Sunday, June 13, 2010

Realistic Lumber Loads

Here are the lumber loads I have been working on. Cheap and easy. I took pics of some loads out on the BNSF main, resized them into a spreadsheet printed them and wrapped them around 1/4 basswood. There is priniting on all sides and all the visible sides line up. You can even see the corner guards under the straps at the top of the load. Something simple but I wanted to try it out.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

ILSX 3109

I've been working on building ILSX 3109 for use on the Skally Line. This locomotive was in service at the grain elevator in Holloway, MN prior to me "transferring" it. I started with a Kato UP SD40, stripped the decals off, added BLMA fans, cut levers, MU hoses, cab shades and an Atlas plow. I added the decals and some paint, shot it with some dullcoat and added a MRC 1806 sound decoder (soooo cool). Here is a photo by Alec Holmes taken at the Northtown shops to see what I was shooting for. I do need to add the ILSX lettering, but I think it may get re-lettered for the SCXY.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Busy Busy Busy

Hopefully I will get some pictures taken of the Skally line this weekend. I have almost completed my ILSX SD40-2 #3109. It will get some dullcoat tonight and as soon as the cab glass arrives it will make its first revenue run on the SCXY. I've had so many projects going on that I haven't finished a thing. More layout sections, building some nice lumber loads (you'll see those soon too) and expanding the fleet in general while keeping up on creating all the photo car cards. More on those later. Here are some random pics until next time...

MNNR B23-7 #48 working the Hugo local on the old Skally Line. I caught them as they were crossing the CP line at Bald Eagle Jct. in White Bear Lake. This location will eventually make it's way onto my Skally Line. It wasn't the usual crew today. The normal crew leaves most of the cars at M&D Jct. and only brings what they need to the end of the line in Hugo. These guys brought everything with today.
MNNR SF30B #42 pulling the once a month Bayport Local. This run handles the Anderson Window plant in Bayport. Here they are on UP trackage through St. Pauls Phalen Park neighborhood.
Here CP GP40 #4617 is leading the shortest train I have ever seen roll out of Pigs Eye Yard. I've seen BNSF light power moves longer than this.
A trio of UP power trailing an empty coal train across the Mississippi in downtown St. Paul. The train just came from the Allen P. King Coal plant in Bayport, MN. The rear 2 engines will probably get dropped int South St. Paul as the rest of the train heads back to the Powder River Basin.