GEC's Layout Progress
Well, another month, more progress without to many photos to share.

Sound-Car Cab Control Coach-

To be fair, I just finished this one last night, and its been a thing that has irked me for some time.

I love the Walthers Comet II cars. These cars are not super detailed, but they ARE robust, reliable and simple. Properly tuned, they make great trains for public open houses, because I can run them everywhere and in any direction that they are needed.

Really the only thing that was a little upsetting is that the cab cars did not have working headlights (or sound for that matter). However, now those Sound Car Decoders have been out for a while, and so I picked one up Tuesday and wired it up yesterday morning. Other than some pick-up and speaker problems, the car was fantastic!

It was nice to finally have a working headlight, and the horn/bell function is highly desirable. The car just consists in like a locomotive, which is great.

The sounds don't sound quite right (at least the K5LA horn doesn't), but in order to test it all, I haven't properly installed the speaker (its just resting on the carbody floor). the Pick-ups in the Comet cars aren't ultra fantastic either, but I purchased a "Current Keeper" to help with the dead spots. At the very least, the lights won't go out! I plan to test this car later today and hopefully it will be running for this weekend's open house.

Keep-Alive Units in my E44s

It about time my E44 electrics get a maintenance overhaul, and so I took them apart and tightened all the screws. While doing this, I installed brand new MC-2KA decoders with KA-1 Keep Alive modules.

These brass models run great but need perfect track due to there only being 4 wheel pick up (out of all 12 wheels!). I have tried to install wiper shoes and other methods of collecting power from the other wheels, but all of those solutions were not satisfactory. Frustratingly, even minor dead-spots and dirt could cause the locomotives to come to an abrupt halt or hesitated quite a bit, causing derailments. Disastrously, I attempted to swap my SDP45/SD45-2 diesels out from my Trail-van train with a pair of my E44s during last weekend's open house, with nothing but severe problems with a train that was otherwise incredibly smooth and reliable.

However, with the Keep-Alives installed, I could physically disconnect the track power for a few seconds and the locomotive would continue uninterrupted. While it was only a few seconds in reality, it seemed like an eternity for an model train, which rarely costs that far on dead track even at top speed!

I will test the engines tonight at the club to see if they can get through some of the more challenging track sections.

Jersey Arrows

During the show, my Silverliner IV set had an issue, so I wanted to switch to my Jersey Arrow IIIs. This has resulted in me making some progress with those cars.

Firstly, Walthers Stemman Pantographs were used to replace the "kitbashed" pantographs that came with some of the cars, which definite improved their appearance.

Next, some decals were applied, such as the NJ DOT logos, which helped complete the looks of my Arrow II and Arrow III pairs.

I also installed the roof details and conduits to my Arrow III Married pair kits. The only remaining details are the grab irons and ladders. The lights and steps remain an issue with the Arrow II and Arrow III kits however. There is also some question as to how precisely to power them. I may consider ordering a Walthers Metroliner Drive to see how well I can get them to work.

I plan to use only one motor per pair, and to test this, I ran a long consist of Metroliners with Amfleet cars in between, standing in as the "dummy/trailer" cars of the pair. There did not appear to be a significant decrease in performance.

All I need to do now is bite the bullet and buy a Metroliner drive, so I can go about determining a way to install them in my cars.

Here, I do have pictures!

All Jersey Arrow variants (except the single-car Arrow III) are represented in this line up. From Left to Right, an Arrow III Married Pair, and Arrow II Married Pair, and an Arrow I. The Arrow Is only came in single-car units, while the Arrow IIs were only delivered as married pairs.

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I didn't do much modification to this car, other than replacing the old clunky pantograph with a Walthers version. It looks MUCH nicer!

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I added the NJ DOT decals to my Arrow II pair. These are stuck in limbo (as are the rest of my Silverliner IV, Arrow II and Arrow III kits) since all the lighting and powering needs to be done at around the same time, due to the way the kit goes together. I'm still not sure if LEDs and fiber optics are the best approach, or if SMD LEDs mounted in the markers and headlights wild be better. I may have to try both and see how far I get.

