and new build Gunderson cars. 

There are a three other model railroads that have MCIS equipment in the works or active but unfortunately I do not have any pictures to share at this time. Thank You to all of the layout owners for letting the Michigan Interstate Railroad be apart of your operations.

These two posts not only show another dimension that freelance model railroading provides, but also allows you to develop great friendships in the hobby. You never know what kind of conversations will come up when someone sees that freelance railcar or locomotive for the first time.

- GM

Washington Northern Railroad - WN

Saginaw Valley Model Railroad Club - SRV

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

Foreign Model RR Equipment - Part 1

Taking a break from my Proto 2000 GP38-2s Tsunami sound install, we are going to touch on a neat subject that really happened more by coincidence this evening.

As a Proto freelance model railroader one of my primary objectives is the placement of my fictional class II regional into the modern day North American rail system. Plausible placement allows my railroad to do it's intended to purpose; Moving freight as a common carrier. Having the opportunity to be friends with other modelers who share this vision allows for paper interchanges between layouts and also the opportunity to share equipment with each other. More on the MCIS network and its role in a future post but onto the meat of the post.

The conincidence happened to be finding a few foreign model RR cars blocked together at Bay Yard.

Walking the yard I captured three 50' double door boxcars decorated for SRV (Saginaw River Valley Railroad) and VMID (Virginia Midland Railroad). These cars are empty awaiting the next M-BAMC that will take them north to Mackinaw City and across the straits for loading at the Superior PlyCo OSB plant. 

Saginaw River Valley Railroad - SRV

Two double door SRV boxcars showing off the large and small logo variations of their corporate scheme. These cars were recently shopped and repainted at Fogelsinger Rail Services, but it will not take long for the elements to give them a nice layer of grime and dirt dulling the shine. It is 2015 so reflective tape is a given.

These cars are in building product service  most notably hauling OSB, plywood, and other sheet type materials. While the MCIS does not interchange physically with SRV, these cars come to and from via the Y-BA05 transfer job to the Huron Eastern which in turn hands off to the SRV for delivery to the building supply company at Buena Vista, MI. Depending on demand for product out of Superior PlyCo the MCIS on occasion short term lease these cars to supplement customer demand.

Railcar instructions showing return to Saginaw Yard when empty.

The real SRV is a modular model rairoad club in Mid-Michigan that one of my fellow friends who paints MCIS equipment for me belongs to. Their website is provided below. As a kid I remember seeing their modular setup at the Tawas Railroad Days. A unique item was their setup featuring custom painted Michigan railroads that in the 90s you would never find in hobby shops. Never imagined some 20+ years later I would have two of their cars on my layout and have a great friendship with Fred Fogelsinger who has provided 20+ engines and 40+ cars painted for my Michigan Interstate. Remember those custom paints on the modular layout from the 90s I mentioned, those were done by Fred I just hadn't met him yet.

http://srvmodelrailroad.org/index.html

Virginia Midland Railroad - VMID

The other car we are going to talk about is this Virginia Midland double door boxcar. Once loaded at Superior PlyCo it will head back south on a M-MCBA connecting here in Bay Yard to the M-BAPH. At Port Huron the car will hand off to the CN who will haul it to NS Bellevue via Flat Rock, MI. Once off to the NS it will lastly interchange at Orange, VA.to the VMID for delivery on home rails to a building products wholesaler. The Virginia Midland is the railroad concept of good friend Shannon Crabtree. His modeling skills are fantastic along with some great weathering and custom painting work he has completed for me over the past few years. You can find a link to Shannon's VMID blog in my web links if you view this post in the website format. For those in mobile versions, just copy the address into your browser:

http://virginiamidlandrr.blogspot.com/

We have covered two railroads this post, future posts will cover more foreign model railroads that ply the Michigan Interstate St. Clair Sub. Just as foreign equipment operate here, so to does MCIS cars also roam beyond the walls of my home.

Have a great week

GM

MCIS Diesel Roster Evolution 1975-2015

In previous posts we have talked about the Michigan Interstate diesel roster that is both modeled and not modeled. What I wanted to share in more detail today is the evolution that has taken place in the past 40 years to get us where we are today with the fleet being 70 active motors strong.

Before we look at the diagram which shows the evolution we first must understand where the MCIS originated from.

Early Years
Prior to 1975 the Michigan Interstate existed in the form of two subsidiaries and this is where our journey begins.

