Sun, Nov 30, 2025 thru Sat, Dec 6, 2025
Marcus and I attended an OPEN HOUSE at a home in Geneva.
Check this out...
 |
| Located on the 2nd floor (the loft) in a home on 2nd Street close to downtown Geneva IL |
 |
| The detail in this layout left us quite overwhelmed |
 |
| This was the first room we visited. It took us a while to get here because of all the items to view on the way. Items displayed in display cases along the wall and in cases in the hallway. Absolutely amazing! |
See Saturday's entry to watch action of this layout in my YouTube weekly update video
Later in the day...as I headed to my own basement...
 |
| I finished installing the light board, but failed to see the finished product. Here's the manual and the paperwork completed to show the work accomplished. |
 |
| Unfortunately, no lights came on. What a bummer! |
 |
| This is the same car that fell to the ground and left many pieces disengaged with the model. |
 |
| I was able to finish putting everything back together again and also ordered and installed a damaged truck. |
 |
| The three cars are all back together again ready for a test run to make sure they've had some improvements that will make them run even better. |
 |
| Now, on to the next thing... I will prepare Sequence Train #5 with power and prepare the train for it's trip departing tomorrow. |
 |
| The power assigned to this train is B2 the UP SD60Ms #6284 & 6332 |
 |
| Here's the Train Cars in Consist or manifest with no paperwork attached. Sometimes I have cars that have been repaired or damaged and need to make sure they still can be in production mode on the railroad. |
 |
| Here's the 1960s Train 3A in the Proviso Yard UP Track 1 waiting for power from the Engine Facility. |
 |
| And here's the power assigned to this train tonight. UP SD60M #6284 & 6332 |
 |
| On the mainline is the rear of the train... |
 |
| ...and the front of the train. Ready for departure tomorrow during Monday Night's Train Session. |
Mon, Dec 1, 2025
Train Day!
w/Rob Fair 6-8pm 2 hrs.
 |
| Two things accomplished tonight. 1. Rob engineered 1960s Train 3A Sequence Train #5 with Power B2 leading the way UP SD60M #6284 6332 |
 |
| Rob also spent about 40 minutes working on adding a Power Xtender to Loco CNW C40-8 #8501. |
After taking the shell off we realized there wasn't a decoder that had pins for the Xtender so Rob closed it back up. It was a bit tricky to get it back together again, but Rob stuck with it and got the job done.
See the Weekly Layout Update in Saturday's entry for more action at tonight's session.
Tue, Dec 2, 2025
 |
| Today I'm going to make some coal loads for some "old" and "new" coal hoppers |
 |
| I have two to make for these "old" CNW coal hoppers. You can see the previous coal load that I will be replacing. |
 |
| I'll use this foam board which gives it a rough surface look |
 |
| Lots of trimming to do... |
 |
| ...then I paint them black. |
 |
| Before I go to the next step, I want to make four more loads for the "new" hoppers. |
 |
| There we go...all four cut out and ready for painting |
 |
| BEFORE painting... |
 |
| ...AFTER painting. |
 |
| Next up: Gluing. I painted each piece... |
 |
| ...using Elmer's glue and a brush. |
 |
| After I pour the fine ballast over each load... |
 |
| ...I put them aside to dry overnight. |
I really like this technique and I think it looks very prototypical too!
Wed, Dec 3, 2025
 |
| Tonight I'm going to put the unit coal train 2A-Part 1 together at the Melrose Park Power Plant westbound for a coal pickup at the Powder River Basin |
 |
| This picture shows the first few pickups from Tracks 5 & 6. I'm heading in reverse to pick up a few more cars from Track 4. |
 |
| I've picked up all the cars now and waiting to pull the full train past the East Transfer Track switch. |
 |
| After pulling the complete consist past the switch, I push the full train onto the mainline and then return the switching power (SW9 UP B40-8 #1803) back to the Melrose Park Power Plant Track 6. |
Next up:
Attach the road power and proceed WB to the Powder River Basin in Wyoming
Thu, Dec 4, 2025
Working on the RR...
 |
| Running SOLO #1 Unit Coal Train 2A-P2 today. |
 |
| The Power pick for this run is C5 CNW GP38-2 #4634 & 5052 DC Analog Locomotives |
 |
| Here's the Train Cars in Consist aka the manifest |
 |
| Retrieving the road power from the CNW Engine Facility. In fact, you can see the back of the Unit Coal Train these locomotives will be attached to at the front. |
 |
| Light Power on the move to the front of the WB Unit Coal Train. |
 |
| All set on Track 1 WB to Powder River Basin. |
Fri, Dec 5, 2025
Moving WB Solo Train #1 Unit Coal Train 2A-Part2 to Powder River Basin...
 |
| Running the Unit Coal Train WB for 5 laps. |
 |
| I tried to capture the EOTD when it was ON? Not sure I did. |
 |
| I tried again. Is it flashing? You'll be able to see it flashing if you check out the Weekly Layout YouTube video in tomorrow's entry. |
 |
| Heading WB past Geneva Station. |
 |
| Another view of the train heading WB to the Powder River Basin in Wyoming. |
Arrived at one of the many coaling companies in the Powder River Basin
 |
| Train has already been split in two. How to directions on Train Cars in Consist Paperwork 2A-P3 |
 |
| EOTD car already located at the end of PRBWYTrk3. Road Power ready to switch the arriving train into the PRB East Yard |
 |
| Here's a different perspective of the arriving train already split up into two parts for switching into the Powder River Basin East Yard |
Sat, Dec 6, 2025
Now that we've arrived at the Powder River Basin
it's time to...
 |
| Switch the train into the East Yard to fill with coal. |
 |
| Almost finished. Just need to park about 5 more cars. |
 |
| The job is done, now we just need to finish filling the cars with coal. |
to view
Weekly Layout YouTube Video Update
Duration: 24:14 mins.
Description:
What's ON Track this Week?
*The Train Loft Geneva IL
*Back in my basement - oops! Switch error
*1960s Train running and finishing the assignment
*Building a WB Unit Coal Train bound for Powder River Basin
*WB Unit Coal Train movements to Powder River Basin
*Putting away Steam Engine #6306
*Thanks for watching!
No comments:
Post a Comment