I’ve got gas
Freight Car Friday
On Monday, I discussed the joys of discovering Bell-Gaz Propane – a prototype industry that I plan to model on the layout. Seems only fitting then to feature the LPG Tank Car this Freight Car Friday.
The 33,900 gallon tank car is one of the largest standard tank cars used today. While Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and Anhydrous Ammonia are the two most common commodities, they are also used to transport butadiene, isoprene and gasoline. These cars can be seen regularly in mixed manifest freight trains throughout North America. They travel singly or in large blocks between producers and distributors
This is a tough (and expensive) car to find and I am always on the lookout at the shows to add a couple of them to my layout.
Helpful hints for Operating Model Railroads
Video Thursday
This YouTube four part series is THE BEST tutorial I have seen explaining how model railroad operations work. This has helped me immensely as I modify my track plan for operations.
Mike Hamer and Chris Lyon hosts us on the Lyon Valley Northern in this four part series on helpful tricks and hints for operating model railroads. In part one, they explain some of the things you should do when visiting a model railroad for the first time. How to familiarize yourself so that operations are more comfortable.
In Part 2, Mike and Chris bring a Way Freight into Shelby on the LVN and they explain some of the better practices of protecting against mainline traffic. They efficiently handle lifts and drops in the yard and provide insight into good operations practices that can be applied wherever you run trains. They take the mystery out of operating a layout you have never worked before..
In Part 3, they explain the yard throat, arrival departure activities and the track occupation principles. By understanding these practices, the new operator at a layout will be less intimidated by yard movements, track occupation and locomotive servicing.
In Part 4, our hosts take us through a process of bringing a cut of cars into an industrial area with timesaver design on the Lyon Valley Northern and they describe in detail useful approaches to simplify lifting and dropping cars, They explain, classification, blocking, facing and trailing switches, using the runaround and yard leads. Also how to best reduce the number of moves to accomplish the switching task. The video is intended to provide you with some new knowledge or confirm what you know. Having a good handle on these concepts will simplify model railroad operations so that you can go to any layout and feel confident that you can step in and do your part to enjoy the experience of model railroad operations.
The Chemin de Fer Lanaudière Interchange
Prototype Monday 3
I love researching and delving into my prototype. The amazing thing about doing internet research is that I can find out some amazing real things to incorporate into my model railroad world.
I recently discovered a short, short, shortline that connects with the QGRY and serves an industry that I hope/plan to model. Crossing the Lanaudière region over a distance of 17 kms between Joliette and Saint-Félix-de-Valois, the Chemin de Fer Lanaudiere (CFL) is owned by Bell-Gaz – a large independent distributor of propane gas in the Lanaudière region.
Google maps gives me a pretty good view of the facility and gives me an idea of both the track arrangements and the number of car spots. While I will need to employ extreme selective compression with a copious serving of artistic license, I am excited by the operating potential of the following scenario:
- CPR or CNR trains carry tank cars containing propane gas from Alberta to Montreal.
- At Montreal, these Chemin de Fer Lanaudière propane tank cars are transferred to QGRY trains bound for Trois-Rivières and the QGRY Lanoraie Turn coming from Trois-Rivières to drop off CFL tank cars at the QGRY/CFL interchange at Notre-Dame-des-Prairies.
- CFL trains take these propane tanks cars from the interchange track up to Saint-Felix-de-Valois where the Bell Gas propane gas terminal is located.
CFL owns only two engines. Some great pics can be found on RailPictures.net…
A RS18-3a #3000, which is an ex-CP RS18 8734 built in 1957 by MLW. And the engine that I plan to model will be CFL #114 – an old Alco S13m. As an added bonus I can now buy that WalthersProto Russell Snowplow that I wanted ’cause they have one of those as well! Thank you CFL!
Whether (or not) to weather
Shoutout Sunday 3
I love the structure work done by Muskoka Steve. His latest build Maple Leaf Trading Co is spectacular. But for me, it’s his weathering that really sets it apart.
Check out his amazing work here:
Trompe l’oeil
Scenery Saturday 3
The French phrase ‘trompe l’oeil’ literally means to deceive the eye. It is an art technique that uses realistic imagery to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects exist in three dimensions. And that is what so many of us aim to achieve in our model railroading… it’s sure my goal.
I have always marveled at the work of masters like Mike Confalone and his Allagash layout. One of the scenes I love is his St. Regis Paper Mill and his use of photo backdrops is inspired. I have been playing around with this technique for my port scene and the 3D effect is pretty amazing. When adding a ‘real’ element in front of the photo, the two seem to blend and it’s very hard to tell what is or is not ‘real’.
I found an image of a ship unloading gravel on a website called http://straitareashipping.blogspot.ca/ that I liked and thought might work, so I contacted the photographer, explained my interest and requested the right to use the image for personal (non-revenue) reasons . Many thanks to Jack Rolands who sent me a hi-res digital image with his bemused best wishes. Once again proving that there is nothing that can’t be found online.
Lumbering Along
Freight Car Friday 3
Lumber. Got to have it on my ‘road. And with lumber comes the Centerbeam flatcar – today’s featured freight car. According to the miracle of Google Earth, a quick flyby of the QGRY Quebec City Henri V yard shows a lot of them.
