Saturday, October 10, 2009

UPDATES

Recent updates to the layout.

The maintenance shop now has propane heat for those cold Eastern winters. Next to the propane tank are oxygen tanks for welding. Above both is a sign warning "NO SMOKING"!

A view of the Hillsdale Public Library on Market St. Across the alley is a drugstore, and beside that is a pawnshop.




Three views of the newly completed downtown parking garage. I added a baseplate to the Vollmer structure kit to make it easier to move and place, as well as allowing me to make a smoother transition to the street. Simply setting the building in place made the entrance and exit points curb height! The baseplate also enabled me to add barriers to the sides of the entrance/exit routes to keep traffic in it's proper place. Lastly, the baseplate allowed me to make room for a sidewalk around the outside, and a partial parking lot between the garage and the Market. I also added an exit gate and stop sign for exiting traffic.
Since the exposed foamboard can't be seen from a normal viewing angle, I may just leave it as-is. Or I may get 'motivated' and finish the parking lot!

Saturday, October 3, 2009

STACK TRAIN #2

Here's another stack train, this one a short 'non-domestic' led by a BNSF unit.

The lead unit, BNSF SD40-2 6752 pulls into Hillsdale yard.

The head end of the train is loaded with Maersk and Maersk/Sealand containers.

Given the fact that they are double-stacked, those 20' containers are probably empties. Otherwise, their combined loaded weights would exceed the capacity of the wells.

Also in the train, are these 'K' Line containers. Notice the weathering on the top container -these things get dirty travelling around the globe!


More 'international' containers, including these Chinese-owned Cosco containers. Headed back home to get more cheap goods for the dollar stores to sell!