Photos for John

 Just a couple of photos John asked me to post.  He's planning another great post on his blog!

 

PCCM 99: Part 7 on the KPD

 Hello once last time for this series!

We are coming to the end of the action on John's New York Central Train Layout, Neal's Atlantic Pacific R.R., and my own Kings Port Division in this 99th Penn Central Car Movement "virtual ops!

Yesterday the carfloat shoved off from the apron at West Mill with cars for Port Owen Brick and the local Con Ed power plant.

 

The tugboat Robert H. ferried the float across the river to dock at Port Owen where SD9# 6925 waits to pull its cars.

A pair of flat car spacers reaches onto the apron to pull coal cars for Con Ed.

Cars for nearby Port Owen Brick Co. include PS-2 covered hoppers KP&W # 445052 and PC #883190, both loaded with lime from T&R Gravel, and a KP&W boxcar loaded with steel banding from Shapeless Steel Co. to hold pallets of bricks together for shipping.

The cars are set out at the Port Owen Brick Co.

The coal hoppers for Con Ed get the shove from PC #6925.

Back on the West Mill side of the river, yesterday also saw the dispatch of the Bloomberg Turn with these cars.

They were later delivered to their consignees in the Catskills including a 50 foot Hoschton Railway Co. RBL loaded with Empire Produce for Van Winkle Canning and empty IC boxcar #30130.

The Turn's next stop is Zenith TV where it drops off two empty NYC 50 foot double door boxcars.

After setting out at Zenith the Turn's GP38-2 concludes its work by setting out empty GM&O boxcar #21129 at Quality Fabrications.

 The other train dispatched in yesterday's installment was a South Local serving Half Moon Wholesale Lumber Distributors.   

Watch the train deliver two no-PCCM boxcars and two "virtual ops" Southern R.R. bulkhead flat cars.

That takes care of the follow up from yesterday's dispatched trains.  

Heading back to West Mill we see the three remaining PCCM cars in the yard fitted with a caboose for today's northern local, the Kings Port Turn.   Cars include PC #104478 which is loaded with pallets for Reynolds Beverage Distributors,  P&E #3638 is carrying a milling machine for Blue Ribbon Flour from Reliable Machine, and TP&W #627 will be forwarded empty to the riverside Gulf facility.

The Turn will be powered by GP9 #7175.

The crew boards and prepares to head out toward Kings Port

The King Port Turn leaves West Mill!

....and arrives at Kings Port about an hour later.

The Turn drops off PC #104478 at Reynolds Beverage Distributors

The train then moves over a few tracks to push P&E #3638 into Blue Ribbon Flour to deliver the milling machine from Reliable Machine.

The GP9 runs around TP&W boxcar #627 to deliver it to Gulf....

..and then completes the last set-out of the series!   The #7175 then returns to West Mill with its caboose.

West Mill Yard is empty, for now!   

As an epilogue, lets watch the return of RSD12 #6865 which ran the South Local to Half Moon Wholesale Lumber, followed by the Bloomberg Turn coming back to West Mill with a few cars.

As the train prepares to back into the yard lead, Fingers O'Malley bends the ear of the crewman who aligned the switch.  Did he mention how much he hates transfer cabooses?  The guy on the ground listens patiently but is glad when the train starts to move!

Cars come into West Mill Yard!  The cycle continues!

That concludes the Kings Port Division's involvement in this very enjoyable series with John's New York Central Train Layout and Neal's Atlantic Pacific R.R.!   See you next time for our milestone 100th Penn Central Car Movement "virtual ops!

PCCM 99: Part 6 on the KPD

Gretings virtual ops fans!

We are continuing to follow the action on John's New York Central Train Layout, Neal's Atlantic Pacific R.R., and my own Kings Port Division in this 99th Penn Central Car Movement series!

We're in West Mill again taking an inventory of the remaining PCCM cars in the yard.  In the foreground we can see a string of cars that will  make up the Bloomberg Turn serving an industrial park in the Catskills.   The three cars in the background will be delivered by the Kings Port Turn, a northbound local.

Local railfans have noticed lately that a GP38-2 is being assigned to the Bloomberg Turn, replacing the two GP20s that used to handle the job.  

PC #8150 has been coupled to the front of the string for Bloomberg by the yard hostler.  We can see the Turn's crew getting ready to board.

Fingers O'Malley's transfer caboose is tacked onto the rear.

The Bloomberg Turn backs out of the yard to the mainline, 

The train pauses on the main near WM Tower waiting for permission to proceed...

...and then heads out on the branch to the Catskills.  Just as it leaves West Mill today's transfer from the KP&W's Mayfield Yard arrives with RS3 #566 at the head end.  The KP&W train is hauling half a dozen coal hoppers for Port Owen's Con Ed power plant.   Its a short train so no extra units are required.

Weren't we just here?   WM tower is a great place to watch trains enter and leave West Mill Yard!   The Mayfield Transfer's caboose is just beyond the yard entrance.  A KP&W crewman bends the iron to align the switch and the Transfer backs into the yard.

The Transfer's coal hoppers will be placed on the car float immediately after coupling them to three other cars ready for the river crossing to Port Owen; two PS2 covered hoppers loaded with lime and a KP&W boxcar carrying steel banding for Port Owen Brick Co..  

