HO Scale NS engines and my layout.

[David Collins]

Quick update: I sent my walthersmainline NS SD60M out for detailing, and I just got it back, it looks insane! Micah Davenport (or Micah_D on this site) did a ditchlight install, put a PTC antenna on the roof and added grab irons.

Also, After some thinking, I’ve decided to make my layout operate with a card order system, rather than just non-organized chaos.

The system is still a bit tricky, and there’s still some kinks being worked out with it. The main yard on the layout serves as an interchange point, so I decided to make a little cubby for the car cards to go in for when a train is in the yard.

I made the cubby so that there is one side for CSX and one side for NS. The CSX side is for cars going out on a CSX train and cars coming in off of the CSX. The NS side is for cars that are sitting in the yard (unless it’s a coal train, those don’t have car cards).

Whenever N-07 (the CSX interchange) comes in, the yardmaster in charge picks up the cards and re-arranges them in the order that makes most since for the trains taking them where ever.

If that doesn’t make sense, let me use an example. Let’s say that TBOX #889444 were to come in off of the CSX interchange from train N-07. However the car needs to go to Bangor Paper via the Portland Secondary on train H76, and there’s other cars being picked up or set out by H76 at the factory. The yardmaster would then put the TBOX and the other cars going to Bangor Paper in an order where it takes the least amount of time and effort to pick up and spot cars at the factory, and yes, trains are blocked together.

There are some cars that don’t get interchanged on the layout, such as Appree plastics, where their cars travel from Philipsburg (where the distributor is, which is right next to the yard) to Bangor (their factory) and back every day. Essentially, it’s very hard not to see at least one or two boxcars in both of their spurs everyday.

[David Collins]

Today I'm starting work on some wooden bins that will be setup at locations where industries are present that waybills will go into, there are three slots, one for cars being dropped off, one for cars being picked up, and one for cars being held at the industry.

I have just started recently doing the practice of holding cars at industries, particularly Pennsylvania Paper Distributors in Bangor, the industry gets two cars per day. With that, however, the loading dock track can only fit one car, so a car that would be dropped off by a train is held at the industry until the next train comes that works the industries in Bangor (including PPD), which would shuffle the pickup, drop-off and the car being held so that the car being held is now in the dock track. Which then becomes the next trains pickup.

[KVERBERK]

The bins are looking good!