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My Arrow III Married pair. Though it is incomplete in this photo, I have finished the Conduit work on the "A" Car (the half of the pair without the Pantograph). I am very satisfied with the Alclad Paint job I did on this model. Many of my earlier attempts weren't so great, so this is a nice change.

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Conrail N5K transfer caboose

And so it begins! I chopped down the cupola, though it will need some more filling and sanding I suspect. I also removed the roofwalks and filled in all the holes. The next step will be plugging the windows with styrene, as per the prototype.

I'm still waiting on entire kits (let along parts) from Wright Trak for almost a year now. They have become frustrating (they finally sent me an N7 Caboose kit, only to leave out the Bay window pieces!). However, I'm banking on them sending me the spare bay window parts so I can use them to put the bay-windows on this kitbash. Failing that, I'll have to get creative myself.

At the very least, this project is moving along and the hardest parts are behind me.

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Modeling New Jersey Under the Wire 1978-1979.  
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Maybe you can help me out ? I been thinking of making a sound box with the sound csr decoder. I want it for the flange squeel while I do my switching !! But I have'nt been able to find out how the flange squeel sounds & how often you it will trigger !!! Maybe you can give me heads up on it ????? Thumbsup
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Heres a soundcar video that should help <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yaz2MzmS5Vc">https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yaz2MzmS5Vc</a><!-- m -->
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kamerad47 Wrote:Maybe you can help me out ? I been thinking of making a sound box with the sound csr decoder. I want it for the flange squeel while I do my switching !! But I have'nt been able to find out how the flange squeel sounds & how often you it will trigger !!! Maybe you can give me heads up on it ????? Thumbsup

I haven't had a chance to really get into the manual, or to watch the video, but my understanding is that the car needs to be "consisted" with the engine(s). I notice on my cab car, if I dial it up, then advance the throttle, it starts making the clickety clank and flange squealing sounds. The flange squealing appears to be an automatic, randomly generated sound.

According to the manual...

Quote:Flange Squeal Probability
The flange squeal is set to run automatically using CV 201, which allows you
to set the frequency of occurrence between flange squeals based on your
operating speed and scenario. It may be desirable to set this to lower values
if your layout has a great deal of straight track and higher values if your
layout has multiple curves. The flange squeal can be disabled by setting this
CV to a value of 0.



So In your case, it would make sense to program CV 201 to a higher value, since it will be squealing through spurs alot.

As long as the soundcar knows that its moving (through being consisted), it will make all of those sounds.
Modeling New Jersey Under the Wire 1978-1979.  
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I should point out, though, that my impression of the soundcar is mixed. It could just be my installation, but it is VERY quiet. Paired with the average sound equipped engine, it is easily drowned out. I suppose I could install a bigger (better?) speaker, but the issue may still remain.

This is dissappointing because I was looking forward to using the sounds for my cab car.


On the flip side, those Keep Alives are just enough to keep my E44s running reliably. The engines still lag a little going through the dead spots at speed, but its almost imperceptible, and at slow speeds you can get more mileage out of the keep alive, so I can even creep through these dead spots. If I had know, I may have bought a bigger keep alive, but that said, I am satisfied with what I have, so I won't be replacing them anytime soon.
Modeling New Jersey Under the Wire 1978-1979.  
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You probably have already seen this but I thought it was a cool Flickr account with lots of electrics.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/barrigerli...5167601967
Be Wise Beware Be Safe
"Mountain Goat" Greg


https://www.facebook.com/mountaingoatgreg/
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mountaingoatgreg Wrote:You probably have already seen this but I thought it was a cool Flickr account with lots of electrics.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/barrigerli...5167601967

I looked through this a month ago when you linked it, but I actually hadn't seen this album. Very nice stuff!
Modeling New Jersey Under the Wire 1978-1979.  
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Minor progress updates

Conrail 3640

Technically old news, but not posted here, I did finish up my ex-Reading GP35, Conrail #3640. It can use some other details and minor paint changes, but its otherwise complete. I ran it for the last few weekends of my train club's open house, and it did fairly well, consider it was given a "trial by fire", moving right off my work bench into operating at a public event. It also took a trip with me to Timmonium Maryland, where I was briefly on display to try and get more "electric" modular followers.

