Weekend Photo Fun 18, 19, 20

[jeffrey-wimberly]

During this last week, a friend and I went out to the very edge of the KCS yard in Leesville to to take some photos of an old KCS Southern Belle baggage car that's sitting on an abandoned spur. It's sitting on light track, probably 85 pound rail at the heaviest and to my knowledge has been there since before 1970. At one time it was painted all white and was part of the local MoW train. We got photos of the outside and some of the inside.

Click this link to view them. There are several pages.

 

[SigfanUSAF]

Nice pics Jeffrey!

Here's my contribution this weekend, I look forward to the comments

 

[Rotorranch]

I've been taking pics of some of the local train stations lately. I found out there are a couple more, so I'll be looking for them soon.

This is the Emory University Station in downtown Atlanta. It's now a bar & grille called "Dooley's Den", named after Emory's unofficial michievious mascot, a skeleton from science class.

This one is the Fayetteville, GA depot. It was moved from across the street to it's present location in the late 90's. It's now used by City Council members, as a voting precinct, and a public use facility.

This one is in Jonesboro, GA. It's the home of the Historical Society, and "Gone With the Wind" museum.

Rotor

 

[jbaakko]

Dave, that's one odd SD40-2, GE powered I'll assume?

 

[GrampysTrains]

Hi All: I've been planting line poles this week, 80 of em! Here's more switching at Stoney Creek.

 

[UP2CSX]

Jeffery, nice documentary photos of that old KCS baggage car. I hope someone saves it before it ends up in a scrapyard.

Dave, nice model but I've never seen an SD-40 with a safety cab. What's the history behind that unit?

Rotor, it's nice to see those old stations being preserved and reused. We have a historic old GM&O station here that's being used as a woodworking shop and slowly being destroyed.

Gramps, good looking night shots. I think I put up about 50 line poles on my layout and that was a chore so 80 must have been a little tedious at times. How did you do the sky colors in your shots? They came out really nice.

 

[GrampysTrains]

Hi Jim: Thank You! I shot these with a very low tech technique. The only light was a flood lite in an aluminum reflector, with a blue plastic bag clothes pinned across the front.

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Jeffery, nice documentary photos of that old KCS baggage car. I hope someone saves it before it ends up in a scrapyard.

Unfortunately, I think it's beyond saving. The frame appears to be badly rusted through in places and probably explains why it's been just sitting for nearly forty years.

 

[johntealon30]

New Sign at the harbour gates

This is looking into the harbour, the black background was just to help the camera focus

And the normal view, it helps if you can read in reverse

The old shed is being put to use

And last but not least my new class 25

John
RJR

 

[Myowngod]

Gramps, I love those night shots.

John, your layout looks great every time you post it.

Here's what I've been working on the past few days.
The first one is a quick, easy, cheap project I made. This is just a test section to see how it would look. They're guardrails for roads. I made them from the figure 8 stirring straws for coffee. I split them down the middle and glued some I-girder to the back. I have them paint 3 different ways: a lightly rust section, a newly replaced one, and a heavily rust section. I want to see how they would look. I'm going to use these 1st on the club layout around the bridge overpass I've been working on.

Another project I started is the city viaduct from Micro Engineering. I'll use this on my Dad's layout to represent the high line in Philly. This proto viaduct is an eclectic mix of bridges. From plate girder, to towers, to truss, to stone and concrete arches. I don't know why they used so many types, but it looks cool.

The towers were a breeze to put together, but the girders are a little trickier to assemble. It is a double track 150' section. In my version I already have the warren truss bridge, now this girder, and I'll have to find someway of making the stone arches.

I also started to weather the BIG warehouse that is located behind the main yard on my Dad's layout. I'll post those pix later.

I'm going on vacation for 1-1/2wks. so I might not be able to get them up for awhile. But it does mean I'll get down to my Dad's a few time to work on the layout. So when I do get back I'll have a ton of pix and videos. Stay tuned to my progress thread in my signature below.

 

[UP2CSX]

Gramps. that's some pretty nice work for low tech photography. I've seen shots that were photoshoped heavily that don't look that good.

