Update from Chugman (Start of total layout signal system (1/1/24 - Proviso engine facility - New Pictures)

Welcome back Art!

Looks terrific Art.  Eola Yard looks busy!!  Like the bridges and overpass.  👍👍

Looks great Art!

Love the shot at Union Station in Chicago! Looks awesome!!

@Chugman posted:

I am back on the forum after a long absence and felt it was time to update everyone with the status of my layout.  I'm going to start by posting a few pictures.

Milwaukee Road MP-15 switcher with a load of new John Deere tractors passing by Spencer Packing Co.

The Sinclair gas station has all hands on deck helping a cute young lady in her convertible.  The IGA store is being stocked by Borden's Milk and Wonder Bread while the Ruthven Baseball team is playing at Lost Island Field behind it.

The Eola Yard is busy today with three engines working it at the same time.  This is my newest classification yard where all trains bound for my Milwaukee Road branch line are staged and received.

Three name passenger trains are awaiting departure from Chicago's Union Station.

My plan is to add pictures on a regular basis.  The last pictures I posted were before much of my current scenery was completed and I hadn't ballasted any track yet.  I hope you enjoy them.

Art

Nice looking layout!

Welcome back Art. Love your layout. Looking forward to more updates and pix.

Bob

Thanks for all nice comments.  It's good to be back.

Art

I hope everyone is enjoying the Memorial Day weekend.  Here is a few more pictures.

Casey Jones Jr. is retired and waited for his grandkids to get home from school as the afternoon Santa Fe El Capitan blast across the crossing by his home.  Casey lives in Savanna, IL on the banks of the Mississippi River on the Great River Road.

It's train time at Chicago's Union Station with the name passenger trains ready for departure on the lower level and the Metra is arriving on the upper level with passengers from the suburbs.  Lou Mitchel's restaurant is busy and based on the limo may even have a famous guest.  A Greyhound Scenicruiser is waiting at the grade crossing with even more passengers heading to catch a train.

A BNSF Intermodal train blasts out of a tunnel and heads across the double-track stone arch bridge while a family is enjoying camping on the shores of the lake below.  It looks like they are getting a head start on the Memorial Day weekend and have found the perfect spot.

Art

Art, you had come back a few months ago.  You were missed.  Glad to see your latest pictures.

John

Very nice work, Art!  And one of the best features of your layout is that it a snapshot of your own life.

@Number 90 posted:

Very nice work, Art!  And one of the best features of your layout is that it a snapshot of your own life.

Great observation, Tom!

Art, I don’t know the area you are depicting, but it looks great!  The trains coming into the station on two levels is great!

Hi Art, welcome back ! everything looks great!

Alex

Mark - I am modeling he Midwest and primarily Illinois and Iowa, but some in Kansas too.  Thanks my Chicago Union Station is such a small representation of the real thing, but I tried to capture as much as I could of the excitement and drama of the real thing.

Tom - That's right modeling scenes from the memories of my past makes it more fun and meaningful to me.  You have a great memory my friend.

Alex- Thanks I've always appreciated your support.

Art

As Tom mentioned, I like to model events from my past that have special meaning to me.  Here are a few examples of that:

This is my home town of Spencer, Iowa.  I met my wife for the first in front of H & N Chevrolet and all the buildings have special meanings and memories.

This shows Claude Goren a brother of the famous bridge player, Charles Goren, walking to the Spencer Senior Center to play bridge.  He is in front of the Coast to Coast store which is where my first Lionel train and bicycle were purchased.  A Milwaukee Road switcher is busy handling cars at the local businesses.

This my wife's home town of Ruthven, Iowa where a parade is taking place as a part of the Miss Iowa Pageant  of 1960 which she was in. 

We are just in time to catch a glimpse of the Milwaukee Road's meat train passing over the high bridge over the Mississippi River.  From our position on a bluff above the Great River Road we see the C&NW local passenger train and a family canoeing down the river.  I used to watch the meat train switch cars while my parents were playing cards with friends that lived close to the tracks.  The crew was so friendly to me that I have always had a good relationship with train crews.

Art

  Art,  those are some Great looking scenes. The town looks just as it should. The buildings are sized and placed where they look natural. Just the right amount of signage, autos and people moving about. Along with the finer details like parking meters, fire hydrant and lamps. Well Done.

Do train fans still meet at that restaurant before the DuPage Train show? I might have a window of opportunity this coming weekend (no church choir).

I'm not sure?  Since they don't let us in early any more, I don't think the old gang still meets at The Verdict.  But, I could be wrong.

Art

I have had computer problems, but hopefully am back in business again.  Here are three more pictures.

UP's City of Los Angeles is passing under a signal bridge on the Race Track beside by Eola freight yard.

My Eola freight yard just has a small engine servicing area where engines are refueled and crews are changed.  It is a BNSF classification yard, but it is my interchange point with my Milwaukee Road branch line that serves Northwest Iowa.  It is the Chicago terminus for my meat train that runs every week from Sioux Falls, SD and picks up reefers from Spencer Pack and Morrell Pack.

A UP unit coal train and a BNSF intermodal wait for clear boards on the signal bridge outside my Proviso freight yard.  It must be a weekday as the trains usually stack up waiting to get into the Chicago area yards with all the Metra commuter activity and heavy freight traffic.  Ay least the weather looks good and isn't contributing to the delays.

