New Arrivals!

Greetings followers of the A.P.R.R!

As the saying goes "You can never have enough trains!" Many of you have seen the work that John R. and his legendary Patti-O Paint shop has done on many A.P.R.R. freight cars including box cars, coal cars, covered hopper cars and an 86' Box car. The paint job and lettering rivals the work of Picasso, Rembrandt, and daVinci!

Today a package arrived from the headquarters of the Patti-O Paint shop & N.Y.C.T.L.Despite the challenges of cold weather, rain, sleet and snow, John was able to get 4 PS-2 covered hoppers painted in classic Penn Central lettering. The paint job is great, lettering is crisp, and will make its way shortly to the A.P.R.R. for inspection and a road test.

As always, John has a matching set so we can do some virtual ops for the Penn Central Car Movements (P.C.C.M.). In order to get them active on the railroad, I will have to take some freight cars off the layout or make up a train and put it in staging. Right now, the railroad has over 400 freight cars on the layout and in an operating session, the guys have moved more than 300 in one session!!

There were more cars in the box. I sent John a number of 86' 4 door and 8 door Box cars that I picked up at a local train show in NJ over the Thanksgiving weekend. John had alluded to me that he was thinking of painting them with some nice details added to the sides of the cars. I gave him full authority to 'do what he does best', and did he ever! One of them was a PRR box car, and since John had one, we left it as is. Take a look at these 3 box cars that John painted. When I opened them up I was absolutely floored!

The top car is what they call a 'patch' meaning the car came from another railroad and instead of doing a complete repaint, he added the Empire Belt markings to the car. In addition, he painted the freight doors a 'dark gray' so they really pop and make the model look fantastic. The middle model is another 4 door that John painted. I now have two like that on the railroad. But the pièce de résistance' is the third box car, the 8 door. When I opened the box and saw it, that made my night. It's truly the king of the railroad!

These freight cars will be making it's inaugural run to Rock Ridge from Terminal Yard and the N.Y.C.T.L. Keep a lookout for a post from John's blog N.Y.C.T.L. for more updates about this incredible project he tackled for me. THANK YOU SIR JOHN!!

Florida Layout Update January 17, 2018

Greetings followers of the Atlantic Pacific Railroad!

Here's the latest update on the building of the A.P.R.R. Southern Division...

Pull up a chair, and enjoy!

Train NE-2 Heading to West Mill

Greetings followers of the A.P.R.R.!

Since NE-2 was a special train adding the HRC to the VO, I thought it fitting to show the train heading up to West Mill.

ENJOY!

P.C.C.M. 42E: Rock Ridge to Weehawken Part 2

Greetings followers of the A.P.R.R and the Penn Central Car Movements! 

We left off with Train RW-1 heading out of Rock Ridge Yard under the skillful control of 1/87th Senior Engineer Ed at the throttle

Riding in the caboose is 1/87th Sir Larry as this fantastic duo know this route better than anyone in the metro area. The years of experience from them are a credit to their work!

The approach to Weehawken from the south will make the trip up to West Mill a little easier to handle for the crew....

Approaching the classification tracks at Weehawken we see another PC train on the adjacent track.

As RW-1 slows down, 1/87th Senior Engineer Ed notices that train NE-2 has arrived from Potomac Yard. A call comes over the radio advising the crew to cut off and take track 3 so Train NE-2 can pick up their cars, add them to their train, and hightail it up to West Mill. Reports are that the weather up north may be changing for the worse. Needless to say, I'm sure they don't want to get stuck somewhere in the Adirondack Region of NY State!

A string of PC covered hoppers from Cargill were delivered a couple days ago to Weehawken as Rock Ridge yard was at capacity. We can hear Sir 1:87th Neal counting the profits already!!

Train NE-2, with a pair of PC SD45 units with #6197 in the lead, prepare to head out. 

 Brake test all completed, they get the call to head out up to West Mill.

That's quite a train and climb as they up north to West Mill and the KP&W Railroad

They gave the train AP50 caboose to pick up the rear. We hope 1/87th Sir Larry got off at Weehawken to head back with 1/87th Senior Engineer Ed! While those cabooses are comfortable, I'm sure 1/87th Sir Larry would rather be sleeping at home in his own bed!!

Well, that's all from the A.P.R.R. and my part of the Penn Central Car Movement. The continuation of P.C.C.M. 42 will continue on Ralph's Kings Port Division and the KP&W.

Thanks for following! Over to you Ralph! A.P.R.R.....Out!!

BREAKING NEWS!!

Greetings followers of the Atlantic Pacific Railroad. The title says it all! BREAKING NEWS!

Sir 1/87th Neal was reviewing reports of the latest revenue from industries serviced by the A.P.R.R. and saw another opportunity for revenue (He's always on the lookout for profits). The report revealed that R.M.O. Electric was receiving a great deal of coal on a regular basis. While he doesn't own the industry, he does own the land and services the tracks they sit on. Being the crafty dude he is, a call was placed to the owners of R.M.O. in the Bahamas and made them a deal they couldn't refuse...!

