Diesel railfanning on my layout

R

Ralph

Remember...it's for fun!
Jun 18, 2002
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Penn Central fans often defend their favorite road by pointing out the diverse motive power the merger between the NYC and the Pennsey brought together, a diesel lover's paradise!

Take a fanciful railfan trip with me near the entrance to Kings Port Yard and we'll see a variety of locomotives (so I can show off my roster :) ).

Arriving in the morning, our first photo is a still life of three SD-9s sitting quietly in front of the yard office. I was pleased to find the real prototype for that middle unit, #8589 in Don Ball's photobook on "The Pennsylvania Railroad 1940s-1950s".
Ralph
 

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Fifteen minutes later a couple of horn blasts herald the departure of a transfer run to the yard at West Mill Jct. Its being led by a pair of GP9s dressed in the red P logo. It seems unusual to see more than one of these red schemes lashed together but I think it looks very sharp. Unfortunately time and the elements will soon reduce them to a washed out, faded pink that will make the units look dull and unattractive. :(
Hmmmm, I see the local carpenter still hasn't added a door at the top of that outside stairway on the yard office! :oops: :oops: :oops:
 

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The transfer hack is barely out of sight when two U28Bs, with a U30C up front, roar by in the opposite direction on the through track. The numbered, but otherwise undecorated, U30C is true to a prototype photo I found on a PC fan site. A great article in Apr/May/June's 1999 The Railroad Press describes these locomotives as "a very large fleet of lumbering six axle U-Boats that were heavy and powerful, but not always reliable...."
 

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This pic replicates an image in Peter E. Lynch's book, "Penn Central Railroad" which refers to the challenges in Detroit that made business "hectic and expensive" for the PC. Sometimes auto plants would need a "rightaway" delivery of a car that might be buried in a train or deep in the yard. This one car train with caboose is being pulled by an SW9 still in Pennsey colors.

The enormous auto supplies car was a gift from my wife who thought it looked "cool". I like it too and now have another operation on my layout...sometimes a "rightaway" will come out of a hidden track to simulate movement from the yard. I don't have an auto plant on the layout but wil drop it off on another hidden track.
 

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More coming, but last one for tonight...

A trio of beefy GP38-2s with a long mixed freight passes through the yard and heads north to Selkirk. These latest additions to my fleet were purchased almost a year ago but were finally made road ready last weekend. The powered and one unpowered unit were pre-painted but I had also purchsed an undecorated dummy to go with them. This one I dressed in the orange C logo to add variety and interest. The bright orange looks great against the shiny black engine...but again time and the elements... :)

Those of you who have Model Railroader's Dec. 2004 issue with the article about Ken McCorry's giant layout might recognise the inspiration for this consist with the "short-lived paint scheme"
 

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Hey, you can just say the missing door is a PC way of keeping pesky workers from going outside to strike. This is the Penn Central after all. Just say their former NH workers.
 
Excellent models, & photos, Ralph!
You've got a lot of action going on there!
:thumb: :cool: :cool: :thumb:
 
Well Ralph...

...once again, I come to my desk early to look over any new threads and BAM! I'm off in PC bliss. Back to the top of the thread now and re-read it a few times. I anxiously await the next installment.

Mark
 
N Gauger said:
No, That stairway leads to the complaint office.. :D :D :D
Click to expand...

That's a great idea! I could make a little sign at the bottom of the stairs. :D Actually taking pics is good for me to see things objectively. I tend to go by the principle of "good enough" and felt the yard office met that criteria...now after seeing it in pics I plan to improve or completely replace it.
Ralph
 
OK, back to the railfanning! Today we are treated to the sight of an RS3 doing puller duty making up a train at the yard.
 

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Some time later, with an assembled local in tow, a GP40 and a GP35 pull out of Kings Port. The GP35 has a transitional look with its old Pennsey numbers and keystone, and a small PC logo. Some of these units never quite got the full treatment like the lead diesel and survived into the Conrail years with a case of multi-personality.
 

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A little break from freight action provided by the Iron City Express with an FL9 and B unit on point. I sure wish my picture of the loco's front had turned out but here, at least, is proof that the enduring F's are still being used on the PC. The passenger cars are old Tycos I bought as a young teen. I've removed the white paper inserts that highlight the passenger sillouttes in the car windows, improving their appearance dramatically, making them seem less toylike.
 

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