PCCM 111: Part 1 on the KPD

Greetings everyone!

We are launching our 111th Penn Central Car Movement series (PCCM) also known as our "virtual ops" between John's New York Central Train Layout , Neal's Atlantic Pacific R.R. , and my Kings Port Division.

We're starting the day in Binghamton, NY, the western terminus of the Kings Port & Western R.R.  This is the KP&W's "CS Yard" (indicating its proximity to Chenango Street where the Erie Lackawanna's "QD Yard" and the Delaware & Hudson's Liberty Street Yard are also located.)

The KP&W crew at CS Yard is preparing the daily BiWi-3 transfer from Binghamton to Williams Yard in Kings Port.

Known for its prolonged use of first generation power, the KP&W has assigned an F7A-B-A set to the train.

The BiWi-3 departs Binghamton for Williams Yard with a scheduled intermediate stop at the Penn Central's West Mill Yard to set out some cars.

Meanwhile, over at West Mill the Penn Central crews are starting their day.  The tug boat "Robert H." just tied up a carfloat to the West Mill apron.    Today's float includes NYC #47062 loaded with bricks from Port Owen Brick Co. for Neal's Lumber and Hardware in Empire City.

The rest of the float's manifest are non-PCCM cars

SD9 #6922 is idling and waiting for its crew to board to start unloading the carfloat.

Another crew is preparing for the dispatch of the daily Bloomberg Turn that heads up into the Catskills to serve an industrial park.   Today's manifest is composed of non-PCCM cars, mostly covered hoppers for Agway, but the Turn will bring back five PCCM cars when it returns to West Mill later today.  GP38-2 #8150 is powering the run.

At the tail end of the Turn is transfer caboose #18024 with the ever irascible Fingers O'Malley on the porch.  The "old head" conductor keeps grumbling about "pulling the pin" and retiring.  A good number of the yard crew who have listened to his complaints over the years wish he would!  

After the string of cars from the float is unloaded and pushed into the yard, the Bloomberg Turn then backs out of West Mill and heads up the Catskill Mountain branch line to deliver its cars.

Things are quiet in West Mill for about an hour until the signal indication turns red in anticipation of the arrival of the KP&W BiWi-3 that was dispatched from Binghamton earlier this morning. 

The BiWi-3 arrives with its F7A-B-A set in the lead.

 A cut of five PCCM cars for West Mill is separated from the rest of the train.  The LV boxcar #66392 is full of 55 gallon drums for Drywell Ink from Amalgamated Container Co.  (ACCO).

The BiWi-3's F units set out five cars at West Mill and then continue on their journey to Williams Yard in Kings Port

The five cars for West Mill include NYC #80755 also loaded with 55 gallon drums for Drywell Ink along with the LV #66392.  IC  Boxcar #30130 and GT #515158 are both loaded with Cavendish British food stuffs for Van Winkle Canning (Mmmmmm! Blood pudding in can!).  The EL 50' boxcar is also from Cavendish Foods for Consolidated Grocery in the TW&CS warehouse near Terminal Yard. The good folks in Empire City will get to enjoy the finest of UK dining!

 The ever reliable switcher #8951 brings the cut of cars into the yard.

 

Moving over to Kings Port we'll park on the side of the Ulster Ave...

 

 

..where we'll see the arrival of the BiWi-3 and the Hedberg Job coming downgrade from Marion. Both trains are heading to Williams Yard.

 

The PCCM car of interest on the Hedberg Job is PC #77407 loaded with bagged landscape rock for Neal's Lumber and Hardware on the N.Y.C.T.L.

After both trains arrive at Williams Yard the KP&W crew assembles a Williams Yard-to-West Mill transfer (WiWm-1) which later rolls over the Ulster Ave grade crossing.    This train includes cars heading to both the N.Y.C.T.L. and APRR.  After reaching West Mill and setting out cars, the KP&W power and caboose return lite to Williams Yard.

The KP&W transfer left a long string of cars for West Mill to sort!

Action continues as the Bloomberg Turn returns with PCCM cars picked up from Quality Fabrications and the Catskill Mountain Press.

The PCCM cars on the Bloomberg Turn were the last scheduled arrivals at West Mill to be forwarded "outbound" in this series.  

Its time to prepare these cars for pick up by Penn Central transfers between Weehawken and Selkirk that will later forward them to John's Terminal Yard and Neal's Rock Ridge Yard!

 A cooperative effort at West Mill as a pair of RSD12s prepares to pull cars for the N.Y.C.T.L. into the yard for sorting into an outbound cut...

...while SW9 #8951 adds two more KP&W boxcars to the string of cars for Neal's APRR that are waiting for a PC transfer to Weehawken

Watch the locos work together below:

That's it for today!  Come back tomorrow to see Penn Central trains VW-1 pick up cars for the APRR and WV-2 pick up cars for the N.Y.C.T.L.!

Goodbye Mayfield, Hello Binghamton!

 The route of my fictional Kings Port & Western R.R. included a branch line that ran to the fictional town of Mayfield (very loosely inspired by the actual town of Maybrook).   The purpose of this branch was to connect the KP&W with the Lehigh Valley for interchange, particularly to access the LV's coal connection.

After participating in "virtual ops" in our Penn Central Car Movements (PCCM) series for years with fellow modellers John and Neal I've become less satisfied with the fictional Mayfield and felt that I was under using the imagined connection the KP&W has at Binghamton.

A great article about Binghamton, NY railroading in the 4th Quarter 2018 issue of TRP "Trains & Railroads of the Past" informed me about this city's rail connections between the LV, the D&H, and the EL.   My own KP&W is essentially a bridge line like the D&H so it occurred to me that having my freelance interchange with the LV at "Bingo" instead of the fictional Mayfield would enhance a sense of realism and also allow me to have a feasible connection between the KP&W and the EL and the D&H.   All of these connections should increase operations opportunities and add a greater sense of realism to our virtual ops.

I'm imagining a Kings Port & Western "CS Yard" set near the famous Chenango Street area in Binghamton where the EL's "QD" Yard and the D&H's Liberty Street Yard were located    The KP&W has a long freight house at CS Yard seen below.  The large brick warehouse building in the background was created by enlarging a photo of actual structures frequently seen in railfan photos of the Chenango Street area.  The grocery warehouse that is part of this set of warehouses could possibly become another source of traffic and revenue in our PCCMs.  A D&H transfer from Liberty St. Yard is seen entering CS Yard below.

The long gray freight house provides a visual block that allows hidden trains to emerge at CS Yard.   Coming out from behind the KP&W freight house is the Lehigh Valley's Sayre Turn from Sayre PA.  This actual daily train ran between the LV's yard in Sayre to Binghamton coming into town on EL track from the west.   The Sayre Turn interchanged with the EL but I've re-imagined it also entering the KP&W's CS Yard.   Open hopper traffic to the LV's coal connection that provides coal loads for RMO Electric Co. on Neal's APRR will now be facilitated by interchange between the KP&W and the LV at CS Yard.

KP&W transfers to the nearby  Erie Lackawanna's  QD Yard will facilitate traffic to Corning Glass Company and International Paper.  EL train NE-5 will make the deliveries to  Corning Glass Co. and International Paper Co.    Industries like Cavendish Foods, ACCO, and ACME Auto Parts that were previously understood to be served by Mayfield Yard will now receive deliveries by KP&W locals out of Binghamton.

 In a way this is a big change but for our PCCM operations it merely entails re-imaging the routes cars from John's N.Y.C.T.L. and Neal's APRR  take once they arrive on my layout on Penn Central trains from Weehawken or Selkirk.   Empty hoppers from RMO Electric Co. will still go to coal mines served by the LV.  Freight cars that are typically sent to Mayfield Yard to serve various industries will continue to follow those cycles, only now via Binghamton instead of Mayfield.  Our Rail Traffic Management Form will need some editing to reflect the Binghamton location replacing Mayfield in the ops but I'm willing to take care of those.

 I think this should work out well and make car movements seem more realistic and interesting.   I plan to include moves at Binghamton in our next virtual ops series, PCCM 111.

 

PCCM 110 Part 7 on the KPD

 Hello one last time!

We're concluding the KPD's involvement in this 110th PCCM series of virtual ops.

Yesterday a KP&W transfer from Williams Yard picked up cars at West Mill and continued to Mayfield Yard.   

Now in Mayfield Yard the cars on the transfer have been blocked for a local to deliver LV boxcar #66392 and NYC boxcar #80755 to Amalgamated Container, and the IC boxcar #30130 along with an EL boxcar to Cavendish Foods.    An LV train of empty hoppers leaves before the local is dispatched with RS3 #566 at the head end

The LV and NYC boxcars are spotted at ACCO

The IC and EL boxcars are set out at Cavendish Foods

That completes the work of the short Mayfield Local!

Yesterday we saw a couple of cars race through West Mill on a KP&W WiBi-4 transfer to Binghamton.  The RI covered hopper among them is now sitting in the KP&W's yard in Binghamton while the RI boxcar #35062 was set out at IBM by an Erie Lackawanna local after interchanging with the KP&W in "Bingo".

Back at Williams Yard, the KP&W is dispatching a Steel Job hauling empty Evans coil coaches and a gondola of scrap wheels to KP Steel.

The cars will soon be set out at the steel plant.

And now for the Penn Central's final moves of the series.   These five cars are assembled as today's Bloomberg Turn that will head up to the Catskill area industrial park.  The short train includes two cars loaded with Drywell Ink for Catskill Mountain Press and...

....three cars for Quality Fabrications.

The Yard's switcher #8951 tacks on a caboose for the run.

GP38-2 #8150, the assigned power for today, couples up to its train, and backs the cars out of the yard before heading out on the Mountain Branch.

Later in the afternoon P&E #3638 and a former NYC Pacemaker boxcar, both loaded with Drywell Ink, are spotted at Catskill Mountain Press.

KP&W 30112 & 30115 along with GM&O boxcar # 21129 are set out at Quality Fabrications. 

That's it for the Bloomberg Turn!

Almost done, but not quite!

West Mill still has a one car delivery to make.  TP&W boxcar #627 will be sent over to Reynolds Beverage Distributors in Kings Port.   

Meanwhile, over at Williams Yard, one of the KP&W's Geeps gets ready to take PC boxcar #77047 uphill to Hedberg Aggregates with a load of burlap sacks.   A few empty open hoppers will complete today's Hedberg Run.

Both short trains are dispatched from their respective yards and later catch sight of each other in Kings Port!

The PC boxcar carrying burlap bags from Berk Enterprises is delivered to Hedberg Aggregates... (note the railfan campsite!)

 

...and the TP&W boxcar is set out at Gulf! 

...which officially concludes the KPD's involvement is this fine series.  Be sure to check out all of the action on John and Neal's layouts!  Thanks for following along!

 

PCCM 110 Part 6 on the KPD

Hello!

More virtual ops action on our 110th Penn Central Car Movement series between John's New York Central Train Layout , Neal's Atlantic Pacific R.R. , and my Kings Port Division!

We're at West Mill Yard where the crew is setting out a cut of cars for the KP&W to pick up.   A transfer run from Williams Yard to the KP&W's Mayfield Yard will pick up the cut and also leave a few cars behind as part of a regular interchange.

#8951 grabs empty hoppers for the LV coal connection....

...and an EL boxcar for Cavendish Foods loaded with restaurant supplies from Three Amigos Warehouse in Rock Ridge.

The cut is set out for the KP&W transfer to pick up.

 

Williams Yard dispatches a KP&W transfer to Mayfield Yard with an F7A-B-A set doing the honors.   The train meets a single car Steel Job returning to Williams Yard with a loaded gondola as rush move.

After arriving at West Mill, seven cars at the rear end of the train are uncoupled from the KP&W transfer to be set out here. 

In a cooperative effort West Mill's switcher pulls the caboose and seven cars from the transfer....

....and brings them into the yard.

The KP&W caboose is returned.

Meanwhile at the head end, the F unit set leaves the train to pick up the hoppers and EL boxcar that were set out for them.

The KP&W transfer is now ready to proceed to Mayfield.

The transfer later arrives at Mayfield where tomorrow the cars will be put on a local serving various industries..

Meanwhile, back at West Mill, a short run of empty PS-2 hoppers is being prepared for a South Local to deliver to Tri Mount Cement.   GP9 #7085 will shove them out of the yard

 The South Local backs out of the yard

 

 The South Local waits at WM tower as a hot shot WiBi-4 (KP&W transfer from Williams Yard to Binghamton, NY) is expected to roar through town soon.

The red signal indication on the tunnel entrance cues us that the WiBi-4 is about to arrive!

The WiBi-4 out of Williams Yard rolls by on its way to Binghamton.    Our cameraman focuses on the only two PCCM cars on this train (RI #35062 heading to IBM with American Hardware products & empty covered hopper #131374).  

After the dust settles from the fast passing WiBi-4 the South Local gets underway for Tri Mount Cement.

 The local arrives at the cement plant and sets out its cars.

When the short South Local backed out of West Mill it went past SD9 #6922 which was coupled up to a string of cars to be loaded on the car float for Port Owen

 

With the South Local out of the way the SD9 can now set the cars on the float for their river journey to Port Owen.

After a 45 minute ride on the car float the cars will be off-loaded and the NYC double door boxcar carrying T&R Gravel bagged iron ore will be set out at Port Owen Brick Co.

 That'll do it for today!   Come back tomorrow for the concluding installment from the KPD for this series!