P.C.C.M. 75: KPD Installment #1

Hi everybody!

It is with great pleasure and some some surprise that I post the first installment of our SEVENTY FIFTH virtual ops series!   It seems remarkable to me that we've enjoyed so many of these car forwarding sessions already!   You can tell that we must enjoy them...and we do!  We hope you will as well while following along.

This installment will feature a gathering of cars for intra-layout moves on the KPD and also for out-going trains that will later be dispatched to John's New York Central Train Layout  and Neal's  Atlantic Pacific R.R.

Starting at the newest industry on the layout, Half Moon Wholesale Lumber, two Southern Pacific bulkhead flat cars have been loaded with lumber for City Pallet on John's layout.  Care has been taken to strap these loads down securely.   

GP7 #5688 pulls them from Half Moon...

...and brings them to West Mill Yard.

Meanwhile at another new industry, the Port Owen Power Plant, a string of empty coal hoppers is being picked up by SD9 #6925 for a ride on the car float to West Mill

Arriving at the car float the SD9 couples up to the NYC gondola serving as a spacer car to shove the hoppers onto the float barge.

The car float shoves off and the empties later arrive at West Mill. 

SD9 #6922, the sister unit of the loco at Port Owen, gets ready to pull the hoppers off the float.

A pair of flat cars and an old PRR gon are the spacers at West Mill

The cars are set out in the yard....

...and coupled to the two bulkhead flats from Half Moon Wholesale Lumber.

More cars coming into West Mill:  A Kings Port & Western BiWi (Binghamton to Williams Yard) will be making an intermediate stop at West Mill.  Motive power choices must have been limited in Binghamton this morning as an aged Fairbanks Morse locomotive wearing the original KP&W gray-blue is on the point of this train.

A better looking F7B unit follows in the fresher KP&W blue.

The BiWi is hauling a number of cars to Williams Yard but the cut of five right behind the consist is for West Mill.  The Corning hopper is headed to Pennsylvania Glass Sand via the A.P.R.R., the two 38 foot hoppers are going to Hudson Coal on the N.Y.C.T.L., and the E.B.R.R. 50 foot plug door boxcar is loaded with IBM business machines for Nassau Community College.

LV (NIRX) 41000, making its virtual ops debut,  is loaded with bulk paper from International Paper for Berk Enterprises.

 The cars are dropped off at the yard.

 

The Corning covered hopper is set aside from the Terminal Yard cars as it'll soon headed in the opposite direction to Rock Ridge.

The BiWi continues on its way to Williams Yard near Kings Port.  Sal's Salvage Yard in the foreground with its metal shredder is an ominous sign for the FM unit nearly at the end of its time!

After the BiWi is well clear, a Penn Central Northbound Turn leaves West Mill to pick up cars.  First up is the Hoschton Railway 40 boxcar at Reynolds Beverage Distributors now loaded with beer, wine, and liquor for C&P Restaurant Supply on the A.P.R.R.

A little farther down the line at Hedberg, the Turn picks up two PS-2 covered hoppers loaded with aggregate for Lombo Concrete.   PC boxcar #77047 is loaded with bagged landscape rock for Neal's Lumber and Hardware on the N.Y.C.T.L.

The Turn will soon reach Kings Port where these two PC corrugated gondolas loaded with coils for Shapeless Steel on the A.P.R.R. are being set out on the interchange by KP Steel's shifter.

The Turn arrives in the early afternoon to pick up the gons and then heads for home.

After returning to West Mill the cars are are separated into a block for the N.Y.C.T.L....


..while the PC gons and the Hoschton boxcar join the Corning covered hopper headed for the A.P.R.R.

Later in the day a B&M freight arrives at Williams Yard carrying cars for West Mill.  

These include NH boxcar #36116  loaded with new cans for Van Winkle Canning from the American Can Co. of  Deering Jct, ME

...and SLRX (Swift) reefer #4244 loaded with frozen meat from Swift & Co. of Lawrence MA. for Shop Rite on the A.P.R.R. This car is also making its first appearance in a P.C.C.M.!

 After a crew change and the addition of more cars from Williams Yard for West Mill, including P&E #3638 recently unloaded at Blue Ribbon Flour...

...and brought into Williams Yard....

...the train continues on its way with the Bluebird power still at the head end as KP&W Extra 4233.

 Cars are set out at West Mill and the crew ties up the B&M units that will likely deadhead to Binghamton on the next KP&W WiBi.

That's probably enough for today.  Stay tuned tomorrow as more cars arrive at West Mill and a train is dispatched for Selkirk and eventually for Terminal Yard on the N.Y.C.T.L.