P.C.C.M. #107 On The A.P.R.R. Part 2 - Incoming (Cookies, that is...)!

Welcome back to the continuation of Penn Central Car Movement #107! 

Earlier, the APRR & Penn Central sent two trains out from Rock Ridge. The Auto Parts cars from both Sir John's New York Central Train Layout and PC Ralph's Kings Port Division Railroad headed out to the Ford Motor Co. plant in Louisville, KY thru the PC's Potomac Yard. The other cars were headed to Nabisco to be loaded with cookies to be delivered to consignees on both railroads.

A quick turnaround by both Nabisco and the Penn Central sent the train back the same day!! That train arrived just before sunset...

PC Extra Train 8148 has arrived from Morrisville an awaits the signal at West Harold to proceed on its journey back to Rock Ridge. A few cars on this train will be delivered to C&P Restaurant Supply and distributed to their customers...

PC Extra Train 8148 on its way to Rock Ridge Yard...

The crew arrives and Yardmaster 1:87 NJ John instructs 1:87 Engineer Kai to pull the three cars off the front of the train...

The cars are pulled off and dropped on of East Ladder Track 6...

The PC crew picks up the rest of the train, checks the air lines and slowly heads out...

A stop signal holds them until the Little Jamaica tower operator let's them go...

...And they head out!! 

PC Extra 8148 heads out to Weehawken...

PC Extra 8148 arrives in Weehawken...

PC Engine U28C #6533 will be taking the cut of freight cars to West Mill on the KPD...

The train is split into two trains - one for the KPD and one for the NYCTL...

A caboose is added to the train headed to Selkirk and the NYCTL...

PC Engine 8148 was removed for service here at Weehawken and now lead engine GP40 #3182 will head out with sister engine #3166 to for the NYCTL, but not before PC Extra 6533 heads out to West Mill...

PC Extra Train 6533 is ready to depart...

Next stop - West Mill and the KPD!!

Now that Extra 6533 has cleared, PC Extra Train 3182 heads out to Selkirk and on to Terminal Yard on the NYCTL!!

It's a wrap!! 

We hope you enjoyed this unique move on all three railroads and hope to see you on our next Penn Central Car Movement!!

Don't forget to check out the inbound portion of this move on Sir John's New York Central Train Layout and PC Ralph's Kings Port Division Railroad!

Thanks for reading!!

P.C.C.M. #107 On The A.P.R.R. Part 1 - A Special Move For Nabisco Cookies And Ford Motor Co.

Welcome to Penn Central Car Movement #107 on the A.P.R.R.! We're having a special three layout move with freight coming in from Sir John's New York Central Train Layout and PC Ralph's Kings Port Division Railroad, both of which are inspired by the Penn Central Railroad! 

This car movement has freight for two locations. Auto parts cars coming from all three railroads that will head south to the Penn Central Potomac Yard and on to the Ford Motor Co. plant in Louisville, KY. 

Here's some background history on the Ford Motor Co. courtesy of Wikipedia... Ford Motor Co.  

The Ford Motor Co. had a plant in the Louisville, KY area where they built some special automobiles in the 70's, again courtesy of Wikipedia... Ford_L_series vehicles & More! 

Additional freight cars will be coming in to the A.P.R.R. territory and sent to the National Biscuit Co. or better known as Nabisco! We will have freight heading to the Morrisville, PA yard and then moved to Nabisco. Nabisco has a factory located in Philadelphia, PA which I had passed numerous times in my 30+ years of travel to the greater Philadelphia area. Some background information on Nabisco, courtesy or Wikipedia... Nabisco - Home To The Infamous Oreo Cookies! The freight cars will be turned around the same day and head back to their respective consignees...

Weehawken Yard, off 69th St. in Weehawken is where we have a great view of the inbound trains that will head to Rock Ridge Yard, and then on south to their destinations...

The PC crew is ready for the inbound trains...

The first train to arrive is PC Extra Train 1675 from West Mill on the KPD Railroad...

This train will be broken down in the yard. Parts of this train will head to Nabisco in Philadelphia, PA and the rest of the train will head to the Ford Motor Co. in Louisville, KY...

PC GP9 7139 (making its PCCM debut), will break down both trains...

The freight cars for Nabisco are the first set of cars to come off the train...

The crew places this block of cars on yard track 1...

Now arriving at Weehawken, PC Extra Train 1650 from Terminal Yard on the NYCTL via Selkirk...

PC Extra Train 1650 is in the yard and holds at the signal. This crew will terminate at Weehawken and head over to the engine service area...

PC Train 1650 heads over to the engine facilities..

PC 7139 starts to work the inbound freight. They'll pull the freight cars for Nabisco and add it to the train that came in from West Mill...

Now arriving on A/D track 1 is a pair of U25C engines that will take the Auto Parts Box Cars from Weehawken to Potomac Yard outside of VA. Once they head out, a stop at Rock Ridge East Yard for some additional Auto Parts Box Cars will be picked up...

We see the end of PC Extra 1675 waiting to head out...

The Auto Parts Box cars, along with other general purpose box cars are on the train for Ford...

Let's take a look at the freight cars for the train for Ford...

