Latest Acquisition

Hello all,

I've been woefully neglectful of the blog again but hope to post more regularly in the future.  Starting  a new habit sometimes means starting small to obtain some initial success so this entry will be brief.

The Kings Port Division has recently acquired former New York Central GP30 #6115.   This is thanks to my regular scanning of the latest available products from M.B. Klein where, once in a while, I find great deals on locomotives like this.   I couldn't resist when I saw this one.  It's a Bachmann unit, and perhaps one of their best offerings for the price range.  My Bachmann Pennsy GP30 runs beautifully and I've heard similar reviews from friends who own others like it.   So, I was confident a smooth running NYC loco would be joining the fleet.    As expected, NYC #6115 runs just as nicely as its Pennsy cousin.   

 GP30 #6115 crosses Ulster Ave. while a train headed by units in the Penn Central scheme roll above in the background.   I gave the shiny new GP30 a weathering of acrylics and artist chalks to give it some age and experience.
 

The GP30 is in consist with a GP7, also showing signs of its New York Central heritage.  The GP7 is a dummy I purchased a couple of years ago for $5.00 at a flea market, weathered heavily and added appropriate numbers for the former NYC roster.

The Penn Central inherited a combined 62 GP30s from the New York Central and the Pennsylvania railroads and renumbered them in the 2188-2249 range.  I've decided to keep both my Pennsy unit and the new NYC GP30 in their pre-merger schemes for some variety and interest.    Sine the loco runs so smoothly at slow speeds it will definitely be assigned to local freights for switching.
 

That's it for now.  I've been working on installing more signals on the Kings Port side of the layout and hope to post about them soon.  Other things are in the works as well, so stay tuned!