St. Clair & Western (Michigan Central - New York Central - Penn Central)
The 1970s were rough times for railroads and in this version of history the Penn Central decided to divest the SCW trying to streamline less profitable operations. We will dig further in another post about the various subsidiaries and how they came about but what we need to know for this post is when the line was bought by the Lakes Interstate Transportation Group the sale included motive power. During this era of PC just prior to the formation of Conrail, power was an eclectic bunch of 1st gen. EMD, GE, and Alco. So at the beginning of the Michigan Interstate Railway (MCTR) were Alco C424s, RS27s, EMD GP7s, GP30s, and SD35s for a total of 31 units that came with the property sale. Additionally Michigan Interstate's parent company purchased Alco RS3s, RS11s, and EMD SW1200s used to supplement start up for a grand total of 42 units.

The railroad with these 42 units did not make any further acquisitions for the next 10 years as current traffic levels on the line did not warrant additional motive power. However the railroads leadership knew that long term success was going to be in more modern power to leverage fuel efficiency and locomotive utilization.

Electro Motive Growth
1985 saw an opportunity present itself to the Michigan Interstate Railway and Lakes Interstate Transportation Group in the form of additional trackage extending its reach in the lower and upper peninsulas of Michigan.

Mackinaw Northern Railroad (Grand Trunk Corporation) 
Continuing the story of Class 1 railroads retrenching to their core products, the Grand Trunk Corporation spun off their Mackinaw Northern Division in 1985 which reached to the Mackinaw Straits and beyond. The price was right and in short order the now Michigan Interstate Railroad Inc. has doubled in size with serious need for more motive power. Part of the Grand Trunk sale also included motive power in the tune of EMD GP9s and GP38s. 1985 was the year that the tables turned on the dominant locomotive manufacturer. For the first 10 years Alco had held the #1 spot, but after the MCNR purchase EMD took the lead and did not look back.

The 1985 MCNR acquisition brought in 14 EMDs along with MCIS acquiring second hand 6 GP38-2s and 2 additional SD35s. A wreck this same year knocked the GP7 fleet down to a total of 3.

Spreadsheet in 5 year increments showing evolution of fleet. The numbers in each square are individual unit counts for that model. 

Dash 2 Era
Prior to 1990 the RS3, RS11, and GP7 fleets were traded off to make way for newer dash 2 equipped power that the railroad had originally sampled in 1985 with the GP38-2. The 1990s saw an explosion of dash 2 motors in the form of EMD GP38-2s, GP40-2s, and SD40-2s. The railroad had struck a deal with EMD to upgrade their original Grand Trunk GP38s through trading in the GP7s and Alco RS fleet. To supplement online traffic growth MCIS picked up three second hand Santa Fe CF7s to utilize on light branch lines replacing the aging Alco RS fleet. These CF7s were eventually sold off in the early 2000s to the Natchez Trace & Orient for use in the southeast U.S. Coming to the end of 1999 the fleet had changed completely with a strong stable of dash 2 motors and the sun had set for the retirement of the entire Alco fleet.

New Millennium
While eleven Alcos had made it into 2000 on the roster, it was not long before their replacements arrived on property and found their tanks drained and stacks capped in storage at the Mt. Pleasant shops awaiting sale. Any railfan could tell that by 2005 it was easy to see EMD and the venerable 645 turbo / non-turbo prime movers were the dominant player in the diesel house and here to stay. But even then there were 567s still holding their own with the original GP30 and SD35s handling local and branch line switching. These brutes were a testament to EMDs solid early design and the fit that they had with this regional. Behind the 645 dominance and 567 survival were two EMD GP60s the railroad had picked up from BNSF. Their 710s had a unique and new sound to them and would find a great niche prompting the railroad to pickup two more in 2010 from the UP. Looking to find a like replacement to the SW1200 for tighter switching areas, MCIS picked up one EMD MP15DC in 2000 on lease from GMTX ultimately returning the leasor and acquiring three of its own in 2005. The roster by 2005 had declined to 60 motors from the peak of 64 in 1995 and this was mostly due to replacing more with less in terms of early generation EMD and Alco with second generation dash 2 power.