What I really need to do, is finish up my Reading Green Cars. I MIGHT be able to get one done for the Valley Forge RPM, and I know it would be appreciated there!

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What to do with my other GP35

The real question, is what to do with my second GP35. I had planned to paint and detail my second undecorated GP35 as Conrail #3660, a former Erie Lackawanna unit. Currently, Walthers has announced an Erie Lackawanna GP35 as part of its P2K line, and it would make a much better starting point than the Athearn version, Primarily because the Athearn type is a "Phase 1" engine, while the EL units are Phase 2 (which would require surgery, though minor, to correct). I'd much rather patch an existing model than start from scratch so I'll wait.

I am considering instead, modeling one of the ex-New York Centrail GP35s. These were special in that they lacked the dynamic brake fan, making them stand out a little. Some ex-NYC units also received "incomplete" Conrail paint schemes (presumably because the lack of dynamic brakes limited their usefulness and perhaps made them ripe for retirement?), and lacked full logos and lettering.

Given that the available parts in the undecorated GP35s allow me to go that route, I am considering trying one of those instead.

#2389 might be interesting. Notice the rear fan is lower than the forward radiator fan. Also, there are two CR patches on the nose, one faded out, with another placed on top. Might make a neat project!

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Now, painting this one might be an interesting challenge!

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Jersey Arrow I

I bit the bullet and orderd three new Stanton drives to power my Arrow Is. this mean all but car #100 will be powered. Since #100 was built already, I am leaving it unpowered for now, since "breaking" the model to open the truck areas might do more harm than good at this point. On dummy amongst three powered units shouldn't be that bad.

I will have to order a few more for my remaining Silverliner IIIs and my Silverliner IIs. I'm still holding out on maybe buying a Metroliner drive for the GE cars (Arrow II, Arrow III, and Silverliner IVs). Generally speaking, I need to get some of my MU fleet back up and running. I have tons of these cars tied up either as unfinished kits, or because I don't have the parts for them. These Arrow Is will be easy pickings at least.

In the meantime, I will try to get the under-bodies painted and the body shells decorated. I'm not sure how I feel about the body shell paint jobs, but I'll give them an extra coat of Alclad if it looks like they'll need it.

I will have to start thinking about lighting. One of the issues, is that the marker lights are recessed into the numberboards on these cars. The model lacks any sort of dimple or mark for them. I hesitate to free hand this, so I will have to devise a way to drill the marker light holes consistently. They are visible in this photo of car #100 as black dots mounted IN the number boards (rather than their own lenses in the corners like on other MUs).

A small LED and some fiber optics ought do the trick.

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Modeling New Jersey Under the Wire 1978-1979.  
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I'd vote for this one. It is more interesting than a regular patch job and shouldn't be too hard to do with paint and decals.
Stephen 

Modeling a freelanced, present day short line set in Nova Scotia, Canada. 

https://bigbluetrains.com/showthread.php?tid=9643
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Not to much in the way of real progress, and I may have posted some of this stuff. Lately, life has been super hectic, between jobs, bills, my grandfather passing, so I haven't gotten MUCH done. I do have some positive points since I last posted though.

Valley Forge RPM

I went there with my Reading Company module, and a few models. I got to up my game for the next event in 2 years! My catenary was impressive to most (Tony Koester seemed to think it looked "too much like work". Not if you enjoy it!). To much of my stuff was half finished but not at the level I'd like to be at. I'm hoping I'll have more of my MU cars done, and some of the custom car-side passenger cars built and detailed, inside and out!

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Heavy Electric Modules

I have the second part of my Heavy Electric Module set. This means I have roughly 10 real feet of Northeast Corridor to work with. My friend built the module, though it turns out I need to increase the underpass size. I will post pictures soon.

Unfortunately, I'm still digging for the North Elizabeth Train Station plans. I suspect they may be at the PA State Archives in Harrisburg. I might need to take a trip that way this summer. If I could get those drawings, everything else about the module would be relatively easy. A lot of it is still there, and the stuff that isn't is well enough photographed that I can get by. The station is the only thing that is obscure.

