PASSING TRAINS PT6; AUTUMN TRAIN

With fall's arrival, the excursion trains are out!

DB-C103, the east-bound Dinner Belle, rolls into Hillsdale Yard.

On the rear, are two "visitors"; a pair of ex-Milwaukee Road passenger cars now in excursion service. That Super Dome will provide some great views of the fall scenery!

The train is the only game in town, as the yard is empty!

The yard crew greets the passing train.

With the popularity of the fall trains, an extra dining car has been added. Many of the passengers say they ride for the food almost as much as for the scenery!

UPDATE

What's new on the layout...

Behind the bridge is a new Woodland Scenics Rocky Ridge form, to help add depth to the scene and
( partially) hide trains as they come around the curve.

Another view, it's just to the left of the bridge.

An outdoor picnic table has been set outside the shop for the employees.

Another new addition; another billboard!

This one is not only big, but it's double-sided!

CARPACK

After the storms of spring and summer, there is a need for replacing broken telephone poles. Here, a carload sits in the yard, awaiting delivery.

Another material used in construction projects is wire mesh; here a gondola is loaded with several coils of PVC-coated mesh.

Demolition work creates rubble that needs to be hauled off; here two dump cars are loaded with broken concrete.

One commonly seen load in Hillsdale is finished pipe, as seen here. The 65' gondola can easily handle the 60' pipes.

Another common load; bales of scrap metal. Several gons are loaded with them, awaiting delivery to Wilson Steel for recycling -possibly into more pipes like the ones above!

PASSING TRAINS PT5

A surprise is about to roll through Hillsdale...

Two of NS's new heritage units! Unit 8102, the Pennsylvania unit, leads around the curve.

The second unit is 8098, the Conrail unit. The order of the two is appropriate; Conrail was the eventual successor to the Pennsy (after the disaster that was Penn Central!).

Sam watches as the two engines roll into the yard.

While not seen, Brad is no doubt somewhere near his truck taking in the sight of these two one-of-a-kind locomotives!

As they roll through the yard, they draw a crowd of onlookers.

At the far end of the yard, two more men stop to watch. Aside from the America units, not very many flashy paint schemes pass through Hillsdale, so it's only natural that these two units would draw lots of attention.

Out of town they head, with a train of empty hoppers in tow. This train is a double-treat; not only for the two Heritage units, but also it's a rare NS coal train running through the area!