The Other Side of the River

Hello,

Followers of my blog who have seen pictures of the car float at West Mill yard know that I've commented that the coal hoppers on it are heading to "Port Owen's Power Plant".   The power plant is an imaginary "off layout" destination...or at least it was until now!

"Stay at home" orders during the pandemic gave me time and a desire to build something.   I kept thinking about creating another interchangeable industrial scene on my shelf layout expansion of the Kings Port Division and finally decided the project would be Port Owen's car float and power plant.

Some online searching for photos of power plants to model yielded this image that I liked a lot. It became the inspiration for Port Owen's coal fired facility.

Coincidentally, we had just ordered a new computer desk that arrived with hard wood panels like this to brace the inside of the cardboard packaging.  I immediately saw their potential as building materials!

 I had some leftover plastic corrugated sign stock that I added to the wood panels to suggest the gray part of the power plant in the "inspiration photo" above.

The basic configuration is now set up to see how it fits.   I set my yard-tracks module in front of the building on the shelf layout to suggest a large facility that might handle several hoppers.

I sprayed the components with rattle can paints.  The red is a primer color.

Windows, details, and weathering added....

Turning my attention to the car float part of the Port Owen scenes, I gathered miscellaneous parts I had on hand.  The "windows" used for the power plant were leftover parts of a mini paint roller grid.   Two old Model Power signal bridge supports will serve as the uprights for the float apron weight system.  The blue top of the paint grid will join them together.  I had an Atlas bridge plate with tracks that I cut into two small sections.  The actual float bridge was constructed from scrap wood.

The car float apron starts to take shape with a little help from some square wood dowel stock cut to crate concrete bases.  The "water" is a rigid vinyl tile leftover from a downstairs bathroom renovation, spray painted gloss black and over sprayed with gloss medium a few times to make it shiny. 

I found a photo of a switch tower online, cut it out and mounted it on cardboard as a back drop building.  SD9 # 6925 seen below (needs a front coupler!) will serve as the power at Port Owen...

...and as a mirror image to its sister unit #6922 working the car float in West Mill.

I used a piece of 1" X 6" pine board to make the car float.   I tried to make it look as much like the one at West Mill as possible so it would appear to have made the trek across the river to reach Port Owen.  Corrugated metal sea walls set in place behind it as a "for instance" in this picture were made from cardboard packaging materiel from our new computer desk.

More details were added to the float apron weight system.

 

I thought the scene needed another background building to make it less obvious that the mountains are the same backdrop used in other scenes when I interchange my shelf layout industries for photos and videos.  It occurred to me to create a new industry that could also receive and send cars on the car float between West Mill and Port Owen.

Port Owen Brick Co. is born!  Ill do some research to figure out how to include car movements for this industry in our virtual ops. 

Look for Port Owen to appear semi-regularly in future P.C.C.M.s!

P.C.C.M. 73: Part 5 on the KPD

Greetings all!

Yesterday a good number of cars sent to the KPD in this series were forwarded to Mayfield Yard and subsequently to their consignees.   In this last installment of the series on my layout we'll follow the movement of cars left on the interchange track in Kings Port as well as two others at West Mill that will be picked up by a KP&W freight to Binghamton.

Starting at Kings Port, the cars left on the interchange by PC Extra 8150 the other day have been pulled into Williams Yard.  They include PC #229046 (just visible behind the B&M car) which will be set out at Blue Ribbon Flour....

...three TOFCs

...and PC gon #288673 loaded with pipe for the Hudson Valley Ag Coop. that will be unloaded in the yard.

The TOFCs are brought over to the unloading ramp.  A fourth TOFC with the silver PC trailer can be seen in the background.  This one will be included in future P.C.C.M.s!  

PC #288673 is spotted for unloading.

The one car of the interchange cut going to an outside-of-yard consignee is PC #229046 loaded with printed packaging from Berk Enterprises for Blue Ribbon Flour.  A one-car local powered by S12 #34 does the honors...

Switching over to the industrial lead....

Blue Ribbon's loading dock is on a lower level just beyond the overpass.

Moving over to West Mill for a moment we see the two remaining cars that were brought in the other day by Extra 8150;  PC #160502 for IBM and EBRR #360279 for International Paper.   The yard's SW9 switcher pulls them for placement on a siding for the next KP&W train to Binghamton.

Watch the SW9 at work while a Weehawken to Selkirk transfer rolls through West Mill in the video below: 

The two cars are ready to be picked up by the next "WeeBee", or Williams Yard to Binghamton run (KP&W Train WiBi-4)

Back at Williams Yard, WiBi-4 has been assembled and its consist of two F7As has just coupled up with the train.

 Watch the same Weehawken to Selkirk train that we saw passing through West Mill continue its trip northbound and make the WeeBee wait in the video below:

Watch the WeeBee arrive at West Mill later in the afternoon:

The twin F units separate from the train, pull ahead to switch tracks and back into the two cars set out by West Mill's SW9.

The two cars are now coupled up to WiBi-4

After testing air and connections WiBi-4 proceeds to Binghamton.

Watch the last two cars get delivered to their consignees:  EBRR #360279 loaded with processing machines from Reliable Machine for International Paper, and PC #160502 loaded with bulk hardware from American Hardware for IBM.