The only other challenge would be the signals on the northern (eastern) end of the station, but Model Memories can make that signal for me, and they can make it to my specifications to that it matches my other catenary poles.

With both modules, it should be possible to take a photo of a realistic NEC consist without seeing the "ends" of the module. It will be nice to have some "Natural habitat" for my electrics!

Jersey Arrow I

I finally got the drives. I'm going to see about painting the floors and doing a final check of the body shells (they might need one more coat of Alclad). At the very least, if I paint the floors, powering the cars will not be an issue, since they have built-in truck wells. I just need to make a bolster from styrene, which I did with my Silverliner III cars.

To power them, I'll be using 8'6" wheel base 33" wheel NWSL Stanton drives. They are good drives, though I wish they were speedier. My plan is to use them in these cars to get them running, and then if a better alternative appears, I'll transfer these drives to some of my other MU commuter cars (remaining Silverliner IIIs, and my yet to be built Silverliner IIs). The trucks struggle to keep up with a top speed of 70 Scale MPH (the prototype regularly operated at 100 MPH).

Silverliner II

I'm surprised I haven't mentioned it in a post here, but I do have a set of 4 Silverliner II body shells. The remaining components will need to be ordered from shape-ways, which will still end up costing quite a bit, but not as much as if they were resin.

These shells are in the 1962 PRR era configuration, which is still appropriate for my early Conrail Era (they were rebuilt in the early 80s by M-K). I would have preferred some Reading Company styled cars (which have noticeably larger cab windows, a cow catcher, and some different roof gear), but PRR is just fine for me.

The main issue here is that the floors are either all dummy GSI trucks, or all NWSL powered trucks. NWSL sells a "dummy" version of its Stanton drive for $45, which is a pain. I'd rather have a dummy GSI truck on one end (its cheaper and looks better), but I'm not sure if it can be adapted. The only thing is that a dummy Stanton Drive still picks up power, which may make it worth it.

It does mean however, that the price of powering each car is significantly more for each Silverliner II, relative to my other MUs.

Conrail #5487, ex-LV, exx-PRR "Hammerhead" RS-3

I happened across a body shell for a Hammerhead RS-3. On these units, the shorter hood was full height, apparently to make room for passenger gear and dynamic brakes. Conrail had just one of these unusual Alcos. The unit survives today, and there is a whole page devoted to it, which is definitely worth a read-

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The model has a few issues though. Its meant to go on the old Atlas "yellow box" RS-3 frames. There are some detail inaccuracies, such as the wrong numberboards on the longer hood (which I shaved off), and the dual-beam headlights are horizontal instead of the prototype's vertical. Of course, these are all easy fixes. Shortline Products sold me the appropriate numberboards as well, so I'm set. Another challenge will be finding appropriate handrails, since this model has additional boxes on it that are not on the Atlas model.

If I can find a good Atlas frame, this model should go together quickly. It also helps that I have Lehigh Valley paint and decals left over from Conrail 7499. the only other hurdle will be the CR patches themselves, which are uncharacteristically small stencils for both the "CR" and the road numbers.

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"DeWitt" Geep

The same seller had Penn Central built RS-3M "DeWitt" geeps. These were identifiable by the large boxes on top of the hood. Conrail's later Juniata RS-3Ms better maintained the RS-3's shape.

Unfortunately, it seems that while RS-3Ms were present in my are when I model, almost all of them were of the Juniata variety. The DeWitt Geeps did seem to be common on the Northeast Corridor in the Baltimore area, and were common in New England as well (just not in between those two points! Tongue). That said, I'm not complaining, given the unusual nature of these rebuilds. Though a few people here have kitbashed the RS-3Ms, they still remain relatively uncommon on model railroads, so it should attract attention.

Like the Hammerhead above, these shells need an older frame. I actually modified this one to take the current Atlas RS-3 frame, but it made the pilot perilously thin before it fit properly.

Layout Space Clean up

I'm also trying to get my layout area drastically reorganized. I have managed to acquire enough junk that it is almost impossible to work down there! I picked up a few new shelves, and it looks like i'll be getting another set of Spring Mills Depot Boxes. These huge boxes can actually carry quite a bit of rolling stock in them.

