The KP&W's RDC

[Ralph]

The only passenger service provided by the Kings Port and Western are RDC runs for commuters. As I develop an operations schedule it seems that the RDC will probably be the first and last event of an operating session. I run DC so I have to arrange trains with the availability of open blocks for staging in mind. At the start of a session I plan to stage the RDC on one of the two hidden tracks behind the large Empire Grain complex. It will enter the layout from this tunnel at West Mill.


Shortly after clearing the tunnel it will stop at the West Mill commuter station. Local Train MK-3 (Mayfield to Kings Port) waits in the tunnel portal in the background for the RDC to clear.


After stopping at the station it will run past the carfloat and all of those freight cars staged for switching...


...and then it will follow the curve to the right and disappear under GERN.


The RDC will emerge in Kings Port after passing under GERN and then continue its way upgrade until it reaches Kings Port's station.


Continuing on, it crosses Ulster Ave. So far, the safety stripes at the end are the only thing identifying the RDC as a KP&W unit. I haven't decided whether to simply place the company name along the top or to use the NY State map logo (perhaps to be placed in the space between the cargo door and the passenger windows) that is found on some freight cars.


Following the high line the RDC appears to submerge into the greenery like a submarine. Its about to roll behind Empire Grain on the upper level. I can continue running the RDC at this point and return it to Kings Port for temporary storage, or else hide it behind Empire Grain while running some local switching with MK-3.


When its time to return the RDC it will pop out from behind Empire Grain to be briefly seen passing by MM tower at Marion.


It will stop at Kings Port Station in the opposite direction as it traverses a return loop, and then will ultimately find its way at the entrance to Williams Yard in Kings Port where it is stopped on a pocket siding I use for locomotives. At the end of the ops session tracks will be clear to reverse this run and send it back to West Mill to be stored on its original hidden track in the tunnel for next time.


My goal in creating an operation schedule is to try to find ways for all trains to return to their original positions without too much effort. I'm hoping to make those moves part of an "Alternating Day" sequence so I don't have to do much 0-5-0 switching of trains to get them ready for a session.

Ralph

[Green_Elite_Cab]

Very nice!

Perhaps you can use the NY State DOT logo? State-funded passenger service was fairly common in those times, so it would fit in.

[Mike Kieran]

Ralph,
I love that last shot. I would think that a commuter service would have an older logo because railroads put minimal maintenance into commuter equipment because commuter service was a money losing proposition. Even with government funding, the money very rarely went into new paint jobs.

[Ralph]

Thanks guys! The KP&W shops finally got around to identifying the RDC as their own....


I was thinking of putting the Kings Port & Western name above the windows but the font was a little too large. Making new decals is a pain so I took the lazy way out and used some I had on hand.

[Tyson Rayles]

[Green_Elite_Cab]

Not bad, Hopefully applying the letters to the fluting wasn't a pain.

Fluting seems to create trouble when I attempt to decal things (especially bad on some NJ Transit projects, like the PL42AC and ALP44). This is why I assumed the prototype either bolted (or glued, is some of the dead SEPTA silverliners are any indication) name plates to the sides of the equipment.


Either way, its good to see some other "commuter" operations on someone's layout. Maybe my perspective is skewed because I live in New Jersey (I'd have to go fairly far to NOT be near ANY form of commuter rail, especially to the North or South) but it seems like most model railroads leave out even a basic commuter run.

Obviously, if you're operating an ISL type layout, you probably won't have any, but even the "larger" layouts tend to have the occasional long distance train pass through. Even this is logical to an extent, but still.

Don't long strings of boxcars get boring after a while?

[jwb]

Chris Gilbert, a UK modeler who posts here, redid the Alaska layout he posted about on this site as a Florida Tri-Rail station. This, of course, is a long-and-narrow, freestanding for exhibitions, but it could be a shelf. His friend Nick Palette has done something very similar with GO Transit equipment on a layout he calls Northpoint <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://homepage.ntlworld.com/nick.palette/Gallery.html">http://homepage.ntlworld.com/nick.palette/Gallery.html</a><!-- m --> It seems to me that push-pull equipment ought to lend itself very well to small layouts.

Actually, I'm tempted to try to resuscitate a thread on one or another of these forums to discuss passenger modeling. A lot of the most active guys several years ago seem to have gone to graduate school and then started careers, so they don't seem to be as active as they used to be. I designed a fair amount of passenger operation into my current layout -- I haven't taken as much advantage of the possibilities I've built in, partly for want of encouragement!

[Green_Elite_Cab]

Chris Gilbert, a UK modeler who posts here, redid the Alaska layout he posted about on this site as a Florida Tri-Rail station. This, of course, is a long-and-narrow, freestanding for exhibitions, but it could be a shelf. His friend Nick Palette has done something very similar with GO Transit equipment on a layout he calls Northpoint <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://homepage.ntlworld.com/nick.palette/Gallery.html">http://homepage.ntlworld.com/nick.palette/Gallery.html</a><!-- m --> It seems to me that push-pull equipment ought to lend itself very well to small layouts.

That Northpoint layout looks pretty good! I wish they sold American commuter models as well detailed as some of the European ones, like the yellow and black one about midway through the page. The Athearn Bombardier Bi-Levels are pretty good, but after that they start getting kind of devoid of detail. Many of the more modern cars are smooth sided, but sometimes I'm not sure the models do them justice.

I definitely agree that Push-pull commuter trains probably deserve more attention on model railroads. Short consists aren't unheard of, and they don't ever need to be "turned". They make a good replacement for the RDC (indeed, the prototype RDCs started fading away just as the original purpose-built Push-Pulls arrived).

Yet, the never seem to get mentioned more than VERY briefly in most modeling publications. Heck, you can get away with some fairly short consists.

Actually, I'm tempted to try to resuscitate a thread on one or another of these forums to discuss passenger modeling. A lot of the most active guys several years ago seem to have gone to graduate school and then started careers, so they don't seem to be as active as they used to be. I designed a fair amount of passenger operation into my current layout -- I haven't taken as much advantage of the possibilities I've built in, partly for want of encouragement!

I was thinking about doing the same. Passenger train modeling beyond a few select trains and "terminal" operations almost never gets discussed.