Week 376

 Sun, Oct 10, 2021 thru Sat, octo 16, 2021

Working on the RR this week and then on vacation next week...

Sun, Oct 10, 2021

Special Guests
Josiah & Lissette Crockett

Length: 00:00:16 sec.

Lissette playing with trains...

Josiah building the track for the trains...

Mon, Oct 11, 2021

Train Day!
w/Rob Fair, Milt Feryance, Jordan Osborn
6:15-8:15pm 2 hours

Catching up on the week and discussing orders for tonight's session.

"I don't want to hear of it!"

Milt is going to be the conductor and engineer of this local.
He will pick up a car at the Grain Elevator and another at California Avenue Maintenance Facility.

Rob Fair will be working on some landscaping around the Industrial Park Warehouses.

Looking good, Rob!

Milt making some switching moves at California Avenue Maintenance Facility

Length: 00:00:30 sec.

More Switching at CAMF...

Length: 00:00:30 sec.

Before leaving California Avenue Maintenance Facility Milt made mention of a disconnect Track Feeder Wire. We will get track maintenance on this right away.

Here is the front section of Train 5A put together tonight with the two car Pick Ups by Milt F.

The crew ready to call it a night...

Before Rob Fair leaves, he drills out the hole for the toggle switch that will control the track where we'll store the UP GP15-1 #1612

Here's my drawing of how to wire up the toggle for train control.

Tue, Oct 12, 2021

I'm going to glue down the road that crosses the railroad tracks by the warehouse buildings.

This is what it looked like with the weights on the finished product.
Now it's time to remove the weights.

I used these blocks to make a level surface for the weights to hold down the glue.

These has been a great find.
I use wax paper so the glue doesn't stick to the wood.
It works great! I take off the wax paper and there's no sticking of the glue to the wood pieces.

And here's the finished look.

Tomorrow I plan on ballasting the tracks you see here.

Wed, Oct 13, 2021

Before I ballast the track I'm going to fill in some large rocks in the creek bed.

I put a layer of white glue on the base.

Next I spread out the large stones.

Finally I use a 50/50 water/glue mix with a squirt of liquid detergent to secure the rocks in place.

Now it's time to ballast...

First I lay out the ballast.

Then I use a brush to smooth out the highs and lows.

Finally, I use the same mixture as the one I used above and secure the ballast in place.

Now it's time to figure out the new steps for the Westbound Coal Train...

Here's the CNW SD40-2 Switcher #6922 doing it's work to get the Unit Coal Train out on the mainline...

Length: 00:00:29 sec.

This picture shows the WB Unit Coal Train ready for power on the mainline.

Same train from the opposite direction.

What we'll do next is connect the power to the front, run WB on the EB track 2 until Crossover #4 where we'll crossover and run WB on Track 1.

Lots of changes to the work order sheet.

Thu, Oct 14, 2021

Tonight I set out the power units for WB Train 2A the Unit Coal Train.

I'm using the C44-9Ws for the power tonight.

Getting ready to head west to the Powder River Basin.
You can see the entire train consist in this picture.

Since the Unit Coal Train already has an EOTD connected, I left the caboose assigned to the power set back on Track 6 at Proviso Yard Union Pacific side.

This picture  shows where the power units came from - UP Engine Facility Track 4.

Fri, Oct 15, 2021

Mom and Dad were over for dinner tonight.

Whenever I say, "Let's go see the trains." They always reply, "Sure, let's go!"

We are going to run Train 2A WB Unit Coal Train to Powder River Basin...

Here we go...

It's such a long train -

Mom says, "My eyes get big!"

Duration: 00:00:23 sec.

The WB Train 2A Unit Coal Train is well on its way.

Dad asks, "How fast do you think it's going?"

Answer: About 40 mph

Duration: 00:00:32 sec

Special Guests

Mom & Dad with Jan stopping by to see what's goin' on...

Mission Accomplished!
We brought the train to the Powder River Basin and parked it in the yard ready to be filled with coal.

Sat, Oct 16, 2021

I had to rework the cars at Powder River Basin.

Here's how they should look when they are parked properly in the yard.

These pictures are in order from right to left...

This shot captures the far right section of the PRB East Yard - east end.

As you move to the left/west, this is the next section.

Continue moving west/left and this is the section you will see.

One more section until we reach the end of the PRB East Yard.

The final section of the PRB East Yard - west end.

Here's the whole train from left to right sitting in the PRB East Yard