IN THE YARDS PT6

Leased SD40-2 FURX 3004 sits in Hillsdale Yard coupled to AP&W SD40 3163. While the AP&W, like other railroads, has had little need for lease units lately due to the economy, this unit did show up in Hillsdale.

The classic "three-quarters" view, showing the snowplow and ditch lights.

The top view, showing the relocated air horn (to protect the crew's hearing!) with air line to it, and the exhaust streaks on the roof. FURX is the reporting mark for First Union's railcar leasing arm, and the locomotive was rebuilt/upgraded from a former Canadian National SD40.

Two of the many grimy - and graffitied - boxcars that can be found in the yard on any given day. At least the big white cryogenics reefer two tracks over is still clean.

PASSING TRAINS

A westbound local has GP40-2 2650 and GP50 4087 in charge in this early 90's shot. Neither engine has had ditch lights installed yet, and the GP50 is nearing it's retirement.

A Wisconsin Central gondola loaded with scrap is up first, followed by a short string of rock hoppers.

After a AP&W boxcar, a string of kaolin clay slurry tank cars. All are destined for the local paper mill.

Another boxcar, this time a TTX car, another tank car, and more gondolas. The Herzog gons can often be found carrying large rocks used for rip-rap on hillsides (to hold them in place).

Finally, at the very end, the caboose! Since this is a local, it has one.

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.