That rockwork is the craftsmanship of Dave Salamon. He's the talented one that built the rockwork, and the 2nd post's shots are on Dave's Deep River Southern layout. (smile). The first posteds shots of blue/yellow Santa Fe SD24s are on my little 4' x 4' layout. (smile) [ 23. December 2004, 13:48: Message edited by: atsf_arizona ]
Paul, No problems with MTs. I've had local ISP outages today, and other work to do. I use Unimates on most locos other than Katos. I guess I'm just not up to swapping out 200 cars that will go into unit trains--an ore drag, a coal drag, a perishables hotshot, a yellowcake drag, and an empties drag. Jeanne and I have gotten a lot of scenicking done lately, so pics will be forthcoming after the New Year. The problem with scenicking is that it messes up the track surface and makes running hard for a while. I'm having problems only with one hill, so I may do some surgery on it first. Pete
Yellowcake, eh? And it sure ain't the tasty kind! Wouldn't you need a Uranium mill rather than a Plutonium factory instead?
Careful, Hemi! There is also a uranium processing plant on the new layout. First level, east wall, where there is a long climb to the "high" bridges. You need U238 to make P239 (or whatever the number is--my nuclear physics knowledge is not operating tonight). Pete
Man!!! Great photos! You guys are really hot!! I especially like the cab forward Russ. Thanks for sharing all the photos
FT A/B in Black Widow pulls a string of PFE refers up toward the summit past the local fuel distributor while an SP RSD 5 dressed in Tiger Stripes sets out a string of tankers to be unloaded.
Russ, i love that cab forward keep the pics coming. Chad, I really like those Ft's how many reefers do you run?
Pete, I'm thinkin' I need to find an excuse to go on another TDY to Albuquerque.... A local railfan was busy last night... Here we see M-PASKCK, in the big cut near Granite, ID, headed by a pair of BN Deuces: In this shot, a local job with SP&S 45, an aging SW9, in the lead with a cut of empty centerbeam/bulkhead flats to head back onto the Kettle Falls branch to be reloaded with forest products: At the depot, changing crews for the next leg of the journey to the coast, a pair of Oakway SD60's are in charge of a seemingly endless string of coal loads from the Powder River Basin: Almost outta breath, after pulling a classic railfan move--jumping out of the still-moving vehicle, and dashing trackside to snag this shot of a rare SD40 in whiteface livery charging up the grade for Steven's pass. Even with 9,000 HP on tap, this train will no doubt need helpers when they get to Wenatchee:
LOL, not as many as I would like. I have 15 so far and have moved into the buy them as I see them mode. It's a small track plan, "L" 10'x7' with 30" width so really long trains look kinda funny. My "long trains are usually 28 to 35 cars so I would like to get to 30 refers. Half way there. Plus, the FT's are on in the picture are running on a line that has a 6% grade so anything longer presents some traction issues.
After taking a short lunch break, our railfan is back in Coure D'Alene, ID, ready for more action. It doesn't take long for something to catch his eye. Across the yard, at the gravel tipple, a ballast train led by a CB&Q Redbird Geep 20 is spotted at the loader: It wasn't too long after the ballast job showed up, so did the Empire Builder, with a gorgeous pair of E9's on the point: Looking from the overpass, the 'Builder silently crossloads passengers, as a grain train sits int he hole, awaiting a green signal: While the pride of the Great Northern is departing for Wenatchee, our photographer shoots a broadside of the Ocean View, an 89' Great Dome lounge car: After what seems like hours, the grain train finally gets permission from the dispatcher in Fort Worth to proceed. Our railfan tears out into the country, and finds his spot in the big fill near Athol, ID:
OK, I have now located my old ID, so I guess I will use that for a while. I found is a shot with my PFE train and the 2-10-2 off to the right. I may have to dredge through my photos and upload some new images to get a better view.
I'm going to try this. Here's a 44-car unit train leaving the main yard. The background is a quick Photoshop job, best I could do in a few minutes. Obviously I've been busy with the Model Expo clearance. The backdrops, and the transition scenery, won't be finished until I get to the East Coast to take some photos Pete
Pete, Lookin' good. That background looks like the view from behind your house... Does that single TM need any help up the grade with 44 ore jennies?
Actually, it's Alaska, and I didn't have time to adjust the perspective, which might have worked a lot better. Funny, I tried the backyard first, but the mountains were too big. Yes, the Trainmaster needs at least two Baldwins H16-44s up the hill past the bridge. I've only got some diesels on DCC right now. I've got about 20 decoders on order for both diesel and steam. The mallets will be first, because they'd look good in front of that train. I'll have to doublehead them, or use one as a pusher. It's that first grade (where I made a mistake) that's the killer. Pete
Well, it's been a relatively slow day for work, so I had a chance to upload these. The first is a reverse shot of the ore drag leaving the main yard. I didn't even try to put in a background. In the foreground is a new highway bridge, a two-hour project. Those of you unfamiliar with my interests will soon learn that I am big on bridges and ships. I just installed this bridge as a way to get road traffic over a yard that is always clogged, so a grade crossing would be infeasible. Placing the camera on the track yielded this image of the front end. Again, I didn't have time to bother with replacing the background stuff. While Jeanne and I are making a lot of progress, this is a rather large endeavor, so the images are rather rough at this stage. Pete
Paul, From a few experiments (remember I'm a newbie at DCC), we could probably run at least eight long trains on it. Pete
I just ordered decoders for my Deuce fleet.. With any luck, they'll be here before I go to Texas in early January. I am very soon to join the ranks of those who are DCC newbies!