EBRR 503827 50' double door boxcar. From Bedford Park Ford. Empty

EBRR 67358 86' boxcar. From Bedford Park Ford. Empty

APRR 86027 86' boxcar. From Bedford Park Ford. Empty

APRR 86035 86' boxcar. From Bedford Park Ford. Empty

APRR 615279 60' boxcar. From Bedford Park Ford. Empty

APRR 613358 60' boxcar. From Bedford Park Ford. Empty

PC 229258 50' boxcar. From Bendix Brake Corporation to Ford loaded with brake parts

PC 229408 50' boxcar. From Bendix Brake Corporation to Ford loaded with brake parts

86 ft  PRR  125291  from ACME Auto Parts Mayfield

86 ft NYC  67086     from ACME Auto Parts Mayfield

Hi Cubes   NYC  173861, PC 272242, PC 272747  From ACME Mayfield

EBRR 608279 From other auto part supplier Boston

APRR   615827  From other auto part supplier Boston

APRR   615927  From other auto part supplier Boston***

APRR   60358 From other auto part supplier  Boston

APRR   60327 From other auto part supplier Boston

HRC    50 ft RBL  From other auto part supplier  Buffalo

*** APRR 615927 had a brake issue and was taken out of service near the Mine Dock Siding in Montgomery, NY and will be picked by another PC work train...

Here's the freight cars for Nabisco...

APRR 57' Reefers from PSH to Nabisco. Empty. 3 Cars

EBRR 57' Reefers Same as above. Empty. 3 Cars

BAR 7574 57' Reefer from Ralph's Grocery to Nabisco. Empty

BAR 11128 57' Reefer same as above.

PC 142770 50' plug door boxcar. From Ralph's Grocery to Nabisco. Empty

PC 360063 50' plug door boxcar. Same as above

NPM 472 50' Reefer from Consolidated Grocery to Nabisco

PC 360508 50' boxcar from Consolidated Grocery to Nabisco

KP&W  30112 & KP&W 30115 From Mayfield Yard  Empty

KP&W  644450 & KP&W 644455 From Mayfield Yard  Empty

PC RBL  229059, 229178, 229300 From Buffalo  Empty

Meanwhile, PC 7139 is working on building the outbound trains for Rock Ridge and Rock Ridge East Yard...

The moves are almost ready...

First train to depart will be PC Extra 6510 to Rock Ridge East Yard...

Next to depart is PC Extra 1675 for Rock Ridge Yard...

Both trains have arrived at the West Harold Interlocking...

PC Extra 6510 has priority and will head out and take the main track once he clears Little Jamaica Interlocking...

PC Extra 1675 heads over to Rock Ridge Yard. Once he gets the approach to the yard, they'll pick up some non-PCCM freight cars from C&P Restaurant Supply. Hey, everyone loves Nabisco cookies, especially Oreo cookies!! 

The reefers in the background will be added to the train....

AP MP15 engine #105 with 1:87 Engineer Kai will work the yard with direction from yardmaster 1:87 NJ John...

The cars are added to the train...

Kai takes his engine over to Rock Ridge East Yard to add some auto parts cars to the train for Ford...

Kai awaits Extra 6510...

PC Extra 6510 works their way to Rock Ridge East Yard...

Four non-PCCM auto parts box vars from Ideal Auto Parts will be added to the train...

Kai's work is done and Extra 6510 can now head out...

A quick stop at 'Meet At Ralph's' diner, the best food in Rock Ridge before they hit the road. Hey, they have to eat, right??

PC Extra 1675 awaits the signals at Rock Ridge Yard and will head out...

PC Extra 1675 is on the move! Next stop - Morrisville, PA Yard...

The crew from PC Extra 6510 is fueled up and now heads out to Potomac Yard for their journey to Ford Motor Co. in Louisville, KY...

This concludes the trains for Nabisco and Ford. Check back later today for the return of the freight from Nabisco, which will be broken down and sorted for the KPD and NYCTL...

Thanks for reading!!

PCCM Update - Weehawken Yard / Live OPs Staging Tracks

Hello everyone. Today's blog post is geared more towards my virtual operating sessions that we call Penn Central Car Movements, or PCCM's. These moves involve two other railroads; Sir John's New York Central Train Layout and PC Ralph's Kings Port Division Railroad.

The area I focused on is to get the lower level staging track area more involved. In the past, I would show this area as 'Weehawken Yard' part of the Penn Central System back in the day. Here's what I used to show on my blog...

As you can see, a lot of my benchwork is exposed and quite honestly, doesn't look nice. 

I had bought some retaining walls from a company called 'Scenic Express' out of PA. They do the large train shows, like the Amherst Railway Show in West Springfield, MA every year. Lots of great scenery, ballast and more. 

I chose to use the Multi Scale Block Stone to add some 'scenery' to this area...

They come painted in a light gray, and in some areas, you can see the foam underneath. I chose to paint mine a flat gray primer, mainly due to the fact that the other grays that I had didn't look as good so the gray primer was it...

I painted 8 sections, plus some seam sealers to white foam board, which I painted a sky blue color....

As of today, I've installed the 8 sections and some seam sealers. I have 5 more sections coming, which I will add to the end of the yard area. In addition, I just got some foam sealer to eliminate the space between the foam boards...

I added the freight cars and engines back to the tracks as I have an operating session coming up on July 24th, and it takes me some time to get everything staged. When the 5 sections arrive, I'll paint them and add them to the end area, which you can see in the image below. One more thing I want to do is to put a tunnel portal on the north end of this area to make it look like it's coming out of the tunnel or overpass on the PC River Line... 

I would say this is my first venture into anything that is remotely 'scenery' related. Once everything is in place, I'll move the freight cars out of the way and paint the areas around the track a dark gray. I'm happy how this came out. Now I can try working other areas on the railroad up top. 

This area will be featured in my next PCCM virtual op session, which I know will be a great one!

Thanks for reading!!