P.C.C.M. #83 Part 4 On The A.P.R.R. - Building The Trains In The Yard For Deliveries

Welcome back to the continuation of Penn Central Car Movement #83 On the A.P.R.R. Freight from Sir John's N.Y.C.T.L. and PC Ralph's K.P.D. railroads has been delivered to Rock Ridge Yard on AP Train WR-2 from Weehawken. Today the yard crew will build the trains for final delivery to the consignees. 

AP #106 is under the control of 1:87 Scale Engineer NJ John. Tower operator 1:87 scale Rich will make sure John has the yard accessible from both ladders to ensure the moves are made quickly.

The first job for NJ John will be to build the train that will head out to Shapeless Steel and Freihofers. Three gondolas from Gervais Pipe on the N.Y.C.T.L. and a gondola with coils from KP Steel on the K.P.D. will be part of that train...

An HRC Box Car from Canton Box on the K.P.D. will go to Freihofers with boxes custom made to hold those delicious Chocolate Chip Cookies nice and fresh. The NYC covered hopper from Red Wing Milling on the N.Y.C.T.L. with flour will go to Freihofers as well. 

AP 105 with 1:87 Scale Engineer Norman is in the cab to assist John in the moves...

The NYC covered hopper is pulled from track 6 and placed on the west ladder track, which 106 will add to the train..

AP 105 shoves AP #79 caboose, which was delivered from the Patti-O paint shops of the N.Y.C.T.L. on a long term lease to the A.P.R.R. a couple years ago, will get added to the train...

Let's watch AP 106 spot the cars on track 11 in preparation for the delivery to Freihofer and Shapeless Steel..

AP GP 38-2 #303 was brought to the yard by 1:87 Scale JP, whose filling in as hostler at the Richmond Hill Engine Terminal. Some of the guys decided to take vacation after a long weekend. Someone is going to be held responsible for that scheduling mishap...

JP backs on to the track, couples up, and shuts down...

We now turn our attention to the Rock Ridge Yard Limit, where a pair of Alco C424 engines await permission to head into Rock Ridge Yard. Where did they come from and why are they here? According to A.P.R.R. management, the AP has contracted out to the Morristown & Erie (M&E), to pickup, store and deliver any and all aggregates that are delivered to the A.P.R.R.. The M&E will store ballast and sand on their property until needed. The reason for the storage off the railroad property is due to all of the expansions and acquisitions the railroad has been doing over the past year. Track space is at a premium..

Here's a little history on these engines, courtesy of Wikipedia: 

The Century 424 was a four axle, 2,400 hp (1,790 kW) diesel-electric locomotive of the road switcher type. 190 were built between April 1963 and May 1967. Cataloged as a part of Alco's Century line of locomotives, the C424 was intended to replace the earlier RS-27 model and offered as a lower-priced alternative to the C425. Montreal Locomotive Works also built this locomotive as MLW Century 424.

They have the signal and proceed with caution. It's also noted that 1:87 Scale Steve is in the cab with the M&E crew to qualify them on the AP tracks and system. Steve used to be an engineer on the M&E and is very familiar with the engines (1:1 Steve used to work for the M&E decades ago, so it's only natural for him to be in the cab).

A quick stop to introduce themselves to tower operator Rich...

They proceed up the west ladder and take a spot on track 5. They'll tie down for the night, and head home. They'll return back tomorrow to take the ballast cars with them. Meanwhile, Steve will stay with the engine as NJ John will pull the caboose off engine #19, and add it to the ballast cars..

John has the caboose and starts the move...

...and shoves the ballast cars in front of the caboose..

Now that the cars are set, Steve adds the engines to the cars so the train will be ready for the crew tomorrow..

Steve's job is done. That foreign road power will soon be a regular on the A.P.R.R. whenever they get ballast or sand from T&R Gravel on the N.Y.C.T.L...

The last yard move is to block the cars for Cargill and drop off the Tropicana RBL Box Car at Tropicana! AP 105 pull the cars for the delivery on the Rock Ridge Secondary. No caboose is needed. Once the 7 cars are pulled off tracks 2, 4 and 6, he'll stage the train on the east ladder..

The train is tied down for the night on the east ladder. Norman's work is complete!

We'll cut it here and wrap it up tomorrow with the freight heading out of Rock Ridge Yard to all of the consignees.

Be sure to see how the freight from the A.P.R.R. is being delivered on both  Sir John's N.Y.C.T.L. and PC Ralph's K.P.D. railroads.

Thanks for reading!