Signal Upgrades On The Railroad Continues For Morris Plains Interlocking

Greetings followers of the A.P.R.R. and my blog!

While we wait to get back to a somewhat normal state of being, it hasn't stopped me from working on the railroad. In my quest to have the railroad run bi-directional to and from staging and Rock Ridge, I needed to have signals added to the layout. 

Back in October I posted how I added signals for the engineers to proceed to and from staging at Morris Plains.

Dwarf Signals were also added at the Rock Ridge Yard Limit. 

It was brought up by the guys who I run trains with that since I can control the crossovers at Morris Plains by the dispatch area during an operating session, there should be some indicators to show if the crossover is normal or diverging. It's a good idea so I wired a pair of bi-directional LED's and proceeded to add them to panel. 

Before I can get them mounted I had to add a relay to each crossover. I use Atlas Snap Relays as they work well with the Atlas Switches. It was easy to add them since I had a terminal strip in place for each crossover. Just add the wires from the strip to the relay, making sure they go to the right screws, run 2 sets of 30+ feet 4 conductor 22 gauge wire around the layout to another set of terminal strips. Add the LED's and we're good to go!

We now have turnout aspects for Morris Plains at the dispatch area. I may add LED's to the panel over at Morris Plains as well. We shall see.

So what's next? 2021 will start the signal upgrades to West Harold and Little Jamaica Interlocking so that both tracks are bi-directional and controlled by the dispatcher. We will also upgrade the signals on the mainline. Mainline signals will be Pennsy style and the tracks to & from Rock Ridge and staging will be "D" head signals. 

Here's a sneak peak of what's to come for the mainline signals, courtesy of my signal maker, Custom Signal Systems in Utah. This is my signal that he sent me. A pair of these for the mainline and 4 stand alone PRR signals, all prototypical in size and all LED's!

Thanks for reading. Hope everyone stays healthy and safe! 

P.C.C.M. #79 Part 2 - Inbound To Rock Ridge!

Welcome back to the inbound portion of P.C.C.M. #79 - A Call for Coal - - and more!

This three layout move has empties from my railroad and PC Ralph's Kings Port Division heading to Sir John's N.Y.C.T.L. for coal and more. The A.P.R.R. requested ballast and sand as well as coal for R.M.O. Electric. 

PC Extra 6533 is returning from Selkirk after a short crew break late Saturday night. Here we see the train heading thru West Harold Interlocking at a restricted speed. AP Extra 304 is heading west thru the interlocking with a steel train heading to Allied Steel in Newark, NJ. Allied Steel has been around since 1969. They reached out to Shapeless Steel asking for some coil loads, flat steel and pipes. The timing is right as the Shapeless Steel recently received a huge pipe delivery from Gervais Steel on the N.Y.C.T.L.

Here we see the meet at West Harold...

Thru West Harold and Little Jamaica, they're on a hold at the Rock Ridge Yard Limit....

Now they have the approach to Rock Ridge..

PC Extra 6533 arrives in Rock Ridge - and on time!

They cut the engine and the yard crew will move it up so the day crew can do what they do best - DELIVER!

AP #100 drops the caboose by CP South so it's out of the way and will have it ready for 6533 to pick it up before heading out...

Meanwhile, AP #100 gets ready to take the coal hoppers over to R.M.O. Electric..

AP 100 dropping off the coal loads on the Rock Ridge Secondary ..

Now let's watch AP #900 in action spotting the cars in the Power Plant...

PC 6533 is ready to depart Rock Ridge for Weehawken where the engine will lay up until needed back at Selkirk...

Let's watch PC 6533 head to Weehawken...

While PC 6533 is heading out to Weehawken, EB 8163 can head back to Richmond Hill Engine Terminal with sand for the engines and will take the ballast to the terminal for storage until needed..

EB 8163 heading out to the engine terminal!!

It's a wrap for P.C.C.M. #79 on the A.P.R.R.! This was a great op session for me as I was able to add some other trains to keep the action moving in and out of Rock Ridge Yard.