Jeffrey, I was afraid that baggage car was probably too far along the road to death to save. Too bad.

John, how did you make the sign for the docks? It looks very professional.

Ron, that's a really neat idea for road guardrails. Cheap and realistic, hard to beat. I've got to get me some of those. Girder bridges are tough to build but they sure look good. Looking at those pictures, I suspect that viaduct probably had all stone piers at one time. As axle loading and train weight increased, they probably had to replace the stone piers with steel girders. Looks like they also had to beef up the deck structure as well. It sure does make it a challenge to build but it would be a real centerpiece on a layout.

 

[GrampysTrains]

Hi Jim: Thank You! That was kind of a spur of the moment experiment. I really had no idea how they'd turn out. For a first attempt, I like the effects.

 

[SigfanUSAF]

Dave, that's one odd SD40-2, GE powered I'll assume?

Dave, nice model but I've never seen an SD-40 with a safety cab. What's the history behind that unit?

I was looking through my 1973 edition of "The Second Diesel Spotters Guide", and was inspired by the repowering seection in the back of the book.
So, "what if" in the mid to late 90s, GE took several dead SD40-2s out of it's lease fleet and repowered them with FDL-12 prime movers and applied a safety cab?
They demo'd several, including 1 or 2 on NS, to test the cost effectiveness of their rebuild program. The program failed, and NS subsequently bought the two units for next to nothing.
Notice 6250 is still owned by GE in this pic

 

[BNSF dude]

You're gonna have some height issues with thet exhaust, I may recommend you trim it a bit .

 

[hamltnblue]

Nice Pics Myowngod. I was just working in that area the other day at 3020 market, which is right where that trestle crosses market. Definitely an area to see for any rail fan visiting philly.

 

[SigfanUSAF]

A couple days old, but............

 

[grande man]

Looking good everyone!


Since I don't have any new MR shots, here's a recent edit on a shot of an SD70MAC I took last year...

 

[V&AL]

nice one sig-fan...

Whaddaya think of this puppy?

(older photo, unit is now in the paint shed...)

Brand new GP-60 was involved in a collission during it's first week of service...

several F-7's were rusting away behind the shops, one thing let to another...

 

[UP2CSX]

Thanks for the info, Dave, I never knew that those strange SD40-2's existed. Leave it to NS to buy them.

Dave, you'd think that CEFX could find some green paint that was little closer to BN green. I wonder what happened to the days of trade-ins? Nice shots though.

Eric, I sure wish I could get that kind of exposure on my nighttime model shots.

V&AL...I...Ah...Hmmm. Just not quite sure what the correct term is to describe that wreck repair.

Got a few pics myself this week. The first two are an Athearn SD-9 that hasn't seen the light of day since 1972. I found it in a box I had not opened from California since I moved and had been packed away all that time. I belonged to a big club in LA back then and spent a ton of time on this unit. Chiseled off all the end ladders and replaced them with freestanding brass ladders, added the SP light clusters, replaced the standard Athearn handrails with ones I bent myself from piano wire and got brass stanchions from somewhere, have no idea now. I then painted, decaled, and weathered the unit. The guys at the club thought it was amazingly detailed. Of course, it looks pretty sad today compared to a P2K SD-9 but I was really proud of it 35 years ago.

P&N 638 has just spotted the flatcar of sheet steel at the lock factory.

While that was happening, the CSX westbound freight chugged through town. The flat behind the two engines looked interesting.

Got a better shot before it got away. Looks like USFS fire engines being delivered somewhere west, probably to help out with all the fires. It's going to be a long summer and fall out there.

 

[johntealon30]

Picked up a 21 pin decoder this morning for my new 25, Id taken some "surplus" rarely run stock back as well to part ex and came away with a green 108. Well that was the spur I needed to get some work done on the terminus side given that it is the only passanger friendly part of the layout..

Track laid and wired, backscenes designed printed and fitted, platform built and fitted.

and a video with both

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P78ak3bpGg



John
RJR