Return to "virtual ops"; P.C.C.M. 28

My Kings Port Division and John's New York Central Train Layout continue the "virtual ops" scheme into 2017.  For those unfamiliar with what we're doing, we arrange freight car movements from each others freight yards to each others industries.   Its "virtual" because our layouts reside in basements over 1000 miles apart and we don't actually send each other cars...we photograph and sometimes video trains with identical rolling stock that we happen to own, creating the impression of movement from one layout to the other.  Since starting the Penn Central Car Movement  (P.C.C.M.) series we've added to our mutual rosters and now have some 40 cars in common, which provide a lot of variety in operations.

We are currently in the middle of the 28th exchange of cars since starting over a year ago.  We occasionally share these exchanges in our respective blogs.

The New York Central Train layout recently dispatched Train LS-1 from its Terminal Yard to Selkirk with a block of cars destined for West Mill Yard on my layout.  See the action here:

 http://newyorkcentrallayout.blogspot.com/

We use Selkirk Yard as an intermediate destination where cuts of cars for our respective layouts are placed in new trains that can be photographed "arriving".  This gives us the freedom to use different motive power on the trains since we don't own that many locomotives in common.

Anyway, LS-1 has reached Selkirk and cars for West Mill have been cut from it and tacked onto VW-2 (Selkirk to Weehawken) which will stop at West Mill and drop them off before continuing southbound.

On the Kings Port Division VW-2 is seen crossing Ulster Ave in Kings Port, north of West Mill.   The consist at the head end is a local railfan favorite F7A and GP9B.

The red signal indicates the arrival of VW-2 at West Mill where it passes in front of the newly installed ACI scanner near WM tower.  (More on that in a future post)

The cut of cars for West Mill starts with a P&LE boxcar right behind the locomotives and ends with the NYC 86 ft. auto parts car seen below.  Freight cars behind the auto parts car will "continue to Weehawken" (i.e. go into staging).

The train stops near the modern West Mill Yard Tower, the cut for the yard is uncoupled, and then pulled ahead.

Once the enormous auto parts car clears the switch, the cut of cars for West Mill is pushed backward into the arrival track.

The cut for West Mill is in the foreground while the rest of VW-2, awaiting the return of its motive power, is immediately behind it.

The F7A/GP9B return to the mainline and couple up with VW-2.

Having received clearance to proceed, VW-2 gets underway...

Yard hog SD9 #6922 gets the call to move the cut into West Mil Yard for sorting into two trains: a transfer run to Mayfield that will be picked up by the Kings Port & Western RR., and The Kings Port Turn which will serve local industries.

That's plenty for now!  Thanks for taking a look!