Today dawned wet and rainy, with even the rumble of thunder, which is kinda the way I feel today. just don't seem to feel like getting it in gear. Got a few things accomplished over the weekend which is a good thing. I dunno if I'll wander out into The Shops today or not. I need to stencil a couple of boxcars yet as well as hopper 50. Theres Combine 06 to work on as well. I may just confin myself to working on CAD plans for combination boxcar/reefer plans, the basic construction being the same for both, just a difference in details. I won't need any new castings for the boxcars but I think the door hardware and roof hatches for the reefer I will do as new castings.
Monday, November 7, 2005
14:00
I must've slept good last night cause I woke up full iof ideas this AM and most of them are BAD! I have always wanted an intermediate point on the RR ro act like Orbinsonia on the EBT and it came to me this morning how to pull it off. I am going to reverse the route that the RR runs, and construct a staging/fiddle yard next to The Shop. The staging yard yard will become Port Lavender, and what is now Port Lavender will be renamed Cassville and will be a large mine complex. Anns Creek will be the intermediate point, and have a smaller mining operation as well as the engine terminal facilities. Rod locos can bring traffic up fromt the Port Lavender staging area and be swapped out for a Shay to take the train the rest of the way. Conversly No9 COULD run the entire route without stopping, or stopping just long enough to reverse teh order of the train to run up the mountain.
17:31
I've been theorizing on how trains might run with the new configuration, in respect to the operations software I'm using. Since the coal drags would essentially work as advertised on their own, I'd just run them as Extra trains and just schedule the mixed trains. As I see it, the first train of the day would be a rod loco coming into Anns Creek from Port Lavender with 9 empties, three get left at Anns Creek with No9 taking 6 up to Cassville. The rod loco takes what freight is at Anns Creek down to PL as a Mixed train. No9 grabs the loads at Cassville and runs back to Anns Creek. The Rod loco returns as a mixed, swaps out with No7 continuing as the mixed up to Cassville and does its switching, while the rod loco takes the 6 loads back down to Port Lavender. When the mixed train returns from Cassville, the rod loco returns with empties from Port Lavender. Rod loco swaps with No7 again and goes to Port Lavender, No9 takes the empties and runs back to Cassville. No9 drops empties and picks up loads at Cassville and goes back to Anns Creek. The rod loco returns with freight for the Pearce Branch, which No7 runs up the branch as a mixed, and the rod loco takes the loads from Cassville and Anns Creek down to Port Lavender for the cycle to start over again.
Wednesday, November 9, 2005
10:34
Another day, more bad ideas. The branch line that leads to McCowan Lumber and Manufactuering I have decided to name the Pearce Branch in honor of out friend who passed away. As a fiddle track, its quite possible that anything can be shipped or recieved along it, and rate a freight train of its own. I do have room for an extention so its possible that I might extended it out to put in a few industries to actually be switched. In addtion to the lumber industry, I'm adding a bank of coke ovens, the Pritchard Coking Co. after my buddy CJ. There is room so that I might actually be able to model the ovens eventually, but for now the whole branch will be represented by a stub siding. Instead of having a mine at Anns Creek I beleive I will treat it as an intermediate junction yard instad, and loads for the coke ovens will get dropped there to be taken up the branch, and loaded coke cars picked up to be taken to Port Lavender. Coke could actually be moved by the mixed trains or the coal drags.
13:49
Been thinking long and hard about industries and what sidings go where. McCowan Lumber and Pritchard Coal & Coke are both going to be located on the Pearce Branch and be represented by a fiddle track. There will be no mine at Anns Creek, it will basically act as a junction yard for the mainline and the Pearce Branch, as well as hosting the engine facilities and be a changeover point from the rod locos to the geared power. The former supply and commissary spur is going to be re designated as a smaller mine, Part of the Pritchard Coal & Coke Empire, that will ship its product to the coke ovens up the Pearce Branch. It will get switched by the Mixed train going to Cassville and cars will be dropped at Anns Creek for future delivery. Also Western Consolidated Oil will be placed on what was orginally to be the enginehouse spur at Cassville. The old interchange track there will be the Mining Supply and Company commissary track, with Shay No6 as the Cassville shifter tieing up there for the night as well. Any heavy repairs would require No6 to come into Anns Creek.
Expansion and additions are also leading me to consider new car construction, I beleive I will need at least 9 more hoppers, 2 tank cars, probably 3 reefers and possibly some boxcars in addition to the replacement ones I had already planned. Promises to be a fun filled construction season this winter!
Friday, November 11, 2005
11:37
Had a really good afternoon and evening yesterday. Started two more hoppers and got them all the way up to the detailing phase. I've been workign on detailing them this morning, but I'm leaving to go out of town for the weekend around 1300, so they prolly won;t get finished until Sunday evening. I reviewed the stocks in The Shops. and I beleive that I have wheels enough for 8 more cars. Right now I beleive the breakdown will be 2 more hoppers (a total of 5 for the 50 series) 2 tank cars, 2 reefers, and 2 replacement boxcars. Should keep me in projects up til the end of the year. I still have Combine 06 and the Enginehouse to finsh too.
