Random projects

I have been all over the place on projects lately. I've made layout progress, as well as freight car =, and automotive

I finished the first of 5 HD flat cars. This one is QTTX 130725. I photographed the prototype on the Skally in December of 2012. This is an N Scale Kit. The load I scratch built. 

BNSF 651553 is a FVM model I weathered and added a Hays Brothers coal load too. This car will represent the occasional bad order the BNSF kicks onto the Skally.

I finally got CN 5421 finished. This SD50F was a Kaslo kit I have had half done for too long. 

Duke's suburban was a resin kit I picked up. It will be seen around the layout railfanning. 

The SCXY Section truck is a heavily modified showcase miniatures truck I built, decaled, and painted.

I also finished Corp. Auto in Hinckley. I still need to get more cars for the lot, and plant some trees. But it is mostly there.

The only thing I haven't been keeping up on has been this blog! I need to be more diligent about that. See you in 2019!

Welcome ILSX 180!

The Skally Line is booming, so another engine was in order. I heard ILSX 180 was in transit from the ILS shops in Holt about a month ago. I waited patiently and then estimated an arrival in Rush City I figured the 29th of October would be a safe bet. As I passed the stored cars in North Branch I noticed some movement. SCXY 1352 and 1363 with ILSX 1345 sandwiched were pushing a large cut of cars south. It was nice to see the three amigos working together.

Once in Rush City, ILSX GP38AC #180 was waiting. The weather was overcast with snow flurries. I grabbed a bunch of detail photos (you know I have to build it in N Scale now, I already have all the parts, I just need the paint). An ILS mechanic was prepping the engine and was kind enough to answer a few of my questions, thanks Terry! But my scenic shots would have to wait.

Flash forward to today. Heading south from Rock Creek, I caught up with ILSX 1345 and 180 heading north to interchange with BNSF in Hinckley.

I ran ahead to Rock Creek and grabbed some shots in one of my favorite spots.

The lighting was much better today as the two approached the bridge.

SCXY 1363 was sitting idle today in Rush City. This well worked engine has earned a little break.

SCXY 1352 was sitting down at Tiller, waiting to pull sand North. Eventually there will be two engines stationed here for sand power and two in Rush City for flour power. It's a good time to be a Skally fan.

Skallyline Monday

On Monday, my friend Ken and I made a run up to Duluth and back. We made it back to Hinckley in time to watch the BNSF Hinckley Local interchange with the SCXY. The Local had left the cars for the SCXY north of the Skally siding switch. Here is today's power pulling south onto the siding with the train bound for Rush City.

As usual it was a nice mix of cars, empty flour hoppers, empty 2 bay sand hoppers and loaded wheat cars bound for the Horizon Mill. I shot pics of some of the flour cars. I may try to build some of these later this year in N Scale.

The BNSF was picking up a cut of cars that the Skally Crew had brought up to Hinckley last Thursday. Power for the Hinckley Local today was PRLX GP38-2's 717, 706 and 709. These ex-Iowa Interstate units are on lease to the BNSF right now. They do make a good looking lash-up. After airing up, the HIN Local pushes North, back onto the BNSF main.

Ken and I chased the Local South back to Rush City. Here, engineer Travis eases the SCXY 1363 and ILSX 1345 across the Snake River bridge in Pine City.

I love these GP's. After getting back to Rush City, the crew grabbed a cut of freshly cleaned out flour cars and moved them to the siding before tying down for the day.

The Three Amigos!

No I'm not talking about Martin Short, Steve Martin and Chevy Chase, this is much better. SCXY 1363 is finally ready for service on the Skally Line. It joined its partners SCXY 1352 and ILSX 1345 in Rush City.

 SCXY 1363 started life as an Atlas GP9, I chopped the short hood and front battery boxes, replaced the cab, added a MbE winter hatch, firecracker antenna and bell. BLMA parts up the wazoo.While it's not complete yet, it is pretty close. I used GMM stanchions and louvers and .010" wire for the handrails. I also added a custom styrene electrical cabinet. The decals were custom made. Both plows are Atlas. I'm not done completely yet, I still need to add the All Weather Window on the engineers side, but I couldn't keep it out of service for that...

A Look Back

The Skally Line has a fun past. Just a few years ago when I started following it, it was much different than it is today. I stumbled upon some shots I took just shy of 4 years ago. How things have changed since the beginning of 2009...
SCXY 1363 "City of Rush City" was still in the Nobles Rock paint scheme. The colors grew on me in a hurry. She didn't look as nice as she does today, but she still looked good.

January 13th of that year my friend Brian and I chased the Skally to Hinckley. The temperature was a crisp -26 F that morning. We got out to take shots of the SCXY crossing the BNSF Hinckley Sub. and the Conductor looked at us and said "Really?!?, Today?". I laughed and commented that you have to chase when you can. This shot captures some of the oddness of the day.The MRS boxcar should have been dropped by the Hinckley Local in Coon Rapids, MN. Why it made it to the SCXY I will never know. This odd move also had the 1363 sandwiched between cars crossing Hwy 61 on the BNSF Main. It was so cold the crossing gate on the North side of the tracks didn't raise back up, even 20 minutes after the train had passed. The tank car was for Lakes Gas in Hinckley.

MNN 901 was the backup power on the line, with its Thief River Falls Championship Hockey logos. This engine never returned after the

Fall of that year the bridge over the Snake River had a pier break. The equipment was moved off the line until the bridge was repaired. Thanks to a nice Government stimulus check for $650,000 the bridge was fixed and Horizon Mill was able to bring its employees back to work. 1363 returned in the NP paint and MNN 901 was replaced by SCXY 1352 in the new colors. Zinpro in North Branch started built a new tank car unloading platform soon after and started receiving loads by rail car. 2010 was a wild year on the Skally.

