This week I have images and a video of a contemporary Norfolk Southern stack train headed west between Lewistown and Spruce Creek PA on the former PRR Middle Division. My son Steven shot the video and did tons of work on the train. This includes custom painting four J. B. Hunt containers (not available commercially) with more to come and 3D printing replacement ends of the K-Line well cars so he could lower them. They are then custom painted and decaled. The video was shot a few miles west of Lewistown at Longfellow PA.

I took the photos of the train as it headed west. The first is just east of Mattawana with Carlisle Gap in the background.

Next is the Conrail installed signal installation at milepost 182.3. The signals set in the caissons is a typical Conrail design.

Here we have a going away shot at the base of the mountain ridge as the railroad heads west towards Mt. Union. The scene is typical Middle Division with nothing but woodlands in the background and not a structure in sight.

The next image is another going away shot at the first bridge west of Spruce Creek Tunnel crossing Union Furnace Road.

Finally, there is an image of the train passing over a private NS grade crossing in the middle of the woods just west of the bridge in the prior image.

All of the scenes above are based on the prototype and closely resemble the real railroad.

That’s it for this week! Enjoy!

Took a break from scenery this week to work on some other things , but I did manage to get the tunnel finished.

Built a shelf for under the layout -

I added another small extension on as well.    Thinking of putting a lumber yard or team track area here.

Of course I found some time to run some trains -

A 2023 Christmas Layout memory

Another mini-scene on the 4'x8' plateau in the back of the layout.

Overall image of plateau:

The lake scene.  I just realized I do the lake scene on almost every layout.  Have to switch that up next year.  But I think it goes well with things that I had around it (images coming)

walt

We're off to a great start.  Nice work everyone.

Christopher you did a great job. Thanks for your photos. Dave

Bought a Lionel Legacy PA1 ABA set off daBay, one A and the B powered.  I already had an AA set, so now I have an ABA with all units powered.  Looking at ways to add sound to the B.  Cleaned off a loop of track and gave it a run.

Thanks Scott for getting us started for this fine weekend!

The Railway Express Agency was " a popular way "  to ship express packages long before FEDEX and UPS.  Here are REA workers and their equipment gitner done back in the day!  When I was in my younger years, I remember our family receiving packages delivered by REA on occasion.  Their delivery trucks sported advertising signs just like the one shown in the third and fourth photos. here.   Have a terrific weekend everyone!!

Lots of stuff going on this week……a modular group meeting at Chick-Fil-A, followed by some engine testing at my layout.

I am pleased to announce that the Culvert Twins, the Forklift Unloader, the Barrel Loader and Operating Barrel car are all wired up.

To get the Operating Barrel car to work and in order to be able to use use my Altas power rails with Ross track, I had to come up with a different way to attach the rails since rail spacing is different…..I will detail how I did it in my New Layout thread.

I also admitted the following cars to my Giraffe Hospital, pending surgical repairs. I hope to detail the event in a thread next week.

These are my two crimpers. The old on top and the new one on the bottom. I have developed arthritis in my hands. The right hand is much worse than my left. I have bone on bone between the wrist and 1st metacarpal of my R thumb ( the left is years behind the right). The crimpers on the bottom have easier hydraulics and make it easier for my hand to do the crimping. Both are made by Klein Tools. The new one is not cheap, but will allow me to put off the surgery a little while longer.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Peter

An awful photo off my cell phone in my home office where the lighting is also awful, but I finally got some shelves up to get my loose trains displayed.  I've got room for maybe three more shelves, but it's a start.

Custom cars that I made using K4 decals letters and data for a PS4750 hopper.

Neal Jeter

@Christopher2035 posted:

Took a break from scenery this week to work on some other things , but I did manage to get the tunnel finished.

<snip: some really good pics of interesting stuff>

Enjoyed seeing these pics of your latest effort!

Sure good to see you posting again, Christopher. I'll bet those kids have grown like weeds!

Andre

Ron, that is one handsome locomotive!   The subtle color and the roof antennae really set the PRR version apart from most of the others...

Last month I finally got a photo of one of the Gulf, Mobile & Ohio wartime cabooses.  Since I am a GM&O fan and a WWII history guy I had to have one. Problem, no decals.  I went ahead a built the caboose and was able to piece decals together from K4 decals sets of different scales.  I still did not have the slogan so I used Microscale block lettering for the slogan but I finally had to freehand the “Buy.”  It was a fun but challenging build but I can display it with some of my WWII memorabilia.

Had a good time yesterday running with the Trackers at the:

TCA WB&A Chapter Annapolis Toy Train Show