GEC's Layout Progress

[Green_Elite_Cab]

Well, how about some photos of freight on the 4 x 8?

Most of my operating freight car fleet as at the club in my train. That said, rather than dissappoint, I pulled out some of my "stored" modern equipment, most of it matching 90s era Conrail.

Who knows what happens to trains that sit on the shelf for too long, but I couldn't get them all to run reliably, otherwise I would maybe put together another short video. In fact, many of these don't even have a decoder in them!

For now, here are some somewhat staged shots-

One thing I miss most about changing my time period from the more recent times to the 70s is these big solid consists of tank cars. I find them very fascinating, and there is a lot of this sort of traffic in north Jersey and in Delaware, where there are quite a few chemical plants and petroleum refineries



SW1500 moving cars around.



The local freight. Conrail hazardous car rules suggest that the tank cars be 6 cars back from the locomotive, which puts the first of 8 of my oil tankers beyond the curve.



The "Philadephia Divison" GP38. This was one of my earliest detail and weathering attempts. I haven't really been doing as much of that lately.



An NJ Transit commuter train pushes past. This is the locomotive with the bad wheels from my other thread.

GP40-2 #3401 was one of the last such locomotives ordered by Conrail. It occupies the numbers that would have been the Ex-Reading Company GP39-2s. Those locomotives ended up on the Delaware and Hudson in 1976, supposedly to help the D&H be more competitive with Conrail. The Ex Lehigh Valley C420s also went to the D&H.



Even NJ Transit has some freight units. This GP40-2 was originally purchased by the Penn Central as GP40 3189. NJ transit acquired the unit from Conrail in 1995 and had it rebuilt into a GP40-2, though it retained the GP40 carbody. The differences are fairly subtle. That said, this unit does need a detail makeover, as these units have a lot NJ Transit added stuff not present on the model.



Gotta love the CNJ logo left on this work gondola-



An SD60I trails a C32-8 in the Ballast Express scheme. These C32-8s did occasionally see service in regular freight trains. This paint scheme was fairly brief, existing for about a year before the Conrail split. My model is not quite finished, though I have all the parts I need. It got shelved when i switched eras, but considering the amount of work I put into super detailing it, I think I better finish it. I went out of my way to add every detail I can find, and even correct flaws in the Rail Power Products shell. I even milled down the frame so that the body shell could fit on it at a prototypical height.



I went all out with etched metal grills and steps, Smokey Valley brass handrail sets, special flush window glazing kits, brand new truck sideframes (the original sideframes were for U-boats, not DASH-8s), bent my own grab irons and scratch-built a ladder on the rear of the locomotive from brass pieces. I also cut a notch into the nose for the rachet brakes, which was present on all C32-8s but left out of the model (This is likely due to Railpower using the manufacturing drawings instead of the prototype, assuming that there would be buyers for these units other than Conrail).

Right now, I just need to replace some damaged truck details, and finish detailing the frame. In particular, the air tanks are missing from between the trucks and fuel tank, as are other frame mounted details. At the time, i was not as confident with a dremel tool as I am now, and with the help of my Dremel drill press, I should be able to cut all the mounting holes for the details I have. I hope to add full lighting and sound at some point.

The model uses Kadee Type 30 couplers, as these allow clearance between the trucks and the back of the pilots. These won't be installed until the model is finished.



A 44 ton switcher spots some corn syrup and "liquid sugar" tankers for unloading.





The lettering on this Intermountain tanker is intense. I can actually zoom in much closer with my camera, and everything is clearly legible.