After the ink was dry on the contract, Sir 1/87th Neal reached out to the Senior Manager of the A.P.R.R., Sir 1/87th Sir John R. 

A meeting was set the next day and everyone gathered at the site. What is the big announcement?

R.M.O. Electric will be getting a 4th track to receive and store additional coal hopper cars!! The big crane was brought in along with a huge crew. Since the team is going to be guided under the crafty eye of 1/87th Sir John R., Sir 1/87th Neal can head back to headquarters high atop Morris County, somewhere in the Piccitiny Mountains....

The crew gets right to it and within a few hours, a new switch is installed and additional track is put into place...

Senior Engineer 1/87th Engineer Ed was called in to get the switcher into the new track area to make sure the work is smooth and there are no issues with track alignment. To test the track, he pulled the 2 remaining coal car hoppers from what was track 3 and is now track 4 to the new track 1.

With the 2 coal cars in place, operations at R.M.O. will continue uninterrupted.

The crew is wrapping up, and 1/87th senior manager John R. is very pleased with the results. He'll head over to HQ and fill in the boss with the results. He knows that cool libations and local NY style pizza awaits as that's one of the favorite foods of both guys.

It's wrap for today guys. Thanks for reading!!

P.C.C.M. 42D: Rock Ridge to Weehawken Part 1

Greetings followers of the A.P.R.R and the Penn Central Car Movements! 

We're going to continue with Penn Central Car Movement 42. We left off with train RR-2 gathering the empty coal hopper cars that are destined to Hudson coal on the N.Y.C.T.L. which is run by John R. 

There were more coal cars already staged on a classification track at Rock Ridge, so AP #100 pulled them from track 5 and started to build train RW-1, Rock Ridge to Weehawken

The coal cars were pulled thru the south end of the yard and set on the the westbound departure track.

There were a few cars on track 3; however only two are being taken out for routing. EBRR 358160 is heading to Ralph's Grocery. The car was pulled earlier from Marcal the Rock Ridge Turn the day before. Also, P&LE car 39635, which will head out to Long Island via the N.Y.C.T.L. and will head to one of the King Kullen Supermarket transload tracks in Suffolk County. They do keep Marcal busy!!

  

A.P.R.R. 100 cuts away from the caboose and will head back to the yard. AP Caboose #50, which was painted in the N.Y.C.T.L. Paint Shops, will protect the rear of the train. All that's needed is motive power, 1/87th Senior Manager John R. will dispatch road power and those will be added to the train.

Back at the engine tracks are a couple sets of Geeps at the ready. PC #3141 and it's sister engine #3111 look like they're getting ready for a road trip.

Well, we thought that #3141 would head out but he's been moved to the adjacent track.

Now we know why. It seems that 1/87th Senior Engineer Ed has arrived and wants the other PC Geeps sitting on the engine track. If 1/87th EE wants those engines, he gets them!! 

It looks like he's going to pick up the train on the other side of Rock Ridge due to oncoming traffic, and pull it thru the yard... Hey, 1/87th EE and 1/87th John R have it well under control. We've been told that 1/87th Conductor Larry is in the hack protecting the train. 

We're all hooked up and we're on the move thru Rock Ridge...!

An approach signal is at the ready thanks to 1/87th Tower Operator John B. He knows that since 1/87th Senior Manager John R. prioritized this train, he doesn't want anyone waiting, nor written up!!

 We're on the move!!

And away we go!! Next stop, Weehawken! Join us next time!

Florida Layout Update....

Greetings followers of the Atlantic Pacific Railroad! While I'm back up in NJ for a short time, I wanted to give everyone an update on the progress of the A.P.R.R Southern Division layout.

I left off with adding some of the perimeter frames to the wall. Another run to Home Depot for some supplies and we started to add the main section that goes across the wall. 

This section that spans a window will have two supports going from the front of the frame to the floor of the wall right next to each metal bracket. By the way, these two metal brackets in the photo are not only anchored to the metal studs that surrounds the window, but to the concrete wall at the bottom! This frame is not moving!

I will be adding one straight leg in the back of this frame so it supports the back part of the frame. Right now it's being held in place with a clamp until I decide if I need to add a second or third back straight leg. The reason being will be for additional support for the upper level that will need some type of back support as well. A heavy duty bracket, although smaller in size will be used in the middle of the window with a 1"x 4" piece of wood for extra support. 

I will need two more pieces of 2" x 2" for front support as well as the last frame that needs to be added on the right hand side which is approximately 62" in length. Last Friday I took a run to the lumber yard in Boca Raton. They have the 1/2" AC plywood I need and will rip it to the sizes I need. As I was leaving, there were two 60' Gunderson DD Box cars in TTX being unloaded. I wanted to take a pic, but didn't want to interfere with guys doing their job. FYI, there will be a lumber yard on this layout. 

One last thing. I was looking at the room was trying to figure out if there was any way to add a peninsula. I played a little with my diagrams and then stood in the room with a tape measure. 

