Layout Update

[Cody J]

I have not posted a layout update for some time now. I am currently working on building my first model railroad, the 4x8 CSX Mount Storm Subdivision. It is a fictional line but Mount Storm is a real place in West Virginia. My model railroad is set in very, very rural West Virginia in 2008. It has a small 6-track yard, a coal mine, a lumber yard, and a small warehouse. Here are some pictures of the layout that were taken over the past few days:

A view of the entire layout. Here you can see KCRR (Kanawha Creek Railroad- the coal mine switcher) #6380 headed to the CSX Kanawha Yard to pick up some coal hoppers.

Here you can see KCRR #6380 trundling down the line near CP CREEK. #6380 is an Ex- Santa Fe B23-7. It is a Bachmann DC locomotive. It was the second locomotive I ever owned and was bought in 2008, it broke in June 2009 and in July 2009 I took the motor and all unnecessary parts out to make it a dummy. Yesterday I took the assembly out of it's sister: UP #124 also a Bachmann B23-7 and put in in ATSF #6380 so it could run again.

A view of the Kanawha Yard area. The area near the tracks where there is no gravel is where the Interlocking Tower will be which has yet to be built. The interlocking tower will serve the purpose of a yard tower.

Two of the three industries on the layout. The spur to the far left is the lumber yard and the one to the right with the flat cars is the small warehouse.

A view of the coal loadout which was completed in July/August of this year and was the first kid I've ever built. The spur towards the bottom right of the frame is the Coal #2 Spur which is just storage for the Kanawha Creek Coal Mine.

My Bachmann Spectrum DC Conrail C40-8W

My Bachmann Spectrum DCC CSX C40-8W- the favorite locomotive in my fleet.

The newest piece of rolling stock in the fleet- an Atlas Trainman 50' 6" CSX boxcar which I acquired at the Greenberg Train Show in Monroeville, PA.

A CSX Bethgon Coalporter- I have 5 of these Athearn cars and am looking to get 5 more.

The nose of KCRR #6380 sitting idle on the Coal #1 Spur with Kanawha Yard in the background.

A look through the Kanawha Creek Coal Mine coal loadout, yesterday a friend suggested I put some gravel in there to support the tracks since there was nothing supporting them and once I add the Scenic Cement they will turn black, like coal which would be realistic, in my opinion.

The roads in the Kanawha Yard area

The road in the Kanawha Creek Coal Mine area, the white paper is the size of the Kanawha Creek Coal Office I will be putting there, in reality, it's a BLMA Yard Office.

The ballast and road near the coal loadout

The gravel around the shed for the coal loadout

The grade crossing area, I rasied up the road to track level using Woodland Scenics Mold-A-Scene plaster.

The rear end of Q358 passes the Lumber Road grade crossing

The Kanawha Yard from above

UP 124 after the change with Santa Fe 6380. I like the shinier trucks on the UP and the duller on the Santa Fe, that's the only noticeable change, and, of course, the fact that it won't move on it's own now.

KCRR #6380, I really like the duller gray trucks on this locomotive, but maybe that's just me.

Any comments/opinions will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Cody

[rogertra]

Very nice but a little advice.

To make your railroad more realistic, you need to decide who owns it that will tell you what motive power and rolling stock to purchase.

While having a mix of CSX, Con Rail, Santa Fe and Union Pacific may be fun, it doesn't help in the realism department.  Someone looking at your model railroad, no matter how well you do your scenery, will not be able to see what you are trying to achieve if you just run a collection of your favourite road names.  There will be no obvious "theme" or location.  Then you avoid the following: -

Let's see.  "CSX and Con Rail?  Must be set in the east.  No, wait!  What's that I see?  Union Pacific and Santa Fe?  Must be set in the west.  No, wait, I don't know where it's set.  East, west, where as it's not obvious from the motive power?"

Best advice I can give, if you want a model railroad Vs a train set collection, is to find the road that you like best or create a fictional one for yourself and only purchase locomotives and most of your rolling stock lettered for that road name.  If you want another road's locomotives, then only purchase locomotives that connect directly to your road.

Of course, this is your model railroad then do what you want.   However, realise that running an eclectic mix of locomotives and rolling stock is not realistic and following the above advice will give anyone a much more realistic looking model railroad rather than a nicely scenicked "train set".

[Cody J]

Rogeta:
I don't plan on using the Union Pacific on the railroad once I get it near completion, I plan on scratching out the Santa Fe marks and making it look like a switcher engine that the coal mine bought from Santa Fe but didn't feel the need to repaint it. I plan on buying a CSX SD40-2 and maybe not using the Conrail too much so all, if not most of the mainline power will be CSX. And I should have mentioned that in the first post.