Art

Art that ballast work is absolutely outstanding, and your layout scenes are visual candy for my weary eyes this morning!  What a treat!

Thanks Volphin, I appreciate that.

Art

My wife survived a widow maker heart attack a week ago Friday night so we have all been pulled away from our normal lives.  We are extremely lucky that we didn't lose her.  I praise the EMT's, the doctors and nurses, and especially the Lord for this.

I will resume posting some pictures when things get a little more back to normal.  Here is one though in the meantime.

The UP City of Los Angeles emerges from a tunnel approaching Wichita, KS on it's journey to the west coast from Chicago.

Art

Glad your wife made it through @Chugman. That sort of thing is a big deal. Hope she's having a speedy recovery.

Did you create that grade crossing yourself? It looks great!

I’m glad your wife is doing better, Art!  I’m praying for her recovery

Art.....glad your wife is OK....

Peter

Thanks guys.

Bill the grade crossing planks are I believe Woodland Scenic's.   I just love rural grade crossings with wood planks and protected by wood crossbucks.

Art

@Chugman posted:

Thanks guys.

Bill the grade crossing planks are I believe Woodland Scenic's.   I just love rural grade crossings with wood planks and protected by wood crossbucks.

Art

I'm partial to them as well. That's what we had at one of my jobs and in one of the towns around here. I've never otherwise seen them. Those look great though! I will likely use them.

Hi Art,  Happy to hear that your wife is doing well looking forward to a full recovery.

Please check your email.  I sent you a message about 10 days ago.  No response.

Thanks,  Jim

May your wife recover quickly and completely!!!

God bless her!

Thanks for your prayers and support.  My wife is doing very well today and we are all very encouraged.

SantaFeJim - I sent you an email just now.  If you don't receive it let me know.  If you've changed it,, I may not have your new one?

Art

I'm going to post a few more pictures before I get into future plans and our new project. 

This is my rendition of the Band Box Theater from my home town of Spencer, Iowa.   As a young boy we would go to the Saturday afternoon double-header movies for ten cents.  There would always be a Superman serial that ran before the feature films where he would get into some jam that it seemed impossible for him to get out.  You would have to attend next week to find out what happened.  Usually at least one of the movies was a cowboy and Indian one and we would have to go home and get out our cap guns and re-enact it.  Great memories!

Another Spencer business was Sportsmen's of Spencer that carried not only all kinds of sporting goods, but also train sets at Christmas time.  Here we see Hilda waiting for her ride home after a long day of cleaning offices.  Doctor Kinderdine, the local dentist, is reading the Spencer Daily Reporter while waiting for his wife so they can go out for dinner at Stub's House of Plenty downtown.

In the nearby town of Ruthven, Iowa the sun is going down while the local policeman is keeping a close eye on the American Legion prior to tonight's bingo game.   The lights are still bright at Wigdahl's hardware next door serving farmers that need parts to keep their equipment running during the harvest.  The Farmer's Coop elevator and lumber yard are quiet and it looks like everyone has gone home for the day.

Earlier in the afternoon the local Ruthven sandlot teams were enjoying a game of baseball at the diamond in Lost Island Park.  It looks like the Eaton Grease Gun factory has shut down for the day, but there are a lot of lights on at the Tangney Hotel, Spencer's tallest building.  (The baseball field is on a Styrofoam liftout for access to this section of the layout.)

Art

Hope that everyone is having a good Fourth of July weekend so far.  Here are a few more pictures.

As a BNSF Intermodal passes over a through truss bridge over the Mississippi River, it's a pretty July day on the Great River Road just below.  Traffic needs to be careful though as an Iowa Highway Patrolman has a speed trap setup behind the Hamm's Beer billboard waiting for any speeders. 

Meanwhile on this beautiful summer day, the UP City of LA is pulling into the Savannah, IL station.   There must be summer school as we see a school bus crossing over the Mississippi River bridge from Sabula, IA.  The local Savannah police car is at the station, I hope there isn't any major problems.

The Santa Fe El Capitan is passing the Eola Yard on the Race Track on it's journey back to Chicago from the West Coast.  The yard is fuller than usual today and the yardmaster will have his hands full getting trains out to make room for the scheduled arrival of the Milwaukee Road meat train.

Art

More great looking scenes, Art.  I really like the highway along the river , both passing under the bridge.  I’m glad to see state and local police at work keeping your part of the model railroad nation safe !!

Thanks Mark.  It's a lot of fun making up stories to go with the pictures to me.  Makes it seem more real I guess.  I see the work is coming along great on your layout too.  You are really doing a nice job and I appreciate your sharing the progress with us.

Art

Great pics, Art!

Peter

From the land of sky-blue waters…
HAMM’S the beer refreshing.  

My previous post got me thinking about a popular commercial on TV.  All the over 60 crowd may remember this.

I remember it as Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie and Santa Fe.

https://youtu.be/f9UfOuyXH-U

One stuck in my head....I can't believe I ate the whoooole thing! 

@Chugman You a member of the Train Collectors Association? I'm sure you've attended the York Train Show!