Good

Joe,

Interesting review on the GLX tower kit also nice job modeling the prototype in Council Bluffs. Thanks for writing this and posting with some good pics. 

Dave

Thank you!

Thanks very much Dave!  I really appreciate your feedback.

Nice model

Like the ground details you added. I need one of these for a small spur by my refinery. Thanks for writing this One

Was it difficult to build?

Great looking model. I really like the way it turned out. 

I have not built a kit like this before. Would a beginner be able to make this or is it more of an intermediate or advanced build?

Bernard

@ Joe....

Thank you

Thank you all very much!  Very kind of you.

I'd call this more of an intermediate build.  I would say "advanced beginner", as there's nothing terribly complicated about the kit, but I found the GLX instructions to be unclear on several points.  I tried suggesting some changes to GLX in that regard in an effort to help them and their future customers, but they didn't appear to be interested in pursuing those updates.

Nice work Joe!

Joe,

I enjoyed your article very much. Great job and very interesting scene. Just make sure you use a spacer car when switching LPG or Anbydrous Amonia. Lol! 

Tim Garland

Idler

Thanks Tim!

Thanks for the tip my friend!  Was that rule in place in 2005?  Or added with some of the other TIH regs that came later?  

I was thinking that starting somewhere around 2010ish, TIH loads for Tanner had to be immediately pulled off the road train and spotted upon arrival, whereas in my era, the road trains were left out on the main, the power was sent to the house, and Tanner loads were spotted whenever it fit into the yard crew's plans that day.  I'd seen them spotted without an idler in times past, but can't recall seeing Tanner switched since the new regs were introduced.

MRH jinx?

Did MRH have a jinx that I wasn't aware of, akin to the Sports Illustrated Cover Jinx?  I drove by the prototype for this project tonight for the first time in a couple weeks, and Tanner is gone.  The tower on which my model was based, the office, truck...everything.

One more reminder to shoot what you need while you can.  I never did get as many photos of their office as I would have liked.

Nice article, and you can detail the operations too. TIH handoff

Well done Joe. I work with many tank car transload facilities, and the Anhydrous Ammonia spot is a high priority. We deliver AA, or TIH ( Toxic Inhalation Hazard ) cars in interchange from the CP. we then deliver them to an AirGas dealer south of St.Paul.

Both of these transfer require paperwork designated by Homeland Security. There must be a positive hand off, with people signing custody papers and inspecting the car(s). 

You could model this operation by having the switch crew get a signature from the manager of the AA company. We call the manager anytime, 24/7, and give them 30-45 minute heads up to be ready to accept the car. 

Nice model of a single spot industry. 

Thomas

Thank you sir!  I find the TIH handling requirements interesting, but since they came along too late for my era, I don't model them.  As you said, that's a fun operational detail for those modeling more modern times.

Take that Photo Now

One of the things that was often mentioned when I was a regular member of the local photography club was getting photos now, because they often aren't there when you go back.

Same thing applies to things like google maps. I'm glad I took screen shots of the industrial area around 72nd and F streets. The tracks have been removed from several of the industries, and until recently the centerlines were still in one of the views. I looked at the area on google maps a few days ago and a lot of it has been updated. Good thing I had the screen shots.

gs

Google Maps history

Are you referring to 72nd & F in Omaha?  You're probably already aware of this, and it may not help anyway, but Google Maps allows you to look at older images in Street View.  Just click on the date in the upper left corner of the Street View image and a choice of any earlier available dates for similar images of the location will appear.

I haven't found the date

I haven't found the date selector on the iPad app. The industrial areas in Omaha along F street are interesting. They don't have the traffic that they had a couple of decades ago, but the track arrangements are interesting. As you go west that area is rich with inspiration for switching industries. There are a few examples of the track turning back through 180 degrees, very sharp curves, there's even a wye.  

UP in Omaha

It may be something you need to access through your browser rather than the app.  Here's a link to the UP's Omaha trackage you mentioned:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Omaha,+NE/@41.2176327,-96.043013,15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x87938dc8b50cfced:0x46424d4fae37b604!8m2!3d41.2523634!4d-95.9979883

Once there, just drag the little green Street View man to a spot they've photographed, and a box like this should appear in the upper left corner of your screen:

Click on the date bar, and then choose from the available dates from the slide bar in the resulting box:

Absolutely!  That area has a ton of potential for modeling.  And for those who like SD40-2s, but also like industrial switching, I saw the other day that this job was using a GP38-2/SD40-2N consist.  There are also a couple small, layout-like yards in close proximity:  Just east of 72nd St., and Woody Yard, with that wye you mentioned, between 96th and 108th Sts., just north of the big Kellogg's cereal plant.