Intermodal Pics

Here are some photos for you intermodal modelers out there...

An ex-Pacer Stacktrain Thrall 53' three-unit articulated stack car, now owned by TTX. This car can be done with the Atlas model.

Another ex-Pacer Stacktrain car, this time a Gunderson Maxi-IV, also now owned by TTX. This car represents the prototype for the Intermountain release later this year of this paint scheme.

This car is, unfortunately, NOT available in model form; an NSC three-unit articulated 53' car. It can be done, but only with a lot of work in modifying a set of Walthers stand-alone cars,

Lastly, this three-unit Twin-28/Triple-57 spine car is the prototype for the Athearn car produced several years ago. Not only does this photo show how to weather the car (note the clean platform sides!) but note the load; three 40' containers! I normally see these cars with either trailers or 53' containers, so this was a rare treat. Also note that the two UASC containers are two different colors!

BIG LOAD AT MONTVIEW

This past week there was a big load at Montview Yard.

This Siemens Schnabel car was sitting in Montview with a huge generator load.

Detail shots of the car and load.  Note that the generator was built in Charlotte, NC. Note also that the car is marked "DO NOT HUMP LOADED OR LIGHT". Yes, let's roll this thing down a hill and see what happens!

The caboose. For those looking to model it, its an ex-CP Rail 'van', the same as the Rapido Transcona Yard caboose; BLMA makes the roof top a/c units.

There was only one idler car; this OTTX flatcar. This train was headed north; to where I don't know.

DUPONT TRAINING CARS IN TOWN

Last month, a set of training cars were siting in Montview Yard.                                                               

The caboose has not only lost all of its windows, but has also had a rooftop a/c unit added.

 The boxcar in the set. Like the other two cars, it is a mobile classroom to help train crewmen and emergency personnel on how to respond to an accident involving hazardous materials.

The tank car. Not being a railroad employee, I don't know how the interior is laid out, but I believe the multiple domes, fittings and hatches are to train personnel on the different fittings found on various tank cars.

Another intersting find last month was these cars. Former ACF Coalveyers, they have since had extensions added to raise their height and make them more useful in their new role hauling scrap metal.

Seen in all of these photos is this building. Modeling details include the vending machine, outdoor bench, trash cans, fire extinguisher by one of the doors, security lights on the end and the vent in between them. The "M1" sign is the shop building number, and the other sign on the wall lists the proper hand signals to use. The white lines show the vehicle lanes around the building, and a collision post protects a tank beside the vending machine. Note also, the blue flag laying on the ground beside the truck.

A PAINT PATCH JOB

On a recent morning, I found a passing intemodal in Montview Yard. Among the cars was this stack car; It caught my eye due to the sharp contrast between the heavily weathered/graffitied sides and the fresh yellow patch for the new TTX logo.

When the train stopped (again), I had time to walk over to the other side, where I had a rare opportunity; to be able to shoot both sides of the same car at the same time! As you can see, a new patch was also used for the reporting marks.

Again, a fresh yellow patch for the new TTX logo. The "56" designation is for the well length; these cars were originally built to carry the UPS 28' containers (four to a well, hence the 56' length).

Another non-standard paint job is this boxcar. I couldn't get a clear shot due to the pipes, but if you look closely between the two vertical pipes, you will see that the car's number is spray-painted on the side! You know it's an old Southern boxcar only if you can read the rust that the lettering has become!

Finally, a re-paint and re-build. NS 5619 is a GP38 that has been rebuilt; the air horns have been relocated, an a/c unit has been added to the roof, displacing the radio antenna, and the unit now has a "liberated exhaust" with an extra pair of stacks next to the dynamic brake fan! If the unit is an ex-Southern unit, then it has also had its short hood lowered as well.

OLD CARS

It's amazing what you can find still running in today's trains.

Here is a prime example. This 65' mill gondola is still carrying its Penn Central reporting marks and paint scheme in 2011, despite the fact that PC became part of Conrail in 1976! That it still has paint left after 35+ years of service is amazing; you can still see the faded PC logo on the side(beside the tree).

All of the gondolas in this string of cars were in Maintenance Of Way service; this one had a Caterpillar excavator in it, probably with a claw attached to the end of its arm for picking up old ties along the right of way.

Another old car I found in Montview Yard recently was this ex-Chicago North Western grain hopper; now with DSRC reporting marks, yellow conspicuity stripes along the sides, and rust coming down from the roof. The car next to it shows what the railroads have to do when graffiti
covers the sides of their cars -they have to cover it up with a coat of paint along the bottom half.

The ex-BNSF SD40-2 locomotive that was working in Montview Yard has since been replaced by this ex-Union Pacific SD40-2. This unit has been repainted in CEFX's lease-fleet scheme, and can be identified as an ex-UP unit by the "can" mounted to the front handrail stanchion to hold the MU hose end when not connected to another unit. The MU (Multiple-Unit) hose is what allows multiple engines to be controlled from the lead unit; this is one of the advantages that helped diesels to take over from steam locomotives during the 1950's.

NS SD40-2's

On a recent visit to the NS' Montview yard...

NS SD40-2 6133 is a former Norfolk & Western locomotive. While the first order of N&W 40-2's had the normal high short-hoods, the rest fleet came with the standard short-hood seen here.

In addition to the rusted battery box (a common trait of the SD40-2 over time), notice that this unit has also had its snowplow removed! Meanwhile, the ex-Southern unit in front still has its front snowplow ( on ex-Southern units, the long hood is the front).

