LAYOUT UPDATE

I recently made an important upgrade to the layout- I finally added dirt to the parking lot!

This is the appearance shortly after the dirt was laid down. Just as with the access road, I used Scenic Express Fine dirt & soil - pre-sifted and bottled, ready for use!

Here's a view of Mark Davis and Ricardo starting their day as Aaron leaves out on an errand. With dirt on the ground, the scene looks much better.

This shot backs up that point. Not only is the uneven seam between mis-matched foam boards now blended in, but you also see something rarely found on model railroads - tire tracks! As an added bonus, vehicles 'passing' through the lot now get actual dirt on their tires!

With the re-doing of the parking lot, the small office building got moved out to the street. It's a dead-end anyway, so why not make use of the space? The office is joined by a dumpster parked in front of a barrier.

With the weekend off, Bob says 'adios' to his co-workers. When he's not asleep in the back of the company truck, Bob is wide awake - and wide open - on the back of his Harley chopper!

TOWN LIFE PT 9

Tony's Garage works on everything from the exciting- like the old Chevy Malibu on the trailer and the Cadillac Eldorado with the horns on the hood(!)- to the mundane- like the Jeep Wrangler and the Ford Taurus.

Later, a flatbed pulls up with another job for Tony- a Nissan 300ZX with engine trouble. Meanwhile, work on a 63' Lincoln Continental continues. Notice the PODS storage container.

Yet another long freight passes through town, with auto carriers on the head end and double stacks behind.

Remember the men installing carpeting and fixing up this bulding? This is why- the Salvation Army opened up a thrift store!

Yes, the sign lights up!

IN THE YARDS PT 5

The gang gathers for the morning discussion. While Hillsdale -like most yards -works around the clock, most of the action takes place during the day. Most of the night freights simply pass through town; only occasionally do they stop to pick up/set out cars. Local runs at night are even rarer since many of the local customers shut down at night; however the night crew does work the yard to get things set up for the morning runs.

The big white cars are cryogenic reefers, destined for the food processor in Dale City. The big tank cars in the middle tracks are for carrying LPG (Liquid Petroleum Gas), the smaller ones in the back are corn syrup cars for the soda plant, also in Dale City. The boxcars are probably carrying scrap paper bales to the paper mill for recycling, and the gondola in front of them is loaded with scrap metal for Wilson Steel Works (yet another customer in Dale City!).

Here, a string of empty wood chip cars sit, waiting for a west-bound to take them back to the saw mill to be re-loaded.

These two shots of the same auto-rack show some of the graffiti that seems to show up on these cars. Unfortunately, this is the mild stuff as far as graffiti goes- hence the use of fully-enclosed auto-carriers to transport brand-new vehicles in.

TONY'S GARAGE

While a customized Ford F100 gets it's tires checked, more cars are lined up out front. Looks like it'll be another busy week for Tony and his crew!

Not all of these cars are here for work, the silver Trans-Am belongs to one the workers. The yellow Camaro belongs to Matt Davis, seen last week at the AP&W company picnic. It's here for a tune-up, along with the GTO and the 72' 'Cuda.

Also waiting for work are a 69' Boss Mustang, a Shelby Cobra, and a hot-rod. I wonder if there are more automotive gems in that storage unit?

Later, another Camaro shows up; this red one from California! The owner was in town visiting relatives. He took the car to Tony to have it checked out before he went back to the West Coast -alot of things can go wrong on a 3000+ mile road trip!

Tony can also work on the big SUV's; here a happy customer drives away in her Hummer H2. Foreign or domestic, old or new, big or small, Tony's Garage fixes them all!

THE COMPANY PICNIC PT2

More photos of the company picnic...


Mark Davis and his wife, Jenna arrive. Since he has to work, Mark shows up with his safety vest and hard hat. They are greeted by their children; Matt, Mark jr., and Jessica, who arrived in Matt's yellow Camaro. Like father, like son!

Norman and Bill converse with James, Erica and Jake by the grill.

Sam and Frank talk with Sue and Jake W.

Earl's son Phil pulls into the lot with his family. Recently moved from New York, Phil has followed in his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather's footsteps as an engineer for the railroad. Later, he'll be joined by both his father -currently working the HLP 20- and his grandfather, Old Johnny- probably with his old Model A!

Earl and Mark aren't the only ones working today. Aaron heads back from giving a run-by inspection to a passing freight. The run-by inspection is very important; any potential problems with the train, such as anything dragging underneath the cars, can hopefully be spotted before a derailment or wreck occurs. He also checks to make sure that none of the loads on flatcars and gondolas has shifted out of place and that any tank cars in the train aren't leaking - many of them carry highly flammable and/or toxic liquids!