Nice job on the proto throttle....

Tim, always enjoy your video updates.  While the proto throttle isn't for me I can see why everyone  is going gaga over them after this.  You make realistic sounds and movement look easy with it

Steve

Thanks Steve

Thanks for watching and commenting Steve. I love the ProtoThrottle. Rarely touch my other controllers. I even sold a couple of surplus locomotives to buy an additional ProtoThrottle. 
 

Tim

Hot Dog!

One of my favorites.

Thanks Tim!

Tim - is it the lighting or

Tim - is it the lighting or does that PT look like it has a black faceplate?

gs

Excellent…

…as always, Tim! Love the low angle shots. 

How is the center section of your layout coming along? 

Like...

This is me "liking" this post. 

Well done as always. 

Randy

Thanks

Thanks Rick! I appreciate it.

GS - yes sir that is one with the black faceplate. My newest. I ended up selling off two rarely used locomotives in my collection to acquire the new throttle as I believe it is a better investment than holding onto a couple of surplus locos.

Scott - glad you enjoyed it. I’ve acquired most of the bench work components. Right now I’m debating on just using them to start on my new version in my adjacent room. These new sections will go with us when we move next year and I want to construct them bullet proof from the start. First I need to get the room ready and that is going to take some additional time. My current layout will stay up until early next year, then I’ll start taking it down. My goal is to have the first part of the new layout up and running before then.

Thanks Randy! Glad you are a Seaboard Central fan.

Tim

Who is Chloe?

And if she's not family, how'd you explain that to the wife?....

Scott Chatfield

Chloe

Hi Scott,

Chloe is my youngest daughter. The other side of the car has what is on the prototype and it was real close to my daughters name, so on this side I did a tribute. I’ve also got a car for my wife, son, other daughter and my dad. Unless I point them out, you’d never know.

Tim

Updated Brick Cars

In the video I showcased what I had done to two older Walthers 50’ Waffle Boxcars. Originally, I had planned to sell these cars as I considered them pretty much outdated to what is available today. But then I thought, here’s a chance to have a couple of boxcars rolling around with doors open, something I see everyday at work on the prototype. The early attempt at weathering on the cars were horrible and I wasn’t able to save the Southern Railway paint schemes the cars came in. So off came the paint and on came new coats of Oxide brown. Lettering from Smokebox Graphics turned them into SC cars. To make them more interesting I put some pallets inside from a previous brick load. These older cars are in the SC brick pool and loaded out of Macon, GA. The roofs leak and were never sealed making them perfect for this type of service.

In the video I had forgotten to add the reflective stripes from Smokebox Graphics and I still wasn’t satisfied with how I treated their roofs. So here’s an updated look at the cars. I still need to add cut levers and a handbrake wheel on one but I’m really diggin how they turned out. To turn them into loads, I merely flip them around to the side with the closed doors. Glad I decided to keep these oldies but goodies I’ve had for many, many years.

Tim

Great update again Tim! Your

Great update again Tim! Your weathering is incredible.

Jeff

Thanks Jeff

Thanks Jeff! I try my best to try to capture the look and feel of the prototype. Not all cars are rust buckets though. Some are freshly painted and haven’t been vandalized by graffiti. I wanted to make sure I had a few cars on the layout that could be mixed in my freights to add contrast. Here’s one example that represents a prototype car freshly painted and restenciled into new reporting marks.

Tim

BKTY marks

Today these marks indicate a car leased by Union Pacific.  UP inherited the mark from the Missouri-Kansas-Texas, aka the Katy, where they indicated a car the Katy leased long-term from a bank in Boston called The Commonwealth Plan, and per diem payments went straight to the bank, not the railroad.

Scott Chatfield

UP Leasee

Scott, 

You’re right. These are leased by UP and are in the National Boxcar Pool. There’s a lot of them out there for sure. This happens a lot where leasing companies utilize a short line’s reporting mark. 
 

Tim