If you look at the image, there's a possibility of adding a peninsula, and of course 2 levels. This plan gives me room to walk around with 3 people in the room and more opportunities to have a lot of operations. If I go with this plan, trains will be pulled from each peninsula, and delivered to industries along the railroad. What I think will develop will be a great switching layout throwing in a commuter train just for the fun of it!

More to follow next week! Thanks for reading!!he Atlantic

P.C.C.M 42C: RR-2 Coal Hopper Yard Move

Greetings followers of the P.C.C.M. Penn Central Car Movements. We start 2018 with a 5 layout train move. P.C.C.M. 42 originated on Ed's tremendous  Hoschton Railway Company with a string of empty coal hoppers destined to Hudson Coal on the N.Y.C.T.L. operated by John R. 

Meanwhile, P.C.C.M. 42B is a move from  John B's Railroad to the N.Y.C.T.L. with a special freight delivery.

Back down south, Train NE-2 left the HRC heading north to the PC Potomac Yard via the Southern Railroad. 

Once a change in motive power is made at Potomac, it will proceed to Weehawken and then on to West Mill. See you in Weehawken!

Meanwhile, back on the A.P.R.R., The R.M.O. Electric Co. has been using up coal at an incredible rate, thanks in part to the demands of Cargill, Tropicana and the surrounding area. Train RR-2 Rock Ridge / R.MO. Electric. GE 44 Tonner AP #900 will pull the empties for the yard switcher from Rock Ridge to pick them up. 

 There were a couple carloads of coal left, which should hold them until a new delivery of coal arrives from Hudson Coal.

AP. #100 heads out with caboose #50 to pick up the empties and bring them to Rock Ridge.

 With cars at the ready, they head back to Rock Ridge where train RW-1 will be assembled and head out to Weehawken.

Train RR-2 is back at Rock Ridge. Next up, train to Weehawken on the move! Stay tuned!

2018 - A NEW YEAR - A NEW LAYOUT?

Greetings followers of the Atlantic Pacific Railroad!

2017 was a great year for me and my model railroad hobby. New friends were made, trains were run often, and thanks to the internet, same trains were seen on multiple train layouts, or as we like to say, virtual train ops!

With retirement on the horizon, and a snowbird residence down in Florida, I knew that I wanted to be able to enjoy my model railroad adventures in Florida as I do in New Jersey. One thing I told my wife was that I would not let happen to me what happened to my father when he retired, and that was not keeping busy, have a hobby, golf or otherwise (Yes, I've played golf, will want to learn to play better-a conversation for another time and blog). When we found a house in Florida in 2013, the CFO said I could have the third bedroom (which is more like an office, no closets) as a room for my trains. How great is that!!

Planning for the train room was not as easy as it seems, despite working with an open space. The room is 11'10" x 13'3". No one said a room had to be to the foot! Planning started in 2016 as I spent more than a few days at a time down there, since I'm still working, and flew to check on the place. Since I have one layout up and running, I knew this one would be a little easier to build-not really!!

One thing I did learn was to know what I could have versus what I wanted, or as they say - Givens and Druthers. Obviously space is set. The door opening is similar to NJ, a double door. That left me with the issue of having trains running continuously or having a point to point. This was the first option I took into consideration:

Next option was to try and figure a way to have trains run continuously, if possible. This was the next option I considered.

Next up was to have a 2 level layout with a helix with a peninsula:

This was going to be the one! I've done the helix, and I could get one made from the same company. Only thing different would be the spacing between the levels and the upper level would be narrower. Helix was ordered in September and shipped to Florida in October. Wood for framing was picked up as well and sat in the room. Due to work constraints, nothing happened until late December, when I knew I was going to be down here for a few weeks. And so we began to build the frames for the helix.

After a few days, the frames were built and we started to put them together....

Next came some side frames. In order to have them supported properly, and without legs coming straight down, I installed heavy duty 18"x 16" metal brackets. In Florida, it's metal studs and concrete. Not an issue once you know what you're up against. The beauty of the metal brackets gave me the ability to have supports extend from the front of the frames to the base of the molding by the floor. 

The supports for the frames took some doing, and you learn from your mistakes. After numerous cuts on one piece of 2" x 2" wood, I got the desired results...

And now reality hit me! While it looked good on paper, space is an issue. The peninsula for now, has been taken off the drawing board. Once I get the framing finished, and the helix in place, I may consider adding them to both levels. 

So, what does all of this give me? It gives me the opportunity to have a point to point railroad with lots of switching and also have a couple commuter trains running to various stations on each level, starting and ending in the right hand corner of the room. We're well on our way, and I should have the frame installed where the window is located as well as the smaller section on the right hand side by the time I leave, which is Friday January 5th. Next trip back here is on the 14th, and I'm sure the CFO will have things for me to do....

I do want to give thanks to some of my train friends that follow my blog, as they were instrumental in the thought process. My NJ friends John and Norman, and John of GA were a big help when it came to construction and operations.

Stay tuned for more updates and thanks for reading!