The ex-Southern unit also still has its distinctive high hood, with a second set of air horns on top, another Southern trait. Notice also that both railroads placed the bell on the top end of the long hood to prevent it from clogging up with snow -even though most Southern engines rarely encountered it in the Deep South!

Who says you can't run double-stacks in a general freight train? Actually, these stack cars were part of a bad-order set-out, and the string of tank cars is being used as a 'handle' to spot them on the repair track.

This was one of the two engines working Montview Yard -an ex-Burlington Northern/BNSF SD40-2 now working in lease service with CEFX reporting marks. While similar to recent Kato offerings, be aware that this engine has had its headlight relocated to the nose, a modification BNSF has been making on many of its engines.

CIRCUS TRAIN PT 3

More from this morning's circus train...

While photographing the circus train, I found this CSX SD70MAC sitting in the yard. This was one of the last EMD SD70MAC's built before a newer, more fuel-efficient model replaced it. Finding 'foreign' power in NS' Montview Yard is nothing new. Several years ago, a Rio Grande SD50 spent several days here, moving back and forth between Montview and Kinney Yards. I have also seen a Kansas City Southern SD70Ace -the successor to the SD70MAC -here as well.

One of the farm tractors used to help set up, with a ride or concession stand behind it, and a trailer that appears to be loaded with ticket booths in front of it.

A Mack CH tractor with a trailer loaded with fencing and entrance gates.

The only truck tractor I saw that was NOT a Mack, this Crane Carrier Corporation (CCC) tractor was hooked up to a ride trailer. I wonder if the CCC truck was military surplus?

Another stowed ride on a trailer, this one with a dolly attached to the colorful trailer in front of it. In fact, it was the bright colors of the trailers which caught my eye as I was walking home from work! Also notice the fold-down ramp in front of the trailer behind the sign. There is another ramp on the rear of the flatcar, opposite corner, to allow the equipment to be driven on and off. I believe that James E Strates is the last major circus in North America to move it's equipment by train; given the size of the train, and the amount of equipment it's carrying, utilizing the rails makes sense!

CIRCUS TRAIN PT 2

More photos of this morning's circus train...

A shot of one of the rides, folded and stored for transport. The 28' pup trailers on the next flat actually were hooked together and to the tractor as they would be on the road. For those looking to build HO scale models of them, adding the roof hatches and underbelly storage boxes to a set of Herpa/Con-Cor pups should make a very close replica. The ride trailer, however may take a little more effort.

Another interesting pair of trailers, especially the one on the right. Notice that they are hooked up to each other.

I believe that this is the end car, with the ramps used to load/unload the train. The tractor would then be used to help move the heavy ramps into position. The yellow devices are probably used to support the ramps when in use.

Both of these trailers were converted from old shipping containers. Like most of the trailers, they both have dollies at the front so that several trailers can be moved at once by one tractor to save time setting up. And, like most of the trailers, they are hooked up together on the flatcar they share. As I said before, there were several of those Mack "R" tractors among the trailers.

CIRCUS TRAIN PT 1

The Circus came to town this morning! Actually, it PASSED through town this morning.

These two shots show the overall view of much of the train, which belonged to the James E. Strates Show. I missed the passenger cars on the head end.

Another shot of the train, showing the various trailers carried aboard the long flatcars, including one of the advertising trailers.

Note the pick-up on the far flatcar with it's trailer behind it. The trailer in front of it seems to be a ride, folded up for storage.

More ride trailers, with the tractors attatched. Most of the tractors were these Mack Ultra-Liner cab-overs, others were Mack "R" tractors like the one seen in the first photo. Most seemed a bit worse for wear. A bit hard to see in the photos, all of the flatcars have end drop ramps to facilitate loading and unloading the equipment. This style of loading/inloading was used at the start of intermodal railroading; now trailers are loaded/unloaded using overhead cranes, the same way as containers- like the ones on the train in the background. Driving the equipment on and off the flats was -and still is -called 'circus-style' loading/unloading!

FREIGHT CAR PICS

I shot this pic of a covered hopper to show that sometimes the end caps on the outlet gates don't always get put back on after unloading! I'm sure they will be screwed back on before the car gets moved.

This shot shows a Coltainer placed on an EPIC articulated spine car with three EPIC containers. While these cars originally carried up to six EPIC containers, with two double-stacked at the ends of the car, these containers are taller than the origional ones; thus only four are now placed on a car. In front of the spines is a string of loaded NS TopGons.

More Coltainers behind the EPICs. Since they were in a sting of cars with coal-loaded TopGons, I no longer suspect that they are used for scrap hauling. They may, indeed, be used for their intended purpose of hauling coal, but the presence of the EPIC containers indicates that they may also be used for hauling contaminated dirt. Or even trash!

THE NS EXECUTIVE UNITS

To celebrate the introduction of Amtrak's new Lynchburg-D.C. train, Norfolk Southern moved its business train to it's Lynchburg, Va. Montview Yard.

Here's a view of the four rebuilt F-units that pull the train. Note that only the cab-equipped 'A' units are equipped with Head End Power generators (the reason for the rear exhaust muffler/stacks) to power the passenger cars. The non-cab 'B' units in the middle lack this equipment, since they can't be used by themselves.

A close-up of the HEP modifications.

Here's another top view of the units. Those of you looking to detail the Athearn units released last year, here are your shots!



When I got to the overpass, it was still dark out, so this was the best I could do with the rest of the train. By the time the sun was up, I had already been interviewed by the cops- passerby thought I was planning to jump off the bridge! I stayed long enough to shoot the power.