That's a wrap for this series on the KPD!  Its been a fun one as always!  Be sure to check John's  New York Central Train Layout  and Neal's  Atlantic Pacific R.R.  to follow the action on their layouts!









 

P.C.C.M. 73: Part 4 on the KPD

Hello!

This installment of our 73rd series will feature the continued movement of cars that arrived from John's  New York Central Train Layout  and Neal's Atlantic Pacific R.R.  

West Mill Yard Switcher #8951 takes on the task of assembling the next train.  Coincidentally the various car forwarding cycles in our Rail Traffic Management Form have created a rare situation this time in which (except for two cars to be handed over to the KP&W for its train to Binghamton)  all inbound cars to West Mill will be going to Mayfield.  There will be no need for a Bloomberg Run or a Kings Port Turn.  The switcher gets to work moving the two cars for Binghamton out of the way so the entire Mayfield cut can be coupled together.

Pulling Empire Belt #360279 and PC #160502 away from the Mayfield cut.  These two cars are going to Binghamton.

This leaves the cars for Mayfield ready to be assembled into a train.  The head end  will include these two hoppers for the LV coal connection with the KP&W...

...a KP&W boxcar full of rivets and fasteners for Amalgamated Container and PC #360063 carrying packaging for Cavendish Foods...

..three empty 60 foot auto parts cars for ACME Auto Parts...

...and two cars for Peerless Appliance; NYC #80775 loaded with machine parts from Reliable Machine  and P&LE #35892 containing bulk hardware from American Hardware.

Watch the yard work in the video below:

Today's Mayfield Transfer will be powered by two GP9s seen rolling past a vintage PRR Doodlebug in the video below. The antique rail car will be running a fan trip up the Bloomberg Branch and the scenic Catskills today.  The Penn Central does not operate freight trains on this branch line on the weekends .

The train to Mayfield backs out of the yard past the Doodlebug.

The Mayfield Transfer moves over to the main so it can access the cut-off to Mayfield.

Meanwhile several eager railfans wait for the Doodlebug to pick them up at the West Mill commuter station.

Watch as the Mayfield Transfer leaves West Mill and the Doodlebug leaves the yard to pick up passengers, and then heads up the Bloomberg Branch.

 While the Doodlebug runs upgrade, fans enjoy the scenic Catskills

Meanwhile, the transfer run arrives at the KP&W's Mayfield Yard

The two KP&W hoppers will be coupled to that LV/KP&W consist later this afternoon while the rest of the cars will go out on a local industrial run tomorrow

The next day, once the local industrial run is assembled as Extra #566,  it sets out cars in the montage of scenes in the video below:

That concludes the delivery of the cars for Mayfield from the N.Y.C.T.L. and A.P.R.R.   Tomorrow the Kings Port & Western will wrap up the series at Williams Yard and points west.

P.C.C.M. #73: Part 3 on the KPD

Welcome back to the 73rd Penn Central Car Movement Series! (or P.C.C.M. as we call them).  Last week we followed the "outbound" action as trains were dispatched from my Kings Port Division, Neal's Atlantic Pacific R.R.  and John's  New York Central Train Layout

This weekend we'll see those trains arrive at each other's layouts to be broken down so individual cars can be delivered to their consignees.

Starting today with the cars sent from Neal's A.P.R.R. this cut of four arrived at West Mill from Weehawken.  

Watch as a local railfan focuses on them as the train arrives at West Mill

..and as the yard switcher pulls the cut into the yard.

All four of these cars will be transferred to Mayfield Yard. They include two empty KP&W coal hoppers headed for a coal mine served by the Lehigh Valley, KP&W boxcar #15638 loaded with hardware and fasteners from American Hardware for Amalgamated Container, and PC #360063 loaded with packaging materials for Cavendish Foods.  

While the A.P.R.R. cut waits to be transferred to Mayfield, cars from the N.Y.C.T.L. arrive at Kings Port on Extra 8150 dispatched from Terminal Yard and making the turn south at Selkirk.

The train includes a block of cars conveniently assembled by Terminal Yard crews to be set out on the interchange with the KP&W here.  Most can be seen below including the two coil cars for KP Steel to load for Gervais Pipe and Fittings, a gondola loaded with pipe for HVAC, three TOFCs, and PC boxcar #229046 loaded with printed packaging for Blue Ribbon Flour. 

The train is cut behind PC #229046 (the end of the KP&W block) and positioned to avoid blocking Ulster Ave.

Watch Extra #8150's pair of GP38-2s set out the cut on the interchange.

The cars are arranged again to avoid blocking Ulster Ave.

Two empty coil cars for KP Steel....

...and the rest, starting with the gon loaded with pipe, are for the Kings Port & Western's Williams Yard.

Watch the Geeps return to the train and pull it out of Kings Port:

After Extra 8150 leaves the KP Steel industrial switcher crew hastens to pull the coil cars.   Loco #3 gets the job as #2 is busy pushing a load of scrap iron toward the Basic Oxygen Furnace.

Watch #3 bring the coil cars into KP Steel's yard.

Later in the morning Extra 8150 arrives at West Mill.

That's enough for now.  Tomorrow the Mayfield Transfer will be assembled and dispatched from West Mill.