To Jeff Ward

[jsmvmd]

Dear Jeff,

Three things:

First, terrific instructions regarding the Central Midland on the HO site.

Second,  are there "best" days for rail fanning in Pitcairn, Boston and West Mifflin ?  I get out there an occasional Thursday, Saturday or Sunday to visit my Mother.

In Versailles, I usually go down Wampler St. and sit there at times.  I like it better under the Boston Bridge, since there is lots of activity on the river, but rail viewing is limited from that side.

Third, do you know anything about the Livington Station on the Laurel trail in Boston ?  Looks like it has been turned into a club of some sort.

Best Wishes,

Jack

[jward]

jack
1. thanks for the pat on the back about the central midland. i have often wanted to build that one.

2. traffic on the railroads in pittsburgh tends to be heaviest late in the week. friday and saturday are usually the busiest. monday is dead, but on norfolk southern there tends to be a westbound set of light engines with up to 12 locomotives, also, what few trains do run often have extra locomotives to get them in position for the eastbound tide later in the week.

ns pitcairn, you can usually count on a 22w trailer train making a pickup in the morning. there is usually a parade of westboung trains starting with 1 or 2 roadrailers before dawn. amtrak goes east just before 8 am, followed a little later by several container trains which often get helpers in the area.

midday traffic tends to be lighter, and they let the local out on the line to work the industries...

in the evenings, there are mail trains in both directions, many of which work pitcairn.
there are also a couple of westbound freights, and an autorack train. amtrak goes west about 7pm if he's on time. extra trains like coal, tethanol, or steel slabs can show up at any time.  pitcairn is a bottleneck with many trains waiting to use the port perry branch, which is single track.

as for csx, they are a bit more unpredictable. if you have a scanner, listen for trains q352 and q353. these are used to ferry locomotives to and from cumberland shop, and can have up to 12 locomotives. also there are several coal trains, u324 and u306 are two of them, which comew off the mon branch at mckeesport, run around their train and head east. amtrak goes east about 6am, west about 10pm.

have you trried the spot in versailles where the csx crosses the river?

3. is livingston station the place along the river with the deck? if so, i know there was a model boat club that used to meet there weekends.

[jsmvmd]

Dear Jeff,

As usual, thanks for a very informative reply !

LS is about 1/2 mile eastbound from the Boston Bridge.  There is something like a park between it and the river. Not sure if there is a dock there.

The CM always intrigued me, as did Diablo Canyon and Atlas' industrial type layout with the tugs and small harbor. 

I, too want to build something like CM, and might get a chance if I get my old house back after the divorce.  I was looking at something with easier wiring, walk around throttle and push button block control like Atlantic Central has described, but maybe something like a double or triple folded dogbone with occasional 45 or 60 degree crossings and over/unders to give the look of multiple lines.  Just a thought.  With your instructions, the CM looks doable if I get motivated.

Best Wishes,

Jack

[jward]

ls is the place where the boat club was. there wouldn't be a dock there, as the youghiogheny river only has a fixed pool to about the 15th street bridge. beyond that, you have shallows and rapids. i don't think you'd want to run anything bigger than a canoe or skiff with a small outboard motor up that far.
the club was for boat modellers. they'd use the "beach" area to launch them in the water. occasionally a canoe or tuber would float by and they'd run circles around him. watching them run the boats and knowing how much they spent on them made me glad i was into trains....