Skally Hoppers

While not as flashy as the SCXY 50001, more SCXY hoppers are making their way onto the line. I've started recreating some of the Ex-SOO hoppers in service right now. I started with SCXY 50662. I used a MTL SOO Hopper, added ACI plates, patched it, weathered it with a light grey wash and a roof brown wash on the underside and walkways. I hit the sides with a light dusting of Tamiya chalks before sealing with Dullcoat. I painted some FVM metal wheels roof brown in my Minuteman Jig, installed and checked them for proper width. Check it out...

I did omit the graffiti for now. I may put a more PG version of the sill graffiti on at some point

SCXY Corp. HQ

I was planning an April Fools Post for today, but I got something done yesterday so I thought I would share that instead. I that I should finish the new St.Croix Valley Railroad Corporate Headquarters. I did take a little modelers license on the building and I still need to add a couple of details (foundation and AC unit) but it it good enough to go to Rush City now.

SCXY 50001

 Happy 2012! The first Skally Line Hopper in a full SCXY repaint is in the shop right now. SCXY 50001 will the the series leader on the Skally. SCXY 50002 will be right behind it. I used an Atlas 4750 hopper, upgrading the roof with Traincat etched walkways. I used undercoat gray for the paint and the decals are a mix of Microscale sets. Later I will put some BLMA trucks and some other details on. There will be additional SCXY hopper schemes coming later this year...

The Tunnel Crew

The SCXY car shops finished work on a Clinchfield Tunnel Ice Breaker Car. The shop boys were so excited to have it done they hooked it to ILSX 203 (one of the ILS tunnel motors) and ran the line to test it out. They came back to the shop a little depressed after they realized there are no tunnels on the Skally Line. I caught a few shots at sunset as they rolled it back to the shops. The car should be off to Clinchfield country by the end of the week.

Rush City Redo part 1

Some of you may remember my first attempt at modelling Rush City. The largest industry on the Skally as well as the Corporate HQ and I had the whole scene fit into 4 square feet of layout. It was time to remedy the situation. I have started building Rush City V2.0. The new scene will include the Horizon Mill, Corporate HQ (scratchbuilt new) the Masonic Temple, Federated Co-op and 2 working grade crossings. I've decided to strech the scene out so it will initially be 18" Wide and 12'-6" long with the ability to stretch the length of the passing siding to the North if needed (and it will be needed). The benchwork has already started. I will be building the Scene to FreemoN standards so I can show it publicly until I finalize the home layout design.I used 3/4" birch plywood for the frame with a 1/4" birch plywood and 1" foam top. I need to make some legs this weekend, but I hope to start laying out for the trackage and getting some cork down tonight.

The Lifeline of the Skally LIne

The BNSF Hinckley Local is the link to the outside world for the SCXY. The Hinckley Local originates from Northtown Yard (NTW) and switches industries north off of the Hinckley Sub, starting with Anheuser-Busch in Coon Rapids and finishing with the SCXY interchange in Hinckley, MN.
The local is usually pulled by BNSF GP28Ms 1527 and 1525. On occasion you will see ILSX engines in tow headed for service work at the ILS shop in Bethel.The major car types you will see on the SCXY are hoppers. There are three major cargoes you will see: general hopper (AAR type LO) loads of durum wheat for the Horizon Mill in Rush City, PressurAide hoppers for moving milled Durum flour and hopper loads of fertilizer to Peterson's Mill in North Branch. You will also see tank cars on the line, since the new unloading stands were built last summer Zinpro in North Branch has been receiving Hydrochloric Acid by rail. They use this for making high quality animal feeds. You will also see the occasional tank car of LP for Lakes Gas who has two facilities on the line, one in Hinckley and one in North Branch. While I'm sure that Zinpro is a welcome customer on the line the HCl cars require a little extra work in that you cannot couple the engine to the cars, the crews use a buffer car when handling these loads, per FRA rules.

SCXY Gondola

I've also decided to make a move on rolling stock. I had a W&S gondola that I wasn't happy with in my collection and the day I decided what to do with it was the day I noticed a gondola added to the SCXY rolling stock roster. I added BLMA grab irons, a mineral red paint job, Fox Valley 33" metal wheels and various Microscale decals. And for the rivet counters I know I'm off a couple of panels. The weathering was done with ground taconite pellets (really, it was).Here is a Matt Petersen photo for reference.

Another day on the Skally Line

A few shots from the Skally Line, one from Pine City. SCXY GP9 1363 and GP8 1352 running a nice string of hoppers back to Rush City. This spring I had no sun, on this day I had almost too much. Just south of the Rock Creek Bridge

A New Arrival

I got a call from a Trainmaster in Northtown of a new arrival to the SCXY. I was pleased to head up to Rush City last weekend and photograph the new SCXY GP10 1352... the MU hoses haven't yet been attached and the fuel tanks are still empty. And while the sun was shining, I figured I'd get some more pics of the oh so good looking SCXY GP9 1363

Skally Line Update

I was checking out the repaired bridge in Pine City when I had a suprise drive by with an unusual load for the SCXY.
Here SCXY GP9 1363 hits the bridge. Some of the smaller repairs can be seen underneath. Here the 8 axle TTX car rolls the bridge. Thank goodness this was after the major pier repairs that can be seen to the lower right. The crewman rode the car from Hinckley to Rush City. Thank goodness it got up to 26 degrees!