This week’s Front End Friday pitcher is all nose! The Athearn F7 locomotive belongs to member Carl Paulson and was making good time on the Mainline during a recent Club meeting!
New York Susquehanna & Western B40-8 #4002, GP40 #3040 & GP38 #2012 make up a light engine move on our HO scale layout during a recent operating session. The three windows in the picture form our station’s trackside bay, that faces the old NYC Auburn Road, currently operated by the Finger Lakes Railway.
Club member Mike Rogers’ Florida East Coast SD70M-2 locomotive paint scheme is striking, as it pays a visit to our HO scale layout during last week’s meeting.We are meeting this afternoon, so stop in and see what our Club has to offer!
Nice locomotive!
The Club will be holding a regular meeting tomorrow afternoon. Guests are welcome. Come see and hear our new vision!
New York Susquehanna & Western General Electric Dash 8-40B #4002 is the star of this week’s Front End Friday post. The Atlas locomotive is owned by member Bob Sterling.
Member Carl Paulson has throttled down his Canadian Pacific Fairbanks Morse H24-66 (Train Master) locomotive with an eight car passenger train, as it passes the locomotive servicing facilities and enters the main yard on our HO scale layout.
Bryan McGraw, Mike Rogers and Don Ackley-Perot discuss future layout plans and needs at a recent Club meeting.
Yesterday we posted pictures and comments regarding a new layout proposal. Below are some basic concepts and thoughts.*Design Elements:
1. The layout will be free standing in the center of the room and have two decks.
2. It will be a full walk around with the possibility of a 5 foot high duck under leading to a future shelf layout.
3 The lower level benchwork height will be 44”-46” above the floor, and dedicated to the Finger Lakes Railway (Auburn Road) running between the Solvay and Geneva yards.
4. The upper deck will be approximately 16” above the lower, and be dedicated to the CSX (Water Level Route) between the Dewitt yard and Lyons, NY, including an intermodal yard.
5. There will be an decline track of less than 1.5% grade from the CSX down to an interchange with the FGLK at the Solvay Yard..
*The rationale for this change:
a. Shortening the distance of coverage will allow for more distance between towns and give a more realistic look and scenery opportunities.
b. Separating the CSX and FGLK allows for less confusion, more realistic appearance and better operations.
c. The CSX deck will allow for continuous runs, while the FGLK deck will allow for increased switching, both during operations and open houses.
d. The current track is consistently in need of repair and tweeking to provide smooth operation. Replacing the foam underlayment and cork with Homasote roadbed directly on the plywood would alleviate most of these issues.
e. Length of trackage will increase by about 30%.