Watch switcher #8951 complete this task.

The actual loading of the carfloat will be done by SD9 #6922 as usual.

The SD9 and its spacer cars grab the string of nine cars and gets them ready for loading on the carfloat lead track.

Directing the action from his tower perch by the float apron is West Mill Carfloat Foreman "Maritime" Marty Manson (also known by the yard crew as "3M").   Let's roll those cars!

Watch the careful loading process in the video below.

All of the cars have been secured.  The barge has been disconnected from the apron.  The tugboat Robert H. has tied on.  The loaded carfloat is ready to shove off toward Port Owen.

You can see a cut of cars with two bulkhead flats in the background above.  This is a short South Local serving Half Moon Wholesale Lumber. 

The bulkheads will be loaded with lumber for Gotham Building Supply via the LIRR on John's layout. 

The GT and CN boxcars are non-PCCM cars filling out the manifest.

The South Local's power today is RSD12 #6865.   Watch it couple up to the cut of cars for Half Moon Wholesale Lumber.

Switcher #8951 adds a caboose to the short train.

The South Local leaves West Mill.

So, the Bloomberg Turn and the South Local are out on the rails heading toward their destinations, and the car float is bound for Port Owen.  We'll check on the progress of all of those movements tomorrow and follow an unusually short Kings Port Turn to wrap things up for this series on the KPD!

PCCM 99: Part 5 on the KPD

Hello again!

We are continuing to follow the action on John's New York Central Train Layout, Neal's Atlantic Pacific R.R., and my own Kings Port Division in this 99th Penn Central Car Movement series!

This morning we're in Kings Port visiting the KP&W's Williams Yard where TOFCs from Terminal Yard are being off loaded...

....irrigation pipes from Gervais Pipe and Fittings for the Hudson Valley Ag Coop brought in EB gon # 509823 are being delivered...

..and a transfer run to the KP&W's Mayfield Yard has been assembled with three 60 ft. auto parts cars for ACME Auto Parts...

...olive green LV boxcar #66392 loaded with paint and supplies from American Hardware for Amalgamated Container Co.,  red, white, and blue BAR car #5226 carrying imported tea from Neubaums for Cavendish Fine Foods....

...and two Southern R.R. bulkhead flats that will be dropped off at West Mill on the way to Mayfield.  The transfer will also pick up cars there.

Watch the transfer to Mayfield leave Williams Yard and roll through Kings Port, meeting a one car local returning to the yard powered by an aging Baldwin S-12.

 Meanwhile, over at West Mill Yard the crew hustles to set out cars for the Mayfield Transfer before its scheduled arrival an hour from now.   The cut includes three Hi Cubes for Peerless Appliance forwarded empty from PC Richards and a covered hopper of Morton Salt for Cavendish Fine Foods.

The cars were set out in plenty of time before the Mayfield Transfer arrives at West Mill.

The Transfer's brakeman cuts the two Southern bulkhead flats from the train.  The Morton Salt car to the left will eventually be picked up along with the three Hi Cubes and coupled to the BAR car.

The KP&W F7A&B make the pick up.

After the pick ups are coupled onto the Mayfield Transfer the two bulkhead flats are then set out.  These two cars will eventually be forwarded empty to Half Moon Wholesale Lumber on a Southbound Local out of West Mill.

The pick up/ set out exchange completed, the Transfer continues to Mayfield Yard.

The transfer from Williams Yard is about to arrive at Mayfield where we can see cars that were forwarded there earlier from West Mill, including  NYC #80755 heading empty to ACCO and two KP&W hoppers that will be taken to coal country by the Lehigh Valley.

 The Transfer from Williams Yard arrives at Mayfield

 The Mayfield crew quickly arranges the cars on the Transfer into a local powered by KP&W GP9 #761.   The train is run as an extra and receives the loco's number as its designation.

Extra #761 pulls out of Mayfield.

As the Extra's caboose rolls by we can see a pair of LV units at the head end of long string of empty coal hoppers that include KP&W #233 and 234.  That train will be departing Mayfield soon.

 

After a short run out of the yard Extra #761 sets out three empty Hi Cubes at Peerless Appliance.  The NYC boxcar is being used to help shove the Hi Cubes past some tight clearances that the locomotive would not negotiate.

Next stop down the line is Cavendish Fine foods which receives its BAR boxcar loaded with Tea and the covered hopper full of salt.

The next delivery on the switch list is three 60 foot empty cars for ACME Auto Parts.  These will be loaded for the Ford Motor Co.

The last stop on this local run is Amalgamated Container Co. (ACCO) which gets an NYC empty boxcar to load for Drywell Ink and an LV car full of paint and related supplies for ACCO's 55 gallon oil drums.

That's the end of Extra 761's work today.

Lets go back to Williams Yard again.    We're in time to see the crew of The Steel Job board GP9 #769 in Kings Port.  Today's Steel Job will haul a number of gondolas loaded with scrap metal to KP Steel for its Basic Oxygen Furnace.  The neat looking scrap wheel loads were created by John and provided to the KPD as a gift!  They look great!

The PCCM cars on the Steel Job are PC #576104 and 576123.

Watch the Steel Job leave the yard and set the gons out at KP Steel

That concludes today's action!  Come back tomorrow for more car forwarding fun!