Weekend Update 4/10/11

[S Class]

Couple of photos of were I am on the layout








Need to build a bridge for this area to complete the mainline

that is one schmick looking layout even without all the track down, nice work

[BCR 570]

I have requested a ballast transfer to be sent from Chetwynd to shore up the newly laid track.  Tim will be helping me out with that next weekend.

I will dispatch a work train from Chetwynd to Taylor on Friday.


Tim

[GaryHinshaw]

No modelling for me, but a lot of driving and photography. Picked up our rental car in Denver on Tuesday and after checking our Rocky National Park and Caboose Hobbies, we headed west to Moab UT on Thursday, north to Ogden UT on Friday, north to Missoula MT on Saturday and north to Whitefish MT today. Highlights include the former DRGW over Soldier Summit, the small yards at Grand Junction and Helper, the railway museum at Ogden (including a former Rio Grande SD40T-2 and Espee SD45), MRL facilities at Missoula and the BNSF yard at Whitefish today has been really easy to shoot. I'll be checking it and the surrounds out tomorrow morning before we follow the BNSF to Glacier and the Isaak Walton Inn tomorrow.

After a few days around Glacier we head west to Portland and hopefully an a$$-hats west meet up. I'm not even sick of eating and drinking in brew-pubs yet. The Wild Huckleberry beer I had tonight from the Great Northern Brewing Co was amazing....  

Excellent route selection James.    Hopefully you got to see Soldier in daylight -- unlike our trip in December.  Alas, immigration complexities and family visits make it advisable for me to stay in Canada for now, so I'm going to have to bow out of Portland...   

Today, SirTainly and I did a 13-hour blast up Fraser Canyon.  First time I've seen the CN/CP transcon in person and all I can say is wow.  One of the highlights was a monster CN grain train: 171 cars, over 11,000 ft long, cruising down the canyon at 40 mph with only 3 units for braking.  Gutsy.  Here it is in N scale:



Bottoms up,
Gary

[lock4244]

Gary, 171 cars is par for the course on CN. Anything under 100 cars is a local!

[wm3798]

Gary, 171 cars is par for the course on CN. Anything under 100 cars is a local!

...either that or the other 71 cars are down in the ravine... ;D
(Saved you some typing, there, Pud!)

[mcjaco]

I got a new camera (Canon A490 PowerShot) for my birthday a few weeks ago.  Finally got it out of the box, and did some really quick and easy test shots.

And yes, this is that vile HO:

[Puddington]

...either that or the other 71 cars are down in the ravine... ;D
(Saved you some typing, there, Pud!)

Thanks Lee; I appreciate it...... ;D

[Iain]

I finished up a pair of Norfolk Southern coaches, one normal chair car, the other a Jim Crow coach.  Combined with one of the new Atlas 1932 AAR boxcars that came out a couple months ago and a 70 tonner that is now in the paint shop, I have a complete NS passenger train typical of mid-1948.  I'm hoping to get the 70 tonner done so I can bring the train to the NSHS meeting next week in Oakboro.  Hopefully I can borrow a camera there long enough to grab some photos.

[dwyaneward]

Here's a bridge for you..  ;D Finished my Central Valley bridge. Nice kit that went together well.

That's the bridge I have and planning to put together. Good to hear it went well together.

[dwyaneward]

that is one schmick looking layout even without all the track down, nice work

Thanks S Class

[GaryHinshaw]

One of the highlights was a monster CN grain train: 171 cars, over 11,000 ft long, cruising down the canyon at 40 mph with only 3 units for braking.  Gutsy. 

Glad to see that my comment elicited the expected/desired response. 

[up1950s]

Thanks  Brian and Philip .

[SirTainly]

Since Gary has already said what we did this weekend, here's a panorama of the train that appeared to have become detached from its lead motive power (they were some distance along the line with a few cars still attached). The DPU pusher was still on the train but out of site in this photo:



(more shots on Thursday)

[Zox]

My three-module "empire" ended up as one side of the MARRS setup in Timonium:



Much larger (and unfortunately slightly fuzzy) version: http://lordzox.com/mrr/2011/empire2011_large.jpg

There was supposed to be an additional seven-foot module on this side, but its owner took ill and wasn't able to make it.

[seusscaboose]

laid the golden spike in staging yard


it holds approx. 300 cars (give or take)...

now, onto the remaining 20% of the drops

EP

p.s. i haven't figured out the auto timer on the wife's camera... but who needs it when ya' got a 4 year old!