Perfect subjects. Perfect lighting. Captured with the best film of all time, Kodachrome. A trio of Los Angeles Junction Alcos sit in front of the engine house at “A” Yard. In the distance we can see power from the Santa Fe and UP. Both roads made frequent interchange runs to the LAJ, the UP out […]
A trio of Alco’s rounds the big bend and heads westward into the yard at Waseca on the Alco Line project I’m custom building in my shop. For the last eighteen months I’ve been building a custom layout based on CNW’s Alco Line in Southern Minnesota. Because of the project size, we’ve handled it in […]
Railfanning can be a lot like storm chasing. Lot’s of whiffs, dry holes, and hours of getting nothing. Then, a window of opportunity opens up, often for just a few seconds, making the entire outing worth it. Canton SW1500 number 1501 blasts a column of exhaust skyward as it blocks recently pulled cars in Penn […]
There is a direct link between understanding prototype operations, layout design, and how enjoyable operating our layout is. Richard Paseman’s “Railroad Man” is an absolute clinic on switching operations. Page 61. “One night on the Harbor District, we ran cab hop from Watson Yard to Alcoa and kicked the waycar down the spur. The other […]
A duo of Nashville and Western units uses a series of push/pull moves to switch the 3M plant in Old Hickory (Nashville suburb), TN. After posting yesterday’s blog and track plan, I reached out to my resident expert on prototype operations, retired NS railroader, Tom Holley. My question was, at what point does a shoving […]