Switching out M&D Jct.

On an otherwise quiet July 4th in White Bear Lake I heard the faint rumble of and SD40-2 in notch 1. I waited around a few minutes and ILSX 1344 (you may remember this unit at ISLX 202) came rolling through M&D Jct. with just 2 loads to switch out.
1344 used the East leg of the wye to run around and get facing north to make all the switches training point. As it does it passes the front entrance of one customer: Universal Forest Products. It looks like they will have one load in and 1 empty out today.I ran to the North end of the wye to get a view back south as the train rolled around. The crew has already dropped the lumber load at Universal and is getting ready to spot a boxcar at St.Croix Valley Hardwoods.It doesn't take long and they have the empty car out, the load spotted and they are headed North, back to the Rush City Yard.A special thanks to my friend HK for helping me plant 50 trees on Friday. I hope to get the backdrop in place this week and maybe get some more trees planted. Maybe I will also get the awnings added to St.Croix Valley Hardwood to keep the loading dock guys from complaining about all the rain we've been getting.

CP 8270

Layout updates are coming, I promise...
but I've been doing more work in the chop nose section of the world. I've started resin casting chop nosed GP9 shells for various projects (GP8s, 9, and 10s). Here is a unit I just finished up. CP 8270 started life as a high nose Soo Line GP9. After being involved in a wreck, the Soo Line shops converted it to a GP20 style short nose. The CP has kept many of these Soo Line conversions on the roster across the US and Canada.I used BLMA grab irons, cut levers, lift rings, mu hoses, a J&J winter hatch, a Gold Medal cab shade and all-weather window. The Sinclair is a Sandro 24" piece. The paint was Badger CP Action Red and the decals were Micro scale. The engine is a new Atlas unit that I installed a Digitrax decoder into. The front light had to be removed to fit inside the cab. The nose on this unit was actually off a Life Like GP-20 (why reinvent the wheel when you have the parts just sitting there?). I finished it off with some MT-1015 couplers. The weathering was done with Tamiya chalks.

BNSF 2754

BNSF GP39E 2754 has made it to the Skally Line. I caught the unit running a couple loads of durum wheat and a car load of HCl onto the BNSF interchange track in Hinckley. The engineer was nice enough to park it for a minute so I could grab shot of both sides.This engine is an Atlas GP30 modified with a GP38 cab, new air intakes, Dash 2 electronics, BLMA cut levers, fans, lift rings, air horns, grab irons, mu hoses, cab shades, air hoses, wipers and mirrors. I also used a Miniatures by Eric firecracker antenna and Atlas sand hatches. I performed the Beardon block removal and added a Kato engineer. MT couplers, Microscale decals and an MRC sound decoder round out the build.

Dresser Trap Rock

I'm not a purist, in my world the tracks still run from Hugo, MN through to North Branch, MN. The bike trail was torn up and tracks were laid down. As I plan and build and change plans and rebuild I keep making small changes to "my line". The Skally will eventually have a few larger customers. Horizon Milling and Zinpro provide some fun switching, but I'm looking for more. As the fleet of ILSX six axle locomotives on the line grows I need things for them to do. Eventually I would like to add a grain shuttle loading facility (Peterson's Mill in North Branch will be expanding out). Traincat is getting ready to release some Aggregate unloaders and conveyors and it got me thinking about one of my favorite industries, Dresser Trap Rock Inc. Should I slide this quarry to the "other" side of the river and add it to the Skally Line, or am I talking the crazy talk? I'm open to your thoughts as I head back into layout construction season...

Ghosts of Grain Rushes Past

The storage line at Northtown Yard now includes several SD60Ms wrapped for long term storage. These beasts were once the pride of the BN. Now they sit wrapped while the Z trains roll by.

The Mainstreeter

Some of you may be members of the Northern Pacific Historical Society or may purchase The Mainstreeter at your LHS. There is a nice article by Gary Tarbox about the Skally Line in the Spring 2011 issue. It also happens to include a photograph that I shot late last year (now I can claim to be a published photographer, sweet!). Pick up a copy or check out the info at NPHSA.org

BNSF GP39E 2750

BNSF 2750 made it's Skally Line debut this afternoon. I caught a couple shots as it rolled the line.Here is a Todd Harms photo of the prototype in Sioux City, IA.
This one has the full treatment. BLMA fans, lift rings, grab irons, mirrors, cab shades, ditch lights, cut levers, mu hoses, air hoses. The body was an Atlas GP30, the cab is from an Atlas GP38, the blower bulge and forward vents came from a Kato SD40-2. The sand hatches are Altas. All the decals were Microscale. This one was a lot of work, I can't wait to do it again!