PCCM 86: Part 6 on the KPD

Hello and welcome to the conclusion of the Kings ort Division's involvement in this 86th Penn Central Car Movement (AKA "the virtual ops")  with John's New York Central Train Layout.

John's Terminal Yard sent the KPD 32 cars this time around and most have been delivered to their respective consignees.  Crews at the Penn Central's West Mill Yard along with the KP&W's Williams Yard and Mayfield Yard have been keeping up the pace getting those cars moving. 

A KP&W transfer run picked up cars from West Mill yesterday and brought them into Mayfield Yard. Here's a photo from yesterday as the Mayfield Transfer running with pooled LV/KP&W power prepares to leave West Mill.

At Mayfield the cars were put on local run bright and early this morning.  The local drops off  PC/TOC # 350562, KP&W #50335, and NYC #53501, all empty, at ACME Auto Parts.  These cars will be loaded for Ford on John's N.Y.C.T.L.

The second and last stop is Peerless Appliance where PC Hi Cube # 272242, full of electrical components from Bruce Electrical Equipment is set out at loading door #2   The local then pulls some non-player cars back to Mayfield. 

That completes the delivery of all virtual ops cars except for Cargill covered hopper TLDX #7241 that was pulled empty from Blue Ribbon Flour in Kings Port (in part 4 of this series) and needs to be forwarded to Empire Grain in West Mill.  This is an intra-layout move that sets up car forwarding for the next PCCM.

I'm experimenting with a possible operations change that will affect how cars from John's layout are forwarded on mine in future PCCMs.   Up to now cars for customers that are served by the Kings Port & Western (such as ACME and Peerless Appliance seen in photos above) tended to be sent directly to the Penn Central's West Mil Yard where they would later be transferred to the KP&W's yard at Mayfield.  Thinking to make this a purely KP&W operations we're going to try dropping off all cars for the KP&W at Williams Yard and then send out KP&W transfer runs to Mayfield, bypassing West Mill, unless there are cars that need to be dropped off for the Penn Central there.  

Here goes the dry run!  Imagining that I'm running a transfer from Williams Yard to Mayfield Yard, I've placed a number of cars for Mayfield in front of the Cargill covered hopper that is going to West Mill for the Penn Central to deliver to Empire Grain.   I'm also adding a few extra cars for the Penn Central at West Mill behind the Cargill hopper.  The Transfer is seen leaving Williams Yard and passing through Kings Port below:

Watch the Transfer arrive an hour later at West Mill in the video below: 

 After the Transfer arrives at West Mill it continues until its locomotives cross onto the KP&W track off the PC mainline.  

 

This works well on my DC controlled layout as this track is a separate electrical block.   I can cut power to the KP&W consist while the West Mill yard switcher heads out of the yard and runs up behind the train.

The block for West Mill is cut in front of the Cargill hopper.

Watch the switcher run out, grab the cut at the rear of the train for West Mill, bring it into the yard, and then return the KP&W's caboose:

After checking air, the Transfer continues on its way to Mayfield.

 The initial run of this op seemed to go pretty well!  Previous transfers of KP&W bound cars to West Mill required inconvenient back up moves for them to later head out toward Mayfield.  Look for this sort of action in PCCM 87!

That concludes the current PCCM 86!  Thanks for following along!