This is the last post of the #36 series and I should alert you that it is a bit photo intensive!
Continuing to follow the Kings Port Turn from West Mill to Kings Port and back, we find the train passing by Hedberg Aggregates on the way to Kings Port. The Turn has work to do here but it will have to wait for the return trip when the siding is trailing behind the locos.
The Turn arrives at Kings Port....
...where it will pick up cars left on the interchange track by the KP&W. These include four empty hopper cars...
...and two steel coil "bread box trough" cars, all pulled from KP Steel by the Williams Yard "Steel Job", a regular KP&W local.
The Turn passes KP Tower and gets a visual inspection by the tower master who stepped out on the stairway landing to watch.
Picking up the cars from the interchange will require a runaround move. The pre-merger painted power uncouples from the train...
...and moves to get around its cars.
...passing by the cut...
Pulling up behind the caboose.
Once the locos are at the rear of the train, they pull the caboose...
...and strategically set it out so it can be easily picked up later once all cars have been assembled for the return trip to West Mill.
The GP30/ GP7 combo moves to pick up the cars on the interchange track seen behind them in the photo below...
...and pulls them forward to join the cut of three cars they came into town with...
The coupled cars are then backed into the well-placed caboose!
After all checks are completed and air is pumped, a brakeman grabs hold of the caboose railing to hoist himself up as the Turn notches up to head back to West Mill.
PC #77047 is cut
..and backed into the spur to pick up the hopper.
The hopper is added to the train...
..and the boxcar is set out.
..and gets underway, downgrade to West Mill.
The Turn finally returns to West Mill where it will pick up two empty gondolas at Sal's Salvage that were once loaded with scrap wheels.
The gons are added to the train.
Speaking of Sal's...something odd is going on. A recent rumor that Sals' scrap yard might be the burial location for a notorious mob hit has prompted several conspiracy fans to visit the site! Police are attempting to restore order.
The Turn's last job is to "constructively place" NYC boxcar #80755, loaded with drums of ink for nearby Canton Box Co. You may recall that the rookie crew messed up earlier by attempting to drop this car along with another on a spur that was too short. NYC #80755 was intended to be constructively placed here all along but the young brakeman misunderstood the order earlier on the outbound trip and cut the train so both cars attempted to occupy Canton's one car spur track. Its time to set this right!
NYC #80755 is now "constructively placed" for later delivery to Canton box Co.
Now that NYC #80755 is sitting where it is supposed to be, the Turn is granted permission to enter West Mill Yard.
As the head end enters the yard, the caboose passes by the local crime fans. The crew in the caboose shake their heads in wonder...
The Turn slows to a stop as another B&O/ KP&W train from the Genesee coal docks rolls by. No worries John! This one is not destined for Hudson Coal on the New York Central Train Layout!
The crew disembarks after a long day on the Kings Port Turn. The rookie brakeman gets an earful from his engineer about the move at Canton Box Co. as they walk to the crew lounge!
Well, if you made it to this point, thanks for taking the time to follow this lengthy post! While this series was a lot of fun for me, this is the end of my involvement in the 36th Penn Central Car Movement Series. I'll turn the spotlight over to Neal's Atlantic Pacific Railroad (A.P.R.R.) which will join John's N.Y.C.T.L. and my own Kings Port Division in a three layout virtual op when it is ready to move two KP&W boxcars sent from West Mill earlier in this series.
Safe rails everyone!