Remember, the outbound and inbound from  PC Ralph's Kings Port Division and the inbound and outbound from  Sir John's N.Y.C.T.L. are all part of the action!!

Thanks for reading and check back often!!

P.C.C.M. #79 Part 1- A Call For Coal - - And More!

Welcome to Penn Central Car Movement #79 on the A.P.R.R. For this P.C.C.M. We're going to have three layouts join in for this move - in one weekend! We're going to run a Coal Train Virtual Op with Sir John's N.Y.C.T.L. and PC Ralph's K.P.D. Both railroads are packed with plenty of details and action.

You know, they say "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend", but Coal is by far the man's best friend, for without coal, some diamonds may never exist!

We start out with a call that went out to 1:87 Sir John of the N.Y.C.T.L. as follows...

1:87 Sir Neal – Hello Sir John! We have a request for more coal immediately. Can Hudson Coal load right away?

1:87 Sir John – Hello Sir Neal! Yes, Hudson Coal has track space to load.

1:87 Sir Neal – Great! While you’re at it, can we get some ballast from T&R Gravel?

1:87 Sir John – Hold on, let me see if we have a crew to head over and pick up a load.

(Pause on the phone)

1:87 Sir John – Yes Sir Neal, we can get that for you.

1:87 Sir Neal – Great, and while you’re at it, can we get 4 covered hoppers filled with sand from T&R as well?

1:87 Sir John – Really? That’s a tall order. What can the N.Y.C.T.L. expect to get in return for this?

1:87 Sir Neal – Don’t you worry. The next manifest train to you will have a freight car with some goodies from Freihofers, Tropicana and some special treats from C&P Restaurant Supply!

1:87 Sir John – Okay, we will expect it on the next run. 

1:87 Sir Neal – One last thing. We need this train turned around in 24 hours from the time you get it. Is that possible?

1:87 Sir John – For that turn around time, I will want some special goodies that only ShopRite carries, if you know what I mean. You know what I like…

1:87 Sir Neal – You drive a hard bargain. Consider it done!

1:87 Sir John – Great. Now send me the train!  

1:87 Sir Neal – Yes Sir! Thank you again Sir John! Have a great day.

1:87 Sir John – You too, Sir Neal.

Now that we have the agreement in place, let's see P.C.C.M. #79 in action!!

AP #900 with 1:87 JP in the cab

1:87 JP will pull 6 empty coal cars for Hudson Coal

Meanwhile EB 8163 with 1:87 Dan on board is pulling 4 empty covered hoppers to send to T&R Gravel, thanks to some great negotiations between both the A.P.R.R. & the N.Y.C.T.L. management...

Getting ready to round the bend at Little Jamaica...

EB 8163 arrives at Rock Ridge Yard...

Meanwhile, AP #100 with 1:87 NJ John in the cab pulls the 4 empty ballast cars that will be added to the train heading to T&R Gravel..

Back over at R.M.O. Electric, 1:87 JP has the empties ready to take over to the yard...

Let's watch the run to the yard....

1:87 JP gets greeted by some of the day crew, as they await the empties..

Now that all of the cars are in the yard, the crew starts to build the outbound train..

AP #100 gets the cars blocked per instructions from someone named 'Wet Willie' who called the AP Rock Ridge Yardmaster with specific instructions for this train...

The cars are blocked and awaiting the road crew to take the train to Terminal Yard. Since this train will make one stop in Selkirk for a crew change, the Penn Central dispatched the engine and caboose...

PC 6533 with caboose 26403 are on outbound track 2.  

AP #105 with 1:87 Norman shoves the cars up to 6533..

The caboose is added and PC Extra 6533 will be ready to go...

Next stop, Selkirk and then on to Terminal Yard!

An inbound to Rock Ridge from Morrisville, PA Yard has both trains meeting at West Harold Interlocking. Some of these cars will find their way to Three Amigos Warehouse. Others will head to Marcal, Freihofers and ShopRite. 

Check back Sunday for the conclusion of P.C.C.M. #79 and both outbound and inbound on Sir John's N.Y.C.T.L. and PC Ralph's K.P.D.!!

Thanks for reading!