According to The Official blog for Lionel LLC, makers of LIonel Trains and American Flyer, ‘the cars have become increasingly popular in the past two decades. Owned by railroads large and small as well as leasing companies, these cars generally operate in pools like autoracks and intermodal equipment. They travel wherever needed for their next load. It is not uncommon to find different companies’ cars in the same train or even on the same siding. Also, because of the variety of products they can carry and the many different producers and receivers all across the country, it is easy to spot both loaded and empty cars in the same train.’
Funnily enough, this is probably one of the cars that I’ve had the hardest time finding. I have a couple of them, but am on the lookout for a bunch more. One of the projects that I am looking forward to is building some scratch lumber loads. Perhaps a post for a future Workbench Wednesday…
Thank You YouTube
Given the last few blog posts, what could be more perfect.
Quebec & Gatineau SW1500 #1505 yard locomotive pushing cylindrical covered grain hoppers into the grain elevator at the waterfront in downtown Quebec City.
Fun with Breadboards
Workbench Wednesday 3
Remember that TARDIS I picked up at Fan Expo last week? Well, wouldn’t it be cool to pulse an LED on top just like when the TARDIS dematerializes in a Dr. Who episode?
Only one small problem. I know absolutely NOTHING about electronics. Zip. No science fairs, no school projects, no frustrated robotic career…nada. Turns out that I don’t need to – or more specifically, all I need to know is where to look. And that is the subject of today’s blog post.
Amazingly, EVERYTHING is online. Chances are that no matter how strange, wonderful or odd it is, someone has thought, it done it, or posted a YouTube video on how to do it. Happily, pulsing an LED is one of those things and the excellent Maker site instructables.com had the solution. I found exactly the project I was looking for at http://www.instructables.com/id/ThrobbingFading-LED-with-555-Timer/
So off to ACTIVE Surplus to pick up the components. All in all it was a fun project, I learned some basic electronics, built my first circuit and am now the proud owner of a breadboard.
And the result? You be the judge!
Surplus Tuesday
Long before the Maker movement. Long before the Raspberry Pi. Long before the Internet and Amazon and shopping online… there was ACTIVE Surplus. After 30 years on Queen Street West in Toronto, ACTIVE is closing its doors this month. Rumour is that it’s moving and not closing but still, it’s a sad day.
ACTIVE was my fun store, and for 25 years (at least) I’ve been walking into ACTIVE to get a needed plug, part, cable, whatever. Sometimes I would just browse and marvel at all the stuff (new and used) and get inspired. Yellow Flipping Shape for 25 cents each, sure! I bought things that I had no idea what they did just because they looked cool and the price was right.
As a number of posters on blogTO have commented, ACTIVE was the place where generations of high school students would go to make LED-based true or false quizzes for their science fair Bristol boards and ACTIVE was also the kind of place where when you’d go and ‘there was always someone buying parts for his time machine or Transmogrifier or both.’
I need places like ACTIVE to inspire me and fuel my imagination. ACTIVE is exactly the kind of store that brings out the best in a modeler. It’s a ‘what if ‘ kind of place. What if I use that mirror, or what if I built that blinking circuit. What if…
Professor Banana, until we meet again, you’ll be missed.
SW(eet) 1500
Prototype Monday 3
Ahhh… the EMD SW1500. It’s my favourite engine. There’s just something about it…
The EMD SW1500 was constructed directly after the SW1200 and was the builder’s second model to employ its upgraded model 645 prime mover. As with the SW1000 (which was the first to use the 645 engine), the SW1500 featured a bulkier carbody and was a bit heavier from earlier models although its intended use remained the same, working light branch lines or in industrial settings. With the horsepower rating, weight, and top speed the switcher was essentially a road switcher (it offered nearly the same ratings as the GP7 released a decade earlier). Once again railroads found the SW1500 to their liking and many Class Is purchased the model, very likely due to its extra horsepower allowing it to be used in numerous applications. Today, SW1500s remain quite common doing the tasks they were originally intended for on large and small railroads around the country. from: http://www.american-rails.com/emd-sw1500.html
According to rrpicturearchives.net the Quebec Gatineau Railway (QGRY) has or had seven SW1500s:
| Unit # | History | Model | Serial# | |
| QGRY 1500 | ex-PC 9534 | SW1500 | 7355-25 | |
| QGRY 1501 | Ex CR Exx PC 9508 SW 1500 | SW1500 | 37066 | |
| QGRY 1502 | Ex-PC 9580 | SW1500 | 73622-21 | |
| QGRY 1504 | ex-PC 9509 | SW1500 | 37067 | |
| QGRY 1505 | ex-PC 9538 | SW1500 | 7355-29 | |
| QGRY 1506 | ex-PC 9554 | SW1500 | 7355-45 | |
| QGRY 1507 | ex-PC 9519 | SW1500 | 7355-10 |
On my layout I have one custom painted QGRY SW1500 numbered 1504 (see pics above). For additional switching, I’ll also have some help from two Genesee & Wyoming Atlas HO Silver Series EMD MP15-DCs. The MP15DC replaced the SW1500 in EMD’s catalog, and is superficially very similar to the predecessor model, using the same engine (a V12 EMD 645-series powerplant) in a similar design of hood and bodywork. The primary difference is the MP15’s standard Blomberg B trucks. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMD_MP15DC
All three units have Soundtraxx Tsunami DCC sound decoders installed.
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