I’d be hard-pressed to think of a location where you’re virtually guaranteed of seeing more intense switching action than Poorhouse Yard in York, PA. Both NS and York Rail have yards in town, Windsor Street and Lincoln, respectively. Every weekday morning, starting at around 8 am, they exchange cars back and forth at Poorhouse, located […]
Category: Prototype
The Perfect Storm
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 […]
Wrapping Up The Alco Line
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 […]
Storm Chasers
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 […]
Railroad Man, Pg. 61
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 […]