A lucky photo

 Sometimes we just get lucky.  Today I came across a photo that ended up in a scroll on the Facebook page, and realized something familiar about the image.  It was another Conrail unit from a location in Harrington, Delaware, a spot with lots of Conrail activity back in the day.  

Wait - I know that number!  That's what is so familiar.  Athearn about 10 years ago did a nice looking release of EMD SD40 locomotives, a model on the prototype that was the predecessor to the famous SD40-2.  Conrail had a number of SD40s that were handed down after the consolidation merger and 6286 was one of them, a former CNJ nee-B&O locomotive, and Athearn chose this one to be part of that release.  

This photo, by Ken Carden and posted on a Conrail photos group, went from just another Conrail image to one that shows important details.  First, it was taken in August of 1994, which is exactly my era.  Conrail SD40s were rare by then but this one was still out working.  It also has nice clean paint and black-on-white numberboards, without the white frame stripe, which makes this one a 1989 or early 1990 repaint.  I will need to do new numberboards as Athearn's are the original white-on-black, but besides that my version is ready to go.

What this shows is the importance of keeping our eyes open as modelers, all the time.  You never know when you'll find a helpful photo or text that suddenly verifies what you're doing, or gives you new information so you can better do what you do.  Progress comes in many forms!

It's getting better

 It is a common theme here on the Onondaga Cutoff blog, but it is worth reading again that this hobby is getter better and better.  Month by month there are new products coming out that help us to replicate our favorite equipment across nearly all eras.  

The new Rapido Trains CP and CN rebuilt intermodal flatcars are some of the latest to arrive.  These are the cars that were once boxcars and flatcars and were rebuilt from the frame up to handle piggyback trailers, and later, containers.  Open deck grating was included to cut weight as possible and the cars had a very distinctive look.  Some of them on CP lasted until the late 1990's, and they showed up on not only CP trains but also D&H and Conrail.  

Even just a quick look like this shows the specific prototype detail possible now in a new car.  Weathering is underway and once the car is added to the fleet, I will include a few more photos for you.  Stuff like this really adds some flavor to any intermodal train, and it will be nice to include some variety on the OC in piggyback operations!  

While any of these could certainly have been kitbashed, the availability of them commercially allows modelers to assemble a fleet of them, and also enables all of us to have more time for the railroad and for weathering as opposed to having to kitbash these cars.  From my view it is a win-win to have cars like this available to us all - and another sign that the hobby is healthy and getting better.  

On Family and Hobby - The Balance

Tonight is the local school play - and somehow it is already my daughter Susie's last school play in this school, as she's bound next year for middle school.  Susie since she was in preschool has loved the play and loved the performance, and now here she is 8 years later - and even more memorable, she has earned the lead role this year.  What an opportunity!

Naturally this event has had a tremendous amount of lead up, and we are very proud of the work Susie has put in.  And also it gives me pause.  Now and again we find a photograph that is timely and my wife Kristen found this one, of Susie back in first grade. Her smile, curly blonde hair and confidence are so tangible here while she is seen climbing one of the trees at the local park.  Her mom took the photo, itself a blessing, and while it was taken just five years ago it seems in some ways a lifetime.  

And so it goes!  This is a success story, and what anyone would have hoped for, and here we are.  Kids grow quickly and it was a growing exercise for me to learn how critical my time around them is.  This is why it is important to put time into the balance between things in life.  Yes work is important, and yes I love the hobby that railroading has always been for me.  But there are a lot of things that depend on me, not just what I want to do in any given moment. Family is the foundation for those things, I am responsible for my family and therefore time with family must get the top spot.  What a wonderful stretch to be able to be there tonight for this show with our family and friends so close that they are like family, too.

More trains coming soon!  All part of the balance of life.  

A Special Guest

In the 80's and right through the 90's and 2000's, you didn't mention the hobby to railroad co-workers.  If you were a railroader you kept the hobby to yourself: much easier to answer for yourself if you weren't a 'buff'.  In a way it was almost silly: who would want to go to work if they didn't like what their work was?  

It turns out many of us that are railroaders love what we do, and many make it a hobby as well.  On this past fall's NJ TRANSIT 40th Anniversary Express trip, I had the opportunity to sit with many people that helped make the experience possible, and during a conversation with President and CEO Kevin Corbett, he asked about the model railroad.  I invited him, he smiled and said he'd enjoy it.  Then discussion continued on.  Well, months later, his assistant reached out and asked if we were still on for a session in May - "Kevin would like to attend."  

And so on May 11, 2024, Kevin Corbett, President and CEO of NJ TRANSIT Corporation visited the OC for a session.  And it was great.  Thanks to Heath Hofmeister for the photos!