Twenty Tens
The year 2010 saw the fleet still at 60 motors which was flat from 2005 but if you look at the diagram detail the CF7 and SW1200 were struck from the roster and the gradual phase out of the GP30 / SD35 had begun with GP40-2, GP40X, and SD40-2 incremental growth. Even SD45-2s which had labored for a long time got a new lease on life after departing Class 1s to find mainline roles on this regional. More stringent environmental laws prompted the railroad's mechanical team to find ways for a better carbon footprint and in the 2015 roster we can see the fruits of this labor.

Continued Modernization
2012 saw big modernization changes starting with an order for four EMD SD70ACe locomotives producing 4,300 hp a piece. These are by far the largest engines on roster and have really helped improve locomotives per train as two can do the work of three SD40-2s or even four GP38-2s. Additionally the EMD 567 prime mover was no longer present on the active roster as the four remaining GP30s were stored in 2013 at Mt. Pleasant awaiting conversion to road slugs which will pair up with EMD GP40-3s. A new entrant to the roster made its debut in 2012 as well from National Railway Equipment in the form of four 3GS21B gensets producing 2,100 hp a piece. These ultra low emission engines are primarily taking over yard switching roles at Grand Rapids and Bay City but occasionally can be found sandwiched between two EMD 645 prime movers on a out and back local turn. Seeing opportunity with stored serviceable SD35s the railroad is currently converting one into a 3GS21C genset through a NRE kit built in-house at Mt. Pleasant. Two other SD35s went to VMS in Virginia back in 2013 and were converted into EMD SD22ECOs which utilize at eight cylinder EMD 710 prime mover. The last SD35 was sold off to VMS which was refurbing and selling to another operator. Future plans could include refurbing the SD45-2 fleet into SD32ECOs or de-rating into SD40-3s but in a SD45-2 carbody. The fleet has leveled out at 70 active units at time of press with no orders or acquisitions in the immediate future. But in our continued effort to have a positive environmental footprint all locomotives are being or have been retrofitted with AESS Smart Start to reduce idling and wasted fuel consumption. When "railfanning" my youtube channel or blog posts, be on the lookout for the small square black logo that denotes these retrofits (Check out Wordless Wednesday #14). Additionally locomotives are receiving GPS domes, RV style air conditioners (Whoever said Michigan wasn't humid....) and updated side sill reflective striping to meet the FRA mandate.

I hope you enjoyed my synopsis of the diesel roster evolution. Normally I had more photos than words in my posts, but my goal was to paint a clear picture of where the fleet was and is going in the future.

Any questions or further detail on a particular model please post in comments.

GM

Cement Hopper Fleet Attrition

One disadvantage of modeling current era 2013-2014 is equipment eventually reaches its retirement age or as traffic bases or trends change so does the equipment mix of the railroad. 

2960/70 Cu. - 2 Bay Cement Hopper Fleet

This fleet is comprised of second hand cars built in the late 70s and 80s acquired for a new cement plant, but after being in cement service for some time were beginning to show their age. Based on industry attrition of railroad owned cement cars to private or lease fleets it was decided by management to retire the fleet through sale and scraping by the end of 2014. Roughly 60% or 30 cars went to the scraper while 40% or 20 of the cars were in good condition for sale to other roads. A few captive 2000 cubic hoppers rounded out the entire fleet at 55 cars.

MCIS Cement Hopper Fleet

Size: 50 (2960/70 cubic)

           5 (2000 cubic) 

Customer: LDM Materials (fictional)

While I model 2013-14, Shannon Crabtree and his Virginia Midland represent the 90s. If you follow his posts you saw the addition of a sand facility on the Virginia Central line and needed more sand cars. The two railroads worked together and in short order 6 of the good condition hoppers and parts were on their way to Virginia. Upon arrival they will time warp to the 90s but still have a unique history from the previous railroad owner - the fun of proto-freelancing.

Cars lined up at Bay Yard awaiting pickup by the Q-PHGR-27 for interchange to the CSX at Wyoming Yard in Grand Rapids.

This segment of cars 7 total came out of storage on the Port Belle Branch last week and were mechanically inspected and in the case of the 2000 cubic cars given waivers for one time interchange movement. The one car on the flat is a parts source car to help keep the fleet rolling on its new home.

Any idea who the previous owner of this car was......?

With the cement fleet no longer on the MCIS roster, LDM Materials has struck a deal to lease 3281 cubic hoppers from Trinity Industries. (Coming soon from American Limited Models).

Hope everyone enjoyed a little MCIS history and prototypical fleet planning. Have a safe Halloween!

GM