Today, I put together back the GP18 and found a spare Bachmann chassis. Tested and snapped some photos. I think it turned out pretty well for my first attempt air brushing. I merely removed the detail pieces, taped off the ends and hit it with Tru-Color Rock Island Yellow. I look forward to trying some other projects. :-)
Here are some photos I snapped on the layout of the newly painted GP18.
Rock Island GP18 by Westclox
Rear view. I can see a little bleed through on the tape line here. I'm ok with that. It was my first time. I will weather this locomotive up to hide some of my blemishes.
Rock Island GP18 by Mill Street in Utica
Rock Island GP18 pulling into the station at Utica
I had a Rock Island decal on the nose, but it is too big. I took it off and scraped the paint slightly. I need to find a smaller logo or trim it. It is tough to fit around the molded on grab irons. I'll have to work on that later.
Rock Island GP18 by Franklin Farms
This evening, I prepared the tabs for second shift. After lunch, a unit train of empties will arrive at Ottawa Yard. The yardmaster is tasked with assigned tabs to the agent cars (sand hoppers) to be delivered to Ottawa Silica for second shift loading.
Over at the mine and LOF, over half the cars are loaded/unloaded in the morning. After lunch, the remaining cars are loaded and will be worked by the local.
This evening, my daughter and I were running trains back and forth in Peoria. I could do this all day long! This area could be run independently of the railroad if I wanted a quick train playing fix. Pretty neat stuff and exactly what I I have been wanting lately. My ultimate dream would be to create a Belt Railway of Chicago deal where trains are classified from multiple railroads. My touch of OCD likes for things to be organized. I find when working the yard at my friend Larry's Lehigh & Hudson River Railroad, I find great satisfaction in taking the cluster of cars scattered about and organizing them into blocks and ultimately getting them out of the yard. Crazy, right? It is what I like though! Also, a reason why you see a Goals List posted on the blog. It helps keep me focused and provides great satisfaction to have the list completed providing the drive to finish the job.
Oh, I did find a broken throw bar on a turnout on the north end of Ottawa Silica. The hole where the ground throw is broke off. I need to drill another hole and fix, but for now I'm using a thumbtack. Normally, I would fix this, but I have one of those bad feelings that if I touch it now, it could equal catastrophic failure. Best not to touch something when you have that gut feeling. I will use the thumbtack for the op session and repair afterward. I don't have time to get another turnout in here in such short notice.
Oh yes, I forgot to mention, I tested both scales tonight. Both are working ok. In the previous session, I had changed to weighing box cars and hoppers separately. I have returned to just weighing hoppers for now. The Boulder Creek Engineering scales work well, but are sensitive. The difference in profile between the covered hoppers and box cars is enough of a minute difference for them to pick up one or the other, but not both. I tried adjusting it, but couldn't get it to read both with the infrared detector. So, I will stick with the covered hoppers. I will still require the box cars to be coopered first in Ottawa Yard.
Other quick changes on operations:
- Utica Switcher (UTSW) - Will start the session in Utica vs. the former LaSalle staging yard.
- Ottawa Switcher (OTSW) - No change.
- #130 Peoria Switcher - All new.
- #113 Joliet to Bureau Turn - Actually goes to Bureau Junction now and returns.
- #217 No longer run with Grand Trunk power. Arrives with empties from Blue Island, returns with loads to be distributed to other railroads to the east.
Looking forward to operating in three days!!
That looks fantastic Steven!
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Thank you sir! I'm really pleased with my first attempt.
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