BACKDROP EXTENDED

Nothing like a two-week plant shutdown to give you time to work on the layout! As you can see, I have extended the backdrop farther along the wall, also expanding the overall feel of the layout.
This view shows the backdrop extension. This looks much better than white-painted cinderblock!

The backdrop now goes nearly to the end of the wall. It previously ended before the ceiling support beam.
While I was at it, I decided to finally assemble and paint a Blair Line billboard I'd had sitting around for about two years! This is the result.

THE LOCAL

SD40 3163 pulls into Hillsdale yard with a short freight. This view shows the white-painted snowplow, an early attempt to increase visibility at grade crossings.
This shot shows the Operation Lifesaver graphics applied to this unit- the only SD40 so marked.
This going away shot shows the first two boxcars in the train. The first car is a 'newsprint' car, so named because it was designed to carry rolls of newsprint paper. Now the Daily Examiner can keep printing the news!

With a M.O.W. utility truck parked in the foreground, 3163 heads out on another local run.


With another string of boxcars in tow, 3163 heads for the industrial park in Dale City.

IN THE YARDS PT3

Three loads of sewer pipe sit in Hillsdale yard. The cars were originally built to carry pulpwood, but the railroad also found them good for carrying large pipes as well.

Like most modern railroads, the AP&W sees its share of freight car graffiti!

THE M.O.W. LOT

The new shop for the work crews now has air conditioning, after one was installed in the previously un-modified rear door. Now, will it see a coat of paint?Sam looks on in amazement at Bill's old 'Junkyard Dog'. Judging by the 'Coat of Many Colors', the truck may well have been assembled at the junkyard!

Jim finishes his breakfast- and Bob finishes his nap- in the back of the truck while Bill and Ray discuss the day's work.
This car hauler got lost while looking for the Chrysler dealership. While there is a Ford dealership in Hillsdale, the Chrysler one is 10 miles south in Dale City. Judging by the number of cars on the truck, business is a bit slow.

IN THE YARDS PT2

GP50 4087 pulls a special movement train through Hillsdale. The generator is heading to the Gulf Coast to provide power for a storm-damaged area.

How to move an over-sized load? With a GP50, a M.O.W. boxcar, a gondola, a heavy-duty flatcar, a track-cleaning car(!) and two cabooses.

The AP&W's business car, the CHEROKEE, sits in Hillsdale yard on a warm summer afternoon.

A businessman waits on the platform of the car. Converted in the late 50's by the APRR from a Budd coach, the CHEROKEE was named after one of the AP's passenger trains at the time. It often travels in the company of the AP&W's other business cars, bringing up the rear. Today, however, it's traveling solo. The Cherokee name was also used to promote fast freight service.

The next day, a Union Pacific GE ES44AC (called a C45ACCTE by the UP) sits in Hillsdale Yard alongside a short string of ethanol tank cars. The ES44AC is GE's newest locomotive, designed to meet the latest EPA emissions regulations. Though the AP&W has purchased 400 of these engines- and 300 of EMD's equivalent SD70ace's- unfortunately, few are seen in Hillsdale. The newest power currently seen are GE AC4400's built in 2000-20003 and EMD SD70MAC's built in the late 90's. These units were displaced from the western half of the system by the newer deliveries and have, in turn, displaced older engines in the Hillsdale area.