This will mean that I will be able to store more of my trains in less space, as well as more easily transport my trains with my to train shows when I am on display.

Its gotten to the point where I haven't run a train on my layout in over a year, because every available track has a freight or passenger car stored on it!
Modeling New Jersey Under the Wire 1978-1979.  
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I forgot to mention, I'm also working on an Auto-parts traffic, since this would be a major component of Conrail Electric freight through New Jersey (Both Ford and GM were directly alongside the Northeast Corridor, at Metuchen and Linden, respectively).

This works out, since GM preferred 8-door 86' cars, and Ford the 4-door 86' cars. That means both are acceptable, and it also means you can kind of see where the "sections" of a given freight are. The Conrail freight schedule for these trains usually had the Metuchen Block up front, followed by the Linden Block, and then whatever other freight there was continued on to Waverly. Knowing the industries around the NEC, and being able to see some old aerial photos, it has helped to get a semi-realistic consist.

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Modeling New Jersey Under the Wire 1978-1979.  
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Holy cow, I really let this slide for a long time! Last post in May? I'm slipping!


I haven't given up on trains or anything, but I guess lately I've found less and less motivation to do much of anything. Its more than a little frustrating. I still participate in many of the groups and I go to events, but I haven't done very much. I often feel like I am too busy, or too tired. When I do have time, I feel like its gotten to the point where many of my projects have become completely overwhelming.

In the back of my mind, I know that even if I make a little progress, I can move things along, but I just take one look at most projects and it feels like someone cut my pantographs off!

Heck, you've seen my posts. I tend to discuss a half dozen separate things in a run. Granted, there is some time distance between my posts, but I rarely feel like something is "complete".


I have picked up a few new models here and there, which I may photograph shortly, but then there really isn't anything exciting there.
Modeling New Jersey Under the Wire 1978-1979.  
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Especially with both shows coming up for the NEC modular group:
The Mass Transit Modelers Meet on the weekend of Oct 15-16;
and The Great Scale show in Timonium Fairgrounds Oct 29-30, in cooperation with both Key-Mo and Capitol Free-Mo.

Good opportunities to see equipment run.
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Here's some of my own recently relevant work:

Silverliner II #210: Imperial Hobby Productions repop resin shell, Bachmann pantograph, Walters metroliner mech/floor/electronics. NCE DCC.
Silverliner III #234: Island Model Works shell, same treatment.

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Soon, both cars will be getting fiber-optic marker lamps and headlights.
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Here is a few shots of some of the more recent equipment I picked up. I forgot to photograph the locomotives I'm painting now, so I'll save them for later.

In any event:

Conrail 6288, ex-CNJ, exx B&O

This is a model I had been thinking about attempting, and then Athearn came out with the base CNJ model. Technically, 6288 was formerly CNJ 3064, but no one will notice this once the patches are on!

The main challenge here will be "unpatching" the B&O lettering. The model currently has visible "patched" over the former B&O markings, which would still be appropriate VERY early in the Conrail years. However, by 1979, the B&O logos were starting to show through. It was bad enough that someone attempted to cover the B&O lettering directly with what looks like black paint, and even that wasn't sticking.

Indeed, this locomotive's appearance seems to shift every few months, so I'm banking on the RRpictureArchive photos from November 1979 being pretty close to its June 1979 appearance.

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If you look closely, you can see the B&O Capital logos coming through behind the CR patches.

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CDOT GP38 #253

My LHS talked me into buying some of these when he learned I had picked up some CDOT cars for my FL9. As it turns out, the two cars eightyeightfan1 sent to me are a perfect match for the GP38, as it appears GP38s were only with CDOT relatively briefly, and his custom painted cars match that era (the Walthers cars As-sold are an older scheme).

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Amtrak F40PH #200

I had hoped these roamed the system a little more so I could justify it as one that traveled on the diesel portions of the Broadway Limited, but this one worked out of Boston. On the plus side, almost any Amtrak train I model in New Jersey that goes to Boston would eventually end up behind an engine like #200, so it works.

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Modeling New Jersey Under the Wire 1978-1979.  
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