Cody

[Cody J]

I decided to patch the Santa Fe B23-7 tonight, here are the results:

The Engineer's side

Nose logo

Conductor's side
I know in some places on the sides it looks a little lacking in the paint but that was touched up after the photos were taken.
This was my first patch job ever and was completed by mixing black and blue acrylic paint.

[rogertra]

Cody.

I'm glad you took my advice and were not offended as it was given in the sprit of helping you as well as any newcomers so that they don't get discouraged.

Before you know it, you'll become a CSX expert as you investigate more and more on how the CSX operated and what equipment it uses.

When you build your next model railroad, as I hope you will, you will more than likely make more and more changes to the way you build the next railroad.  These changes will be based on your increasing knowledge of the CSX, your increased modelling expertise and your personal raising of the bar based on what you know and come to expect from yourself.

Best of luck with your model railroad.

[Cody J]

Thank you for the inspiring information Rogertra. Best of luck with you and your model railroad as well!

-Cody

[ACY]

Modernly (1980-present) when railroads "patch" locos they usually apply the paint as a rectangular box, as is seen on the front of this Ex-Conrail unit:

Or on the side of this one:

The patches are usually in matching color, near matching, a color of the new road, or black or white.

[jward]

wait! what is that i see in that photo? could it be a bnsf sd70mac running with a patched conrail and a norfolk southern?

living along the norfolk southern mainline like i do, i see union pacific and bnsf locomotives all the time. on the csx line at the bottom of the hill, the situation is even worse. anything and everything can and does show up. i have photos of a santa fe gp9 running on a csx auto rack train and a union pacific gp15 on another train, both on the outskirts of pittsburgh, pa. so cody having santa fe and union pacific locomotives running with his csx ones wouldn't be anything different out here..... they could be run through power, leased by csx, or balancing horsepower/hours.

[ACY]

they could be run through power, leased by csx, or balancing horsepower/hours.

It is usually the 3rd of those and occasionally the first, I don't CSX leases locos that often. It usually makes more sense to run the train that way, it is usually more economic.

[jward]

up until about 2008, csx had a couple hundred locomotives on lease from helm, and several other sources.

and this past year, norfolk southern had quite a few locomotives on lease from union pacific. among other sources.

plus, both railroads have been known to store locomotives retired from other railroads for their new owners.....

believe me, i've seen enough that nothing surprises me anymore.

[ACY]

up until about 2008, csx had a couple hundred locomotives on lease from helm, and several other sources.

I knew they used to lease a lot, I was saying that they don't lease as much anymore. Driving on I-76 between Akron and Youngstown I saw 2 NS trains heading east one with a Santa Fe & a Union Pacific loco, the other with an ex-EMD lease and ex-Conrail, no NS painted units.

[jward]

that sounds about right.

on my line, most locomotives that are not norfolk southern are banned from leading a train beacuse they lack cab signals. they are restricted to trailing positions. the only exceptions are some csx locomotives inherited from conrail, and a couple of other types with cab signals.

on the local csx line, there are no such restrictions and anything can lead a train.

[Tylerf]

I just want to say, that first response is crap...you can definetly have total realism without a refined specific road name. Only the most nit-picky of railroaders will be discouraged by that confusion of where the railroad is? Its your railroad, and if its a made up road then you can have whatever you want! I model cp, but have MANY other roads that ive found on sale or just wanted the model, they all run on my layout and yet it still looks plenty realistic. Only a rivet counter will be bugged by that, and if theyre good people they'll hold it to themselves to be picky. Gotta have fun and run whatever YOU want most, and whatever YOU find realistic. 

[Doneldon]

Cody-

One thing about secondhand locomotives: they aren't the latest and the greatest. Far more often they are the oldest and the lamest. So in addition to stenciling some reporting marks on your ex-AT&SF loco you need to beat it up. Dents. Rust. Lots of dirt. Wear and tear everywhere. That way it will be a bit more believable as a loco finding a second life as a hand-me-down.

Other than that, I'm impressed with your work. You are clearly a careful modeler and one with a pretty good idea of what he is attempting to achieve. I salute you!

                                              -- D

[Doneldon]

Tyler-

Your point about being able to mix railroad heralds on a model pike is well taken. Indeed, in this case I'm not so sure that, in these days of pooled power and leases, any combination of locomotives is inconsistent with prototype. And if it is? So what? Your second point that it's his railroad and he can do what suits him is also absolutely correct.

However, I also think you misunderstand the term "rivet counter." Commenting about something as bold as a mix of railroads on a pike in no way represents rivet counting. The term is limited to folks who find obscure, arcane and virtually insignificant details to carp about. For example, a rivet counter might call attention to the fact that you only have 29 rivets around the front of your smokebox door when there should have been 30, but s/he would not be counting rivets when pointing out that the nuclear aircraft carrier in the background of your 1920s era railroad is chronologically challenged.
                                                                                                                                                              -- D