Friendly and affable, Kevin made everyone feel at ease from the safety briefing - the start of every session - through the operation itself.  He came to NJT at a dark time, and his energy and optimism immediately allowed the railroad to start to get more done than it had before his arrival.  There remain major challenges, yes - but progress is progress.  

Thanks again for making the time and the trip, Kevin!  This is the latest example that the walls between hobby and profession changing.  The railroad industry will only grow and thrive because of railroaders passionately running a railroad for the benefit of customers and the public at large.  The new movement of financial raiders running Class 1 railroads is one that is not sustainable for the economy nor the public, and perhaps those that love railroading can work together to reverse the damage the financiers have created in the name of profit.  

Kevin took photos and shared them with friends and his family - even asked if he could return sometime.  It is a neat opportunity when we have the chance to have someone with Kevin's experience, rank, and ability visit us and watch the OC go to work.  Kevin's support has been indispensable for the creation of the NJT Heritage Locomotive Fleet - and now he can see where some of the passion that helped to create it lives, too.  

Springtime doesn't slow down

 April in the last few years has become a very busy month.  It is amazing that we are almost to May, and as would be expected there were a lot of moving parts in the last few weeks.  

But what a few weeks - a total eclipse of the sun from Deshler, OH, street running in LaGrange, KY, along with a trip to Massachusetts for the Boston Marathon, all followed by a trip to operate trains on a variety of model railroads around San Francisco, California.  

Some amazing experiences.  The eclipse was outstanding - what a surreal and ethereal experience to be in the 100% shadow - and for CSX to run trains and display different aspects for it was amazing luck.  Then the other railfan sights only to be topped by the incredible model railroads of the Bay Area of California.  Wow!

I also did some work to help some fellow modelers out as I could fit it in, and progress has brought us nearly to completion at CP 294, with some exciting final photos coming soon there.

Still:  Ten states in 3 weeks - too much for my taste! The theme is a constant one - so much to do, too many great things to be part of - and so we must push to do as much as we possibly can.  Perhaps there is a time coming where there is less to do, but I feel it is more likely that there will always be an amazing list of things to do.  Maybe, just maybe, there will be an era when there is more time to do those things.  In the mean time, it's a great ride!

On Right-of-Way and Drainage

 There is very little 'flat' about the details along railroad tracks.  Even in some of the most flat and level territory, tracks are installed to facilitate drainage, which means some elevation changes are present even if they must be added by the construction.  

One reason most larger model railroads are built with subroadbed cut to fit the track areas and then mounted on support piers is that the terrain around the roadbed then can easily be built to be above and, more importantly, below the track level.  Water flows down, and adding simulated ditches where that would happen adds a lot of plausibility to your model.  

Here is a scene on the OC where the terrain is both above and below the right of way.  The bridge is up on abutments with slopes down and away from the road, but those slopes keep right on going down past the tracks, suggesting a spot where the railroad is on an embankment.  This is a key to a scene's plausibility and adds a to the overall feel of an area.  Real railroads provide a spot for water to run off too, and modelers should, too.

Doin' what you gotta do...

We can get ourselves in trouble sometimes.  Self-caused mistakes are some of the most frustrating as they are usually quite avoidable.  This photo is one of those stories.

Final scenery over at CP294 has been filling in, as I’d mentioned last month, and as a direct result several other things happened.

Below 294 is deep staging.  Wiring for the track power through CP294, along with the signals, switch machines, and accessories is tight over the top of the three tracks.  In my excitement to make progress, rather than move all the trains from deep staging and leave them all over the main line, I decided instead to use painter’s plastic drops gently stretched over the top of deep staging to shield them from any debris that might fall down.  It worked great - until I knocked the last car of the grain train out while removing the plastic.  It hit the floor and while it survived, the end was bad enough with a broken main coupler box and frame that a rebuild would be untenable for operations. I was pissed - that’s an expensive $55 mistake. 

As I fumed, contemplating options, it occurred to me that this would perhaps be a good ‘wreck repair’ load, on cribbing atop of a flat car, with the trucks removed.  I had always wanted to do one of these after seeing the ones available from protoloads.com and other custom builders.  In fact it’s a great car for that - and while I’d never do that to a functional superdetailed car, a broken one is a perfect match.

So I did some online research and found some photos.  I proceeded to add more damage to the covered hopper to simulate a full end collision….and now needed a flat car to carry it.  Luckily I found a nice new ScaleTrains flat car in my to-do pile which needed only assembly of the wooden deck and final weathering. 

Sometimes when you make a mistake, you just gotta do what you gotta do and make up for it.  I think this came out as well as it could!