It’s a day late, I know, but here’s a couple photos of my newest engine:
This GP-38 will be used for light duty freight: a few box cars, a reefer, an open hopper, a couple tankers, log+lumber etc. I bought this Atlas engine on e-bay. It came with DCC+Sound and cost me $94, including shipping from Alaska.
Here is a look at my track plan. It consists of two outer loops and various sidings for industries. The spur on the left will be expanded down to a coal unloading dock on the coast. Industries in the center will include a sawmill where logs will be dropped off and lumber will be picked up, a liquefied propane unloading station and various shipping depots. In the upper right corner, the cut out shows the two loops traversing a mountain via a tunnel. There is a spare switch in the mountain for a potential helix. This helix may eventually lead to a future upper deck where passenger service will be managed. The layout is currently in one corner of my home office, there is a lot of potential for expansion.
One of my nephews, Ben, came to visit today; and he wanted to run the trains! Of corse, for a six year old, this means maxing out their speed! I don’t have many sidings in my layout. Since converting from Kato Snaptrack, I haven’t invested in many yet. Maybe that will be a goal for this year: build up some sidings and industries to make operating a little more fun. Then Ben can do more than run the train around the loop as fast as he can…
I’ve migrated my blog over to WordPress. As a result, it may look slightly different but I feel its an improvement. WordPress will provide me with greater flexibility and more options in the future. One big feature I already like is the ability to share posts with multiple social media outlets. Google’s Blogger more or less limited you to sharing with Google+ only, which I didn’t care for.
Picked up box car # 8019. Like with the refer, it got new wheels. Almost every car I buy needs a wheel upgrade. The factory flanges are tall and ride on the railroad ties. Such was the case with this car. #code55problems
I upgraded the trucks on my reefer. I removed the stock trucks and installed Micro-Trains Bettendorf trucks with short extension couplers. (PN# Micro-Trains N 00302021). I also replaced the plastic wheels, which come stock on the trucks, with BLMA N PN# 9810 33″ precision metal wheels.
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| Plastic wheels replaced with metal wheels |
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| New Truck with Knuckle Couplers Installed |
I’m very excited! Look what arrived in the mail